Factors Influencing SME Outsourcing: Evidence from Romania

Abstract

The present research, based on a national representative survey analysis of SMEs (that is, small and medium enterprises) from Romania, focuses on the main factors influencing companies’ outsourcing. It considers the following dimensions of outsourcing: organizational characteristics, environmental characteristics, relational capabilities, and institutional networks. The results suggest that the younger the SMEs and the more stable their relationship with local institutions, the more likely is for them to adopt outsourcing solutions. Moreover, those SMEs that have secondary offices and have some cooperation with the state also rely on outsourcing. Our results suggest that sector membership also proves to be a signifficant factor in outsourcing. We ffind that the highest percentage of outsourcing was done in construction, industry as well as hotels and restaurants sectors.