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There is an increasing recognition of outsourcing firms as new organizational forms with unique systems and practices. This paper seeks to use a configurational approach to integrate learning from outsourcing literature, organization and management theory, strategic management and strategic human resource management in order to understand similarities and differences between outsourcing firms and their performance. It aims to examine if certain combinations of work designs, strategic orientations, client relations and contexts could lead to better organizational performance within a sample of outsourcing firms.

A combination of descriptive and exploratory research design has been used to collect data from 60 outsourcing firms across India. Using survey and semi‐structured interviews, data have been collected from the top management team and non‐managerial employees in each organization (n=836 respondents). Principal components factor analysis, Ward's minimum variance method, K‐means cluster analysis, and χ² have been used to arrive at configurations of outsourcing firms. Kruskal‐Wallis one‐way ANOVA and Tamhane's T2‐test have been used for further hypothesis testing.

Five dominant configurations of outsourcing firms emerge, namely, clear‐eyed strategists, adapting professionals, focalizing artisans, conservative controllers, and overambitious associates. Specific configurations of outsourcing firms are associated with better performance across a variety of organizational performance parameters (average attrition, growth in employment, growth in clients, growth in offered processes and overall satisfaction with organisational performance).

Future research could include financial performance measures and could examine potential conflicts in performance outcomes. It would also be interesting to include client perspective in future studies on outsourcing firm success. Replicating the results of this study across countries would enhance their validity and generalizability.

It is hoped that the findings of this paper will contribute to theory building in the field of both outsourcing and configurational research. At the same time, the study is expected to help managers who are trying to move their outsourcing firms in the direction of sustainable success through the choice of appropriate strategies, designs, inter‐organizational relations and contexts.

This is one of the initial studies to classify outsourcing firms using organizational level variables. While most prior studies have examined outsourcing success from the client perspective, this paper provides an important shift towards studying organizational performance from the outsourcing firm's perspective. Since configurational membership can predict which firms will perform better than others on objective and subjective performance measures, this paper provides a useful framework to managers for structuring processes and inter‐organizational relations while making informed strategic choices.

Outsourcing of logistics has great importance in disaster relief. Aid agencies spend several billion US dollars every year on logistics services. However, the concept of outsourcing has not been established adequately in literature on humanitarian logistics, leading to a fragmented view of the practice. This paper provides a holistic perspective of the concept by constructing a conceptual framework to analyze both practice and research of outsourcing in humanitarian operations. Based on this analysis, we explore future trends and identify research gaps.

The paper is based on a structured review of academic literature, a two-round Delphi study with 31 experts from aid agencies and a complementary full-day focus group with twelve experts from aid agencies and logistics service providers.

The paper systemizes the current practice of outsourcing in humanitarian logistics according to a conceptual framework of five dimensions: subject, object, partner, design and context. In addition, it reveals ten probable developments of the practice over the next years. Finally, it describes eight important research gaps and presents a research agenda for the field.

The literature review considered peer-reviewed academic papers. Practitioner papers could provide additional insights into the practice. Moreover, the Delphi study focused on the perspective of aid agencies. Capturing the views of logistics service providers in more detail would be a valuable addition.

The paper establishes the academic basis for the important practice of outsourcing in humanitarian logistics. It highlights essential research gaps and, thereby, opens up the field for future research.

The purpose of this paper is to propose a conceptual framework for prototyping outsourcing.

This study provides an up‐to‐date literature review and an in‐depth case study.

This study identifies three factors (i.e. the degree of the prototyping to core competence, prototyping complexity, and supplier's capability of providing knowledge and speed for prototyping) and three types of risks (i.e. losing control over suppliers, dependency on suppliers, and supplier's lack of capabilities) for prototyping outsourcing decisions.

This paper provides guidelines for new product development managers in order to mitigate the risks associated with outsourcing and achieve effective prototyping.

This study provides a strategic outsourcing framework for prototyping.

The aim of this paper is to present a framework model for outsourcing asset management services in municipalities.

The authors have analysed the outsourcing of asset management services in the municipal sector. A survey document containing a series of questions was developed and issued to administrative (policy‐making) staff members at senior management level. These staff members are concerned with the strategic planning of facilities beyond the five‐year horizon.

