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Outsourcing of accounting increasingly attracts research interest, but research concerning the impact of the benefits of outsourcing on firm capabilities and performance across firms remains limited. This paper aims to reveal the unobservable latent classes of firms that outsource their accounting functions by testing a research model concerning the topic.

The authors build on accounting outsourcing research and adapt a research model from the literature on business services outsourcing. The authors analyze the data from 261 small and medium-sized enterprises in Europe using finite mixture structural equation modeling (FMSEM) and additional methods.

The authors reveal three latent classes with different research models. Thriving outsourcers (N = 103) have a positive attitude toward accounting outsourcing and associate competitive capabilities with mediating the relationship from outsourcing benefits to firm performance. Annoyed outsourcers (N = 143) are dissatisfied with their accounting service provider and only associate outsourcing benefits with competitive capabilities. Convenient outsourcers (N = 15) feel comfortable with their current accounting service provider and associate outsourcing benefits with neither capabilities nor with firm performance.

The study initiates the discussion about the unobservable heterogeneity among accounting outsourcers. The study introduces the use of the FMSEM method in accounting outsourcing research.

The study offers novel insights concerning accounting outsourcers and proposes original explanations for their outsourcing decisions that would help both the outsourcers and accounting service providers.

The study might be the first to categorize accounting outsourcers using FMSEM.

Against the recent trend toward reversed global outsourcing, the purpose of this paper is to provide insights on how the internal process can be handled once the decision on reverse outsourcing has been made. The authors focus in particular on in-house knowledge and technology requirements.

To explore the topic at hand, the researchers conducted in-depth semi-structured interviews with five companies operating in two different industry sectors.

Reversed outsourcing accentuates challenges relating to retained knowledge. When embarking on reversed outsourcing, companies need to acknowledge the effort to revive and renew capabilities in order to perform technical operations and advanced manufacturing production.

The research is based on case studies in a Scandinavian context. Further empirical research from other high-cost locations is needed to validate the findings.

Explorative qualitative research is scarce in the emergent literature on reversed outsourcing. The paper provides practical and theoretical insights into how to handle diminishing knowledge in companies that are re-evaluating their sourcing strategies. It adds a knowledge dimension within the emergent literature. A framework for key success factors and propositions is also provided.

This paper aims to address the questions of different outsourcing strategies between Airbus and Boeing and point out the theoretical limits of the resource-based view (RBV) approach that must be broadened with a finance perspective. Owing to the complexity of systems, the aircraft industry is nowadays structured around a well-organised value chain of product development and manufacturing. However, according to the RBV, capabilities attached to some systems and components are strategic resources and must be kept in house to maintain competitive advantage. In commercial aircraft avionics, critical systems such as flight controls fall directly under this rule, due to substantial risks of passenger safety they deal with.

This study is based on two comparative studies concerning the A330/340 and A350 programmes at Airbus and their equivalents at Boeing, the B777 and the B787. The data are both primary (financial and patent data) and secondary (semi-structured interviews and documentation.

The main result highlights the limits of the RBV model to understand why Airbus has chosen to re-internalise the development and production of flight control systems contrary to Boeing. For both, cost reduction is the main objective of outsourcing, but European firms are more careful with critical resources. The financialisation of aircraft manufacturers’ strategies is another explanatory factor relevant to understand why Boeing outsources strategic resources such as flight controls.

The authors demonstrate the potential of multiplication of research methods to address a question. Second, they try to bring together different theories in a preliminary effort, which gives them some promising stuffy perspective for future works.

By addressing both the RBV and the financialisation perspectives, the authors provide an interesting view of the COmplex Products and Systems (CoPS) challenges.

The findings of this research must provide key of interpretation for business managers, which may consider the two faces, knowledge management and financial, to explain corporate performance.

Several originalities are relevant in this work. From a methodological point of view, the authors offer a comparison between the two main players of commercial aircraft manufacturing, an oligopolistic industry. Second, the data they choose to rely on are both qualitative and quantitative to strengthen the results. Third, at a micro level, this study is original in its approach of linking outsourcing to financialisation.

