Revisiting the outsourcing debate: two sides of the same story

Bhattacharya, Ananya; Singh, Prakash J.; Bhakoo, Vikram

doi:10.1080/09537287.2011.648491

Cited by 18 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 94 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Based on our study that is presented in Paper 1, we propose that technological uncertainty may require that the firm be flexible and not commit to one particular supplier or technology in order to be able to quickly change technology if another technology proves to be superior to the technology currently under consideration. This finding is similar to another recent study, which shows that firms use flexible and open-ended contracts as a way to manage technological uncertainty (Bhattacharya et al, 2013). Commercial uncertainty, on the other hand, may also imply a need for flexibility due to cost, appropriation, competition, and leakage parameters.…”

Section: Papersupporting

confidence: 79%

“…Consequently, the firm may become dependent upon this supplier. Changing a supplier is viewed as being difficult and is described in a study of Australian firms as a big challenge, a nightmare, and extremely costly (Bhattacharya, Singh, & Bhakoo, 2013). However, this situation is from the buying firm's perspective, which I adopt in this thesis.…”

Section: Post Selectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As a way to manage technical uncertainty, firms use flexible and open-ended contracts (Bhattacharya et al, 2013). Paper 1 is based on an in-depth case analysis where the theoretical framework developed by Hall & Martin (2005) and Hall et al (2011) is expanded upon.…”

Section: Supplier Selection For Collaborative Npdmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Supplier Involvement in New Product Development under Technological Uncertainty

Melander¹

2014

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This thesis addresses the challenges that firms are faced with when collaborating with suppliers in new product development (NPD) projects under technological uncertainty. A critical observation that is made in this context is that technologies are evolving faster, making products more complex. At the same time, firms become more specialized. Due to increased complexity and specialization, firms do not possess all the necessary technologies in-house and therefore need to collaborate with external organisations to incorporate new technology into their products