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The provision of facilities management (FM) services, facilitated by a well-suited sourcing strategy, significantly influences the optimization of dwelling unit performance, augmentation of occupants’ living experiences and the establishment of a secure and comfortable environment. Consequently, this study aims to examine the sourcing approach used for delivering FM services in social housing within Nigeria’s semi-arid climate and to assess the effectiveness of the chosen sourcing approach in the provision of FM services.

Data collection involved one-on-one interviews conducted with five principal/senior staff members of the Borno State Housing Corporation in Maiduguri, Northern Nigeria. For data analysis, the NVivo R1 software package and Stata 13.0 were used. Thematic analysis was applied to the data, and the findings were presented through narrations and direct quotes from participants. Logistic regression analysis was subsequently used to assess the effectiveness of the adopted in-house approach in providing FM services in the context of social housing.

Administrators of social housing in the semi-arid climate of Nigeria exclusively adopted an in-house sourcing approach for providing FM services. Nevertheless, the in-house approach was conclusively determined to be ineffective in delivering FM services within the specific context of social housing in the semi-arid climate of Nigeria.

This investigation centred on examining the sourcing strategy used by social housing administrators for delivering FM services in social housing within a semi-arid climate of Nigeria. Additionally, the study delved into evaluating the efficacy of the chosen sourcing approach in the actual provision of FM services.

Knowledge-based services (KBS) comprise a major portion of services acquired by public organizations. However, their procurement is not well managed; consequently, inefficiencies abound. Therefore, this study explores whether and how KBS can be sourced more efficiently by examining best practices and precepts from knowledge management theory. A spend analysis of one agencyʼs spend is used to identify the types of KBS procured. Interviews from 12 cases are then used to identify best practices and cost drivers in sourcing KBS. Twenty one recommendations for improving efficiency in sourcing KBS are offered. The findings suggest that potential is available from demand reduction strategies, and that public policy governing the procurement of knowledge is needed. The research concludes with theoretical implications and suggestions for future research.

This paper aims to identify the dimensions of service quality in the case of ride-sourcing services in Indian context.

The service quality dimensions of ride-sourcing services are identified using an exploratory factor analysis (EFA). Further, the reliability and validity of the factors are established through confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) using AMOS.

The service quality dimensions of ride-sourcing services are identified: comfort, internal environment, safety and personnel, mobile convenience and reliability, mobile system efficiency and availability, mobile customer service and billing and mobile security and privacy.

The various dimensions are identified to measure service quality of ride-sourcing services in India. So, these dimensions can be tested for ride-sourcing services of countries having similar culture as India.

The proposed dimensions can be used as a diagnostic tool to identify and compare important criteria for service quality of ride-sourcing services.

Most relevant studies about dimensions of service quality for ride-sourcing services do not have stable factor structure. The dimensions identified include the traditional taxi service quality and mobile app service quality, which are not covered in current literature.

The purpose of this paper is to examine key emerging trends in sourcing of business services.

The paper is primarily theoretical and observational. It is based on the author's review of major academic and managerial publications, extensive interactions with industry leaders and prior experience in the industry.

Scale and scope of sourcing of business services from across firm and national boundaries is increasing. Offshore is increasingly being leveraged for higher value activities. As business services get more industrialized, activities are being split into smaller units for servicing, and a services supply chain is beginning to emerge. With sourcing becoming more strategic, risk management has become more complex and critical.

This paper provides an overview of significant emerging trends in sourcing of business services. Further complementary research – theoretical, survey or case‐study based – on each of these identified trends will help develop a more exhaustive understanding.

This paper provides business executives with a framework to view emerging changes in sourcing of business services, and to better prepare for future opportunities and challenges.

This paper takes a holistic view at sourcing of business services and identifies some key emerging trends. The review of academic, managerial and popular press publications, and insights gathered from the field have been summarized into this succinct overview. This perspective should guide further focused academic research as well as practical application in business projects.