The paper uses a procedure called data envelopment analysis (DEA) to compare internal against external (outsource) efficiency in the delivery of finance function activities. The approach allows a direct comparison between the in‐house efficiency of UK small, medium and large companies in managing their accounting activities both with UK outsource contractors and also against the rather larger and more numerous contractors observed in Italy. The paper finds that, through comparative advantages, outsourcing presents a more efficient solution for the management of very small firm accounting than internal provision. Furthermore, there is evidence that substantial scale benefits continue to be available to outsource contractors, while inefficiency on internal provision is mainly technical. The paper concludes that outsourcing provision is likely to offer worthwhile savings to small firms, allowing them to shed competitive weaknesses and operate at efficient or best practice levels. At the same time, by converting an internal fixed cost, fixed capacity activity into a flexible, variable cost activity, SMEs have the potential to transform a previously unmanageable activity into an efficient or best practice activity that can grow or contract with the business.

Supply chain relationships have often been analysed from the macro-perspective of the companies involved, but there is less evidence of how relationships relate to the micro-perspective of persons involved. The purpose of this paper is to investigate, in IT outsourcing (ITO), how the buyer–supplier relationship type strengthens buyer performance from the perspective of consultants.

IT consultants were surveyed, and analysis was performed considering the aggregated values of variables that characterise buyer–supplier relationships adjusted to ITO.

The results show that strategic relationships are associated with higher supplier investment in relational management than in transactional ones. Similarly, in this type of relationship, higher levels of trust are linked to the recognition of more activities shared between parties involved than in transactional relationships. The improvement of supplier development by buyers was also found to improve buyers’ performance.

The model proposed here was developed for nonspecific industries but tested in the context of ITO. Further research should be undertaken to broaden generalisability.

The paper provides an understanding of the influence of the buyer–supplier relationship type on buyer performance based both on relational management and, more specifically, how the formal dimension of supplier development can also contribute to performance. ITO is increasing worldwide, and relational management affects outsourcing outcomes in broad supply chain integration. This analysis is usually visited from buyer and supplier perspectives using decision makers. This paper assesses it from the perspective of consultants.

To explain current guidelines for outsourcing as provided by the Joint Forum, the EU Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID), and the UK Financial Services Authority.

After discussing the international regulatory focus, describes FSA policy on outsourcing in detail, including senior management responsibility for management of risk and the need for internal and external due diligence. Provides guidance concerning supplier contracts, relationship management and monitoring, contingency planning, and exit planning.

The FSA's guidance on outsourcing highlights the need for senior management of the customer firm to take full responsibility for the increased risks that outsourcing can generate as part of their inherent accountability for efficient systems and controls.

A guide for ensuring that a firm's outsourcing arrangements are in compliance with FSA and MiFID guidelines.

Wonders whether companies actually have employees best interests at heart across physical, mental and spiritual spheres. Posits that most organizations ignore their workforce – not even, in many cases, describing workers as assets! Describes many studies to back up this claim in theis work based on the 2002 Employment Research Unit Annual Conference, in Cardiff, Wales.

The purpose of this paper is to uncover the mechanisms of organizations managing innovation outsourcing to business partners. In a business environment characterized by the development of deep, niche expertise in a particular domain, business partnerships can provide a source of innovative rejuvenation by outsourcing the innovation to business partners who have complementary skills and expertise. This paper addresses a critical challenge which the organizations are currently facing: how do you manage outsourcing of innovation to business partners effectively while maintaining your strategic competitiveness?

Exploratory multiple case studies of over 30 innovative European and US companies were done. It involved 50 semi‐structured interviews with senior executives from research and development, product management, information technology, and marketing.

The paper identifies three complementary models of managing outsourcing of innovation to business partner: acquisition, strategic alliances, and open source (OS). Based on these, a three‐dimensional “Co‐Innovation Space” is proposed that can help in analysis and planning of current and future innovation projects.

Although the research is carefully designed, it is an exploratory study and has the limitation of generalizability of the findings. Nevertheless, findings from multiple case studies from diverse organizations shed a light to current innovation and strategic alliance literature.

Partnerships can open the door to multiple knowledge sources. Accessing and integrating information from these sources can greatly enhance knowledge base of organizations and can help fuel sustainable innovation. The models proposed in this study provide a lens to examine existing innovation project portfolios and/or to plan for future innovation programmes.

This study is probably among few to study such a large, diversified, and geographically scattered group of organizations. Although exploratory and preliminary, this makes the findings of the study insightful.