Outsourcing and strategy in Spanish town halls: a field study
Abstract
Purpose
This study seeks to analyse the links between strategies, structures and processes in the case of the largest Spanish town halls, using the Miles and Snow's models about organisational strategies, and asking the following questions: “What is the situation of municipal services' outsourcing in the largest Spanish town halls?”; “Do Spanish town halls follow the strategies suggested in Miles and Snow's model?”; and “Is there a relationship between the strategic position adopted by town halls and their stance on outsourcing?”.
Design/methodology/approach
In order to achieve these aims a questionnaire was administered to the human resource managers in the town halls of the largest Spanish cities.
Findings
The paper finds that outsourcing is a complement, which seeks to improve the services delivered, and local institutions do not resort to it due to a lack of internal resources but as a way to complement their own capabilities.
Originality/value
The paper has identified three distinct strategic profiles in the town halls interviewed which coincide with the profiles that Miles and Snow call prospective, defensive and reactive strategies. It reveals that town halls which outsource to a greater extent are the ones which identify more with the prospective or reactive strategy, whereas those which outsource less are closer to the defensive strategy.
Keywords
Citation
Gonzalez, R., Llopis, J. and Gasco, J. (2013), "Outsourcing and strategy in Spanish town halls: a field study", Management Decision, Vol. 51 No. 1, pp. 97-119. https://doi.org/10.1108/00251741311291337
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2013, Emerald Group Publishing Limited