The survey indicated that outsourcing is being utilized in almost all functions relating to the management of municipal infrastructure, and that the criterion for selecting a specific contractor for a service is lowest price. The findings section in the paper also presents a list of the advantages of outsourcing along with the rated priority of each, the disadvantages of outsourcing along with the rated severity of each, and the strategies that could be followed to achieve a successful outcome from the outsourcing process, along with the rated importance of each.

Development of the model was motivated by the desire to develop a standard methodology that senior managers in the municipalities can adopt as a reference policy guideline for the conduct of outsourcing of asset management services. The model builds on knowledge from the published literature and professional practice documented in the municipality of the City of Dammam, one of the largest cities in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia. The model serves to standardize process descriptions, the activities that need to be undertaken, and the methodology of how and what information needs to be communicated between activities. The framework also may provide a useful focus for others wishing to enter the outsourcing area.

The purpose of this paper is to determine whether and how managing three aspects of design – the strategic role of design, outsourcing of design and organizational resistance to design – contribute to new product and service sales success.

The study was conducted through an online survey of US-based innovation managers. Measures were developed from past literature. In total, 324 managers with at least two years of innovation experience in diverse industries completed the survey. The collected data was checked for measurement reliability and then was used to test a model through regression analyses.

The model was significant, and each of the three aspects of design management was found to influence innovation sales in unique ways. The strategic role enhances sales, organizational resistance impedes sales and outsourcing strengthens then lowers sales. It makes no difference in results if the firms are manufacturers or service providers, indicating the model is robust across industries.

Strategic (design role), operational (design outsourcing) and cultural (design resistance) elements of design management matter to innovation. To better ensure strong new product and service sales, firms should elevate the role of design in innovation, apply a combined approach of externalizing and internalizing the design function and reduce organizational resistance to design.

This paper is one of the first to empirically examine the innovation impacts of design management, specifically determining the effects of design’s strategic importance, limits when outsourced and organization resistance on new product and service sales.

To review the issues surrounding the outsourcing of payroll.

Literature review covering: the benefits of outsourcing payroll; duty of care from employer's perspective; how employers could maintain sufficient expertise and control to effectively oversee the outsourcing payroll processor; and essential tips to a successful outsourcing relationship.

Many employers are aware that payroll administration is very complex and tedious; therefore, it has become one of the most common outsourced functions. In addition, outsourcing payroll offers several benefits, such as avoiding internal revenue service (IRS) penalties, reducing costs, and enabling direct deposits. However, employers should keep in mind that outsourcing payroll is not the end of their responsibility regarding payroll related issues. The IRS makes clear that employers are the ultimate responsible party even though they outsource their payroll.

In order to succeed in outsourcing payroll, employers must select a right vendor, come up with a clear and straight‐forward contract, and maintain sufficient control and effective oversight of the outsourcing vendor. Fulfilling these key factors will guarantee that the payroll vendor will take care of their payroll needs for years to come. The payroll outsourcing vendor can be viewed as a long‐term partner. Therefore, it is essential for employers to maintain a positive relationship with the vendor. In other words, they need to develop a win‐win relationship with the outsourcing partner by following the seven important tips that are identified and discussed.

Illustrates the seven essential tips to a successful outsourcing relationship: identify a key staff liaison to the outsourced provider; let the outsource provider meet the staff; inform your staff of the outsource arrangement; view the outsource company as an extension of staff; communicate effectively; learn and take advantage of all services the outsourced provider offers; and be clear and realistic regarding expectations.

To develop a prescriptive model that provides effective guidance in the early stages of outsourcing processes, while taking into the decision‐makers' bounded rationality.

Provides an overview of existing prescriptive decision models for outsourcing based on literature review. Contrasts these models with empirical accounts of outsourcing including two case‐studies of outsourcing of logistics activities. Discusses and explains discrepancies from the point of view of literature on bounded rationality and satisficing. Develops a conceptual decision model based on the principles of satisficing.

That there appear to be discrepancies between many of the prescriptive outsourcing models in the literature and the processes observed in practice. That satisficing concept provides a useful explanation of these discrepancies and useful design principles for developing more realistic prescriptive outsourcing decision models.

The model developed in this paper constitutes a first step and its details must be worked out and investigated in more detail. In that respect, specific suggestions for further research are included in the paper, e.g. regarding the potential of methods and techniques from operations research in certain parts of the model.

