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The aim of this paper is to go beyond the “What to outsource” and “To Outsource or Not” debate. Recognizing outsourcing as a fast growing reality that firms have to depend upon, the paper concerns itself with optimal management of outsourcing arrangements through the practice of “outsourcing capability”. It argues that outsourcing failure can be mitigated if organizations see outsourcing as an “ongoing activity” to be managed as opposed to treating it as a one-time opportunistic “act”.

Based on the review of existing literature and drawing upon recent instances of outsourcing successes and failures, the paper develops a conceptual framework which divides various organizational processes into four different classes. It delineates the varied aspects of “outsourcing capability” that a firm would need to use to manage these varied class of processes as and when they are outsourced.

There is no “one-size-fits-all” approach to managing outsourced processes. Different processes require emphasis on different aspect of outsourcing capability if outsourcing is to deliver the envisaged benefits.

The traditional focus in outsourcing literature has been on the core/non-core process with the recommendation to keep core processes in-house and outsource the non-core processes. This distinction can be transitory and hence detrimental in the era of hyper-competition. I argue that firms should instead focus on developing and refining aspects of “outsourcing capability” relevant to the varied class of processes that they wish/need to outsource.

The corporate real estate provider community is freely using the term business process outsourcing, or ‘BPO’ to differentiate its value propositions. Yet most buyers and sellers have yet to articulate clearly the concept as it pertains to corporate real estate ‐ the value proposition, economic structure, focus and impediments to adoption. This paper defines BPO as it relates to corporate real estate and suggests conditions that must be in place for its adoption.

The purpose of this paper is to discuss business processes as building‐blocks of organisational capabilities and outsourcing of business processes as a viable management approach to building strategic organisational capabilities.

The paper develops a conceptual framework based on “strategic partnering” to successfully implement “global sourcing” of organisational capabilities and validates this framework using multiple case studies research.

The paper identifies business process management, relationship management and the outsourcing value propositions as the key dimensions for business process outsourcing (BPO) success.

The paper is based on case studies of seven European clients and ten Indian service providers of BPO services. A larger survey of BPO clients and service providers may further strengthen the proposed framework and make the findings more conclusive.

The proposed framework helps both the BPO client and the service provider organisations in understanding the critical role of relationship management in realising the intended BPO service outcomes. It also helps the BPO clients and the service providers to understand the risk and business value implications of BPO value proposition.

The paper addresses a dearth of literature on BPO service provision and establishes the need for dyadic study of BPO services from both the client and the service provider perspective simultaneously for understanding the dynamics of this emerging service sector.

The purpose of this paper is to discuss business processes as building blocks of organizational capabilities and outsourcing of business processes as a viable management approach in building winning relationships.

The paper develops a conceptual model to successfully implement “global sourcing” of organizational capabilities for the service provider and validates this framework using questionnaire survey methodology.

The paper identifies business process management and relationship management value propositions as the key dimensions for business process outsourcing (BPO) success. However, these value propositions fall short of building winning relationships.

The research is based on questionnaire survey of Indian BPO service providers. A survey of BPO clients may further strengthen the proposed framework and make the findings more conclusive.

The proposed framework helps both the BPO client and the service‐provider organizations in understanding the critical role of relationship management in realizing the intended BPO service outcomes.

The paper establishes the importance of capability service provision by the service provider as value proposition.

This paper empirically investigates the processes by which manufacturing firms create radical innovations in their core production process, referred to as radical manufacturing technology innovations (RMTI). The purpose of this paper is to improve the understanding of the processes and practices manufacturing firms use to create RMTI.

Creation processes for 23 RMTI projects from diverse industry and technology contexts are explored. Data were collected via semi-structured interviews, and an inductive analysis was carried out to identify similarities and differences in RMTI types and creation processes.

Three types of RMTI and three alternative RMTI creation processes are revealed and characterized. An integrated view is developed of the activities of the equipment supplier and the manufacturing firm, highlighting their different roles and interaction across the three RMTI creation process types.

The exploratory design limits the depth of the analysis per RMTI project, and the focus is on manufacturing technology innovations in one country. The results extend previous case and context-specific findings on RMTI creation processes and provide novel frameworks for cross-case comparisons.

The manufacturing firms’ proactive role in RMTI creation is defined. A framework is proposed for using different RMTI creation processes for different types of RMTI.

This study addresses recent calls for empirical research on understanding the ways in which process innovations unfold in manufacturing firms. The findings emphasize the role of manufacturing firms as creators of RMTI in addition to their role as innovation adopters and implementers and reveal the suitability of different RMTI creation processes for different RMTI types.

This paper sets out to review the different types of outsourcing, its drivers and process, and to identify world‐class capabilities that host organisations can leverage.

This paper is primarily based on a review of literature.