The purpose of this paper is to find how mature the Polish commercial production companies are in their information technology (IT) sourcing practices, what they do, the practices that are successful, the challenges experienced and the outcomes.The paper presents and critically evaluates the results of a study of IT outsourcing management processes in selected industrial enterprises operating in Poland. Dynamic business contexts, globalisation and advances in IT make the development of IT sourcing models challenging in both theory and practice. This paper examines the principles and practice of sourcing IT and business processes in Poland, a country much under-represented in the literature. Little research has been conducted on the strategic rationale behind IT sourcing decisions, the resulting challenges and the potential or actual consequences of such decisions. This paper addresses these gaps in the understanding of IT sourcing processes by way of examining the types of sourcing models and solutions among manufacturing companies operating in Poland, and by identifying the most problematic and critical factors in effective IT sourcing collaborations. The outcomes are assessed against findings from the broader empirical outsourcing literature, and lessons are drawn for Polish client firms and those in similar economies.

A survey methodology of a limited number of organisations in Poland was used. The study was designed to address the process of managing IT sourcing relations in production companies operating in Poland. The main objective of the study was to formulate working hypotheses to be used in further research on the sourcing models used in the IT sphere. Additionally, the study was designed to provide information on: the potential respondent reactions to the research problem, the understanding of the notions and terms used in the survey questionnaire and the evaluation of the research instrument itself.

Organisations (and their employees) are generally well aware of their IT needs, and that they select quite well providers that suit their particular requirements. In their selection processes, organisations carefully consider not only the providers’ experience and the range of services on offer but also their flexibility in response to the client’s demands, the location and the trust formed in the course of previous cooperation. Communication between the parties typically takes the form of telephone conversations and e-mails. The majority of respondents reported more than one type of problems faced in the course of outsourcing. Problems concentrated in the areas of communication (52 per cent) and organisation (48 per cent), followed by difficulties in enforcing the terms of the contract.

It is a selective sample, focuses only on production companies and does not look at the offshore outsourcing market that has grown up in Poland, but rather what domestic polish organisations do in their sourcing practices.

The organisations still struggle with the organisation and management of relations with their external service providers while getting reasonable results. They have much to learn from the published literature on managing the outsourcing life cycle.

There is a need for better inter-organisational cooperation.

Poland is very underrepresented in the outsourcing literature – there are no examples of surveys like this in the English literature.

To co-create value through dynamic collaborations, enterprises and their suppliers need to orchestrate the integration of complementary resources when providing business services. As such enterprises' strategic decision to apply a plural sourcing strategy to establish dynamic collaborations with their suppliers implies that both in-house and outsourced business services should be bundled into a business services portfolio. However, the antecedents that affect a business services portfolio have rarely conceptually been identified.

Drawing on resource orchestration theory, the authors theoretically developed and empirically validated a business services portfolio conceptual model. The model aims at explaining the critical antecedents to a business services portfolio based on a unique data set, comprising 121 international enterprises with variation in the degree of outsourcing, size, geographies and maturity. Partial least squares structural equation modelling was used to examine the relationships among the antecedents and a business services portfolio.

The findings show that the antecedent, i.e. plural sourcing strategy, modularised business processes and customer orientation have a direct and significant effect on the enterprises' business services portfolio orchestration. The results of the mediation test indicate that modularised business processes fully mediate the relationships between three independent variables with the orchestration of business services portfolio.

This study is the first to analyse the impact of plural sourcing strategy, modularised business processes and customer orientation on the business services portfolio orchestration from a plural sourcing context. Additionally, it examines the mediating role of modularised business processes in the relationship between the antecedents and business services portfolio orchestration.

The purpose of this paper is to enhance decision-making process for the procurement of facilities management (FM) services within aviation corporate organisation, where the FM services functions to support the business operation. It builds on considering the fundamental elements comprising the FM procurement process from the aviation perspective.

The paper investigates the characteristics of the different types of sourcing approaches and the underpinning factors affecting its selection for the procurement of FM services within the aviation industry. The decision-making framework for the procurement of FM services is developed based on the qualitative case study by interview and focus group discussion with the custodian department that is directly involved in the procurement of FM services.