Explains discrepancies between existing outsourcing decision models and outsourcing processes in practice – in particular regarding the practice of outsourcing (combinations of) logistics activities. Offers the basis for realistic decision guidance in outsourcing processes.

This paper is one of first which presents an outsourcing model that explicitly incorporates satisficing principles.

Through the literature, the effect of macro-environment on onshore outsourcing decisions appears rather unexplored, despite empirical evidence. The purpose of this paper is to address this gap through an extension of Transaction Cost Economics (TCE) (the main theory of domestic outsourcing).

This paper develops a framework based on a literature review. It applies this body of knowledge on a new question and provides detailed illustrations (with primary and secondary data).

This paper builds a theoretical framework, based on the concept of transition costs. This concept, created as a way to make the economizing approach more dynamic, highlights the influences of the macro-environment. This paper presents a clarification of transition costs. It formulates a theoretical proposition: the environment has an effect on outsourcing through the transition costs.

This framework deserves to be tested through an empirical study.

This framework enables domestic providers to take the environment and transition costs into account for the design and timing of outsourced service.

This framework enables to consider the importance of social conflicts and political measures on the domestic outsourcing decisions.

First, this paper addresses an unexplored question (the effect of macro-environment on onshore outsourcing decisions). Second, it refines an undertheorized TCE concept: the transition costs. Third, it proposes a new direction in the current debate of the evanishing explanatory power of the TCE on outsourcing (by extending this theory).

This paper aims to focus on the outsourcing facilities management (FM) services in small to medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs).

The paper employs a Define‐Measure‐Analyze‐Improve‐Control (DMAIC) methodology. A survey in Italy, a country quite representative when talking about SMEs, is first presented and evidence from the field is discussed. Stemming from the evidence, a road‐map is presented to overcome these criticalities and to support, also in SMEs, the diffusion of the outsourcing of the FM services, whose benefits in terms of higher efficiency and better service are already being experienced by larger companies. The proposed model is then validated through the extensive survey on small and medium‐sized Italian enterprises.

The survey shows that the current level of adoption of advanced outsourcing practices is very low: less than 5 percent of the companies in the sample resort to a single supplier delivering multiple FM services. The adoption rate of such practices is hence very low, and the survey has pointed out three different levels of causes: size‐related, cultural, and managerial.

The survey used in this paper is based on a questionnaire but does not consider non‐respondents. The database of companies provided by IFMA – Italian Chapter – could also possibly introduce bias.

Starting with the early recognition that the main problem in the field implementations of result‐oriented approaches lies in determining whether the expected results have been achieved and that two key tools are available (i.e. the service level agreement and the reporting system), the model suggests a new organizational and managerial structure, even simpler than the traditional (i.e. not integrated) approach. To design the kernel of the control system, DMAIC has been used, after a specific customization.

Results show a widespread outsourcing of the facilities‐related services in the larger organizations and some hurdles of the smaller ones in exploiting all the opportunities offered, so that – on average – the management of facilities‐related services represents an opportunity to exploit rather than an actually implemented methodology.

Only a few international contributions refer to local environments: here an extensive survey involving more than 1,000 Italian companies is presented.

This article develops a framework that helps clients and service providers make better decisions about whether and when to outsource, and on the appropriate type of outsourcing arrangement.

The paper is conceptual in nature.

Companies must align the governance of business functions to the underlying needs, resources, and desired outcomes. Simple procurement may suffice for acquiring standard business services such as cafeteria catering. When economies of scale exist and when transfer of explicit, codified knowledge is involved, straight‐forward transactional “lift and shift” IT and BP outsourcing arrangements will yield cost savings and efficiency. When transfer of know‐how is more tacit, and the goal is to add value to the client's customers beyond cost efficiency, longer‐term strategic outsourcing is appropriate. Finally, when there are risks to expropriation of proprietary knowledge and capital invested, transformational outsourcing is best.

The client and service provider need to ensure they do not overcommit resources in the case of transactional outsourcing while being prepared to invest adequately in strategic and transformational outsourcing. The framework helps to answer the question of when transformational outsourcing arrangements are appropriate. It also makes explicit the various risks involved, so that appropriate governance can effectively address the risks.

Many authors have written about the pitfalls of outsourcing including rushing through the initiative and not having a formal governance program. To address these, our framework advocates a comprehensive review of the entire array of possibilities, from in‐house development to simple procurement of services in the open market, as alternatives to outsourcing.