Outsourcing helps the organisation to achieve higher levels of value creation for the final customer. Drivers of outsourcing emanate from organisational initiatives, improvement focus, financial and cost objectives, or growth objectives. A wide range of core and non‐core critical business processes are increasingly being outsourced covering a large spectrum of sectors and operations, enabling host organisations to gain access to world‐class capabilities.

This paper identifies critical drivers of outsourcing and the process by reviewing available literature in this area. In doing this an attempt is made to find answers to some fundamental questions. What are the main types and drivers of outsourcing? What are the different phases in the process of outsourcing? This paper discusses in detail the significant drivers and process of outsourcing; and the world‐class capabilities accessible by the host organisation. Case studies are used to illustrate these aspects further.

The purpose of this research is to show that relational capabilities is a topic of interest for the competitiveness of hotel companies. This paper aims to present a methodology based on the analysis of processes in order to create and strengthen relational capabilities and proposes a model with three dimensions that jointly analyzes this phenomenon in relation to the outsourcing of activities and the collateral relationships maintained between different hotels.

Creates a methodology to rethink the relationships between the hotel company, its suppliers and other hotels in the same tourist destination. The creation of relational capabilities necessarily requires the hotel to study and analyze the following stages: internal analysis of resources and capabilities; relational analysis of activities; and process integration. A model is also proposed to analyze this question.

The development of relational capabilities in outsourcing is based on the level of competence of the service companies and on the strategic contribution of the activities, with four cases analyzed: high competence and low strategic contribution; low competence and high strategic contribution; low competence and low strategic value; and relational and internal capabilities. The joint analysis of the outsourcing relationships and collateral relationships among hotels adds a third dimension of process integration, with four possibilities: non‐core activities and low collateral processes integration; core activities and low collateral processes integration; non‐core activities and high collateral process integration; and core activities and high collateral processes integration.

A short self‐assessment questionnaire is developed that may help hotels to implement the methodology, as well as to create the basis for the empirical application by researchers in hospitality management.

The paper studies the possibilities of developing relational capabilities in the sector. It also determines the process to be followed in order to develop relational capabilities in the outsourcing of activities and in collateral relationships between hotels.

Technological process innovation (TPI) is a distinctive organizational phenomenon characterized by a firm-internal locus and underlying components such as mutual adaptation of new technology and existing organization, technological change, organizational change, and systemic impact. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the management of these components at different stages of the innovation lifecycle (ILC) in large manufacturing companies.

The authors adopt an exploratory case-based research design and conduct a multiple case study of five large successful manufacturing companies operating in different industries in Germany. The authors build the study on 55 semi-structured interviews, which yielded 91.5 hours of recorded interview data. The authors apply cross-case synthesis and replication logic to identify patterns of how companies address process innovation components at different ILC stages.

The study uncovers the content of four central TPI components across the ILC and identifies differences between the development of core and non-core processes. Based on the findings the authors describe asymmetric adaptation as a theoretical construct and propose that companies seek different levels of process standardization depending on the type of process they develop, which in turn affects whether there is a greater extent of technological or organizational change.

Awareness of existing structures, processes, and technologies, as well as their value in relation to the company’s core and non-core operations is imperative to determining the adequate structure of mutual adaptation.

The authors provide detailed insight on the management of mutual adaptation, technological, and organizational change, as well as systemic impact at the different stages of the ILC. The authors extend prior research by adopting an ILC perspective for the investigation of these four TPI components and by proposing a construct of asymmetric adaptation to capture key mechanisms of process development and implementation.

Offshore outsourcing of non‐core business process has rapidly evolved as a ubiquitous organisational phenomenon. However, failure to follow a clear, systematic and effective outsourcing strategy to evaluate threats, uncertainties and numerous imponderables can cause global enterprise businesses major setbacks. The reasons for such setback could be largely due to lack of core competency, careful legal planning and due diligence to operating models associated with an outsourcing initiative. This paper attempts to collate and exemplify the distinct qualifying processes accommodating contractual and intellectual property rights and provide a worthwhile debate on intricate legal considerations when structuring multi‐jurisdictional outsourcing deals.

The paper presents a comparative analysis of strategic legal and management framework by weighing the risks and evaluating the threats which would assist the decision making process of firms when selecting an appropriate offshore partner to carry out their IT‐development work.

Importance of legal intervention and due diligence to service agreements is further elevated as, at every phase of an outsourcing arrangement, compliance issues and contractual obligations can affect the success of an enterprise customer and its relationship with their outsourcing service provider.

The authors suggest that an exhaustive qualitative and quantitative industry specific research analysis be conducted in order to better define the principles and standards governing sub‐contracting arrangements.

A broader exposure to the strategic management and regulatory framework might provide firms with vantage points from which they could assess and identify new opportunities, evaluate threats and adopt effective risk mitigation strategies. Compliance to security standards and safeguard of information acquisition, analysis and usage should emerge as the mainstream strategy for outsourcing.

The paper offers insights and an overview of management and legal issues in the context of offshore technology outsourcing.