The degree of outsourcing is increasing due to corporate organisation’s persona. Procurement of FM services is a complex process required detailed review, efforts and time in choosing the right sourcing approach. Off the shelf guidelines for the procurement of FM services suits property professional which directly involved with the procurement of FM services. However, decision-making process for the procurement of FM services specifically for aeronautical and non-aeronautical corporate organisation are rarely found. The case study findings signify that the respondents are familiar with the in-sourcing, outsourcing and right sourcing approaches. The underpinning factors affecting sourcing approaches were categorised according to the main reasons for the procurement of FM services, considerable factors during the procurement stage and value-adding criteria. The use of strategic management tools is not widely imposed, and intelligent client guideline is not available. Hence, the decision-making framework has been developed to fill the gap in this study.

The research is based on a study of aviation or airline corporate organisation, which limits the possibility of holistic view to the FM industry as a whole but highlights the research gap of FM procurement which is scarce within the case study of airline companies. The focus area is also bounded within the procurement of FM services designated for the office buildings.

The paper provides initial guideline for the airline company in sourcing the procurement of FM services that were developed based on established guidelines from accrediting bodies and scholars, as well as from the sampling feedback analysis. It is also among the firsts that examine the procurement of FM services in the context of aviation or airline industry. The outcome of this paper is a decision-making framework for the procurement of FM services that is specially designed for the airlines corporate organisations, which fills the gap that exists in the industry.

The purchasing of services is a significantly under-researched area. The purpose of this study is to suggest a conceptual model of service sourcing relationships, including the post-contract phase.

A qualitative methodology involving two longitudinal case studies that were analyzed with a grounded theory approach to build a conceptual model was applied.

The proposed model consists of a core process that is termed “business streamlining” and denotes the process by which four interrelated dimensions are managed to making the business processes of the buying organization simpler and more effective and/or productive.

Although the research methodology is qualitative and does not allow statistical generalization, the study does provide valuable insights into the management of the service sourcing process.

The model proposed in this study can be utilized by managers to impose a useful conceptual structure on otherwise fluid and intangible processes, which makes them easier to analyze and facilitates strategic corporate decision-making.

The paper proposes a model that grasps the dynamics and reality of service (out-) sourcing relationships, including the ongoing relationship management process.

This chapter provides evidence on the factors that influence the design of the control arrangements that govern support services. Specifically, we study sourcing decisions of non-strategic information technology (IT) support services. While the popular management literature suggests to outsource non-strategic activities, in practice organizations perform these services (partly) in-house. Based on transaction cost economics (TCE), we hypothesize that control structure choices depend on asset specificity, uncertainty and frequency. Using survey data on IT sourcing decisions from 89 firms in the construction industry, we find support for most of our hypotheses. Our results indicate that asset specificity deriving from the degree of organizational embeddedness of the IT function negatively affects firms’ propensity to outsource their non-core IT support, and that (behavioural) uncertainty intensifies this negative effect. As expected, we also find that frequency has a negative direct effect on the willingness to outsource IT services provision. However, we find no support for the hypothesized interaction between asset specificity and frequency. Overall, our study indicates that the organization's choice to outsource non-strategic support services depends on the organizational role of these services, rather than on their technological characteristics.

Purpose – To discuss how coevolutionary framework is useful to research emerging and evolving phenomena, such as global sourcing of business services, where West meets East.

Approach – The authors first introduce the phenomenon of global sourcing of business services and then review extant literature on coevolutionary research.

Findings – The authors discuss how global sourcing is a coevolutionary and multilevel phenomenon, which can be better understood by identifying micro and macro factors (task, firm, industry, and country), demand and supply (clients and service providers), technological and institutional factors (Information and Communication Technology (ICT), digitization, demographic trends, national and regional policies).

Research implications – The authors identify the main mechanisms, research questions, and methodological issues that underlie coevolutionary analysis.

Originality/Value – The main contribution of this chapter is twofold: provide a deeper and more nuanced understanding of global sourcing of business services, and assert that in coevolutionary research the role of mechanisms affecting a phenomenon may change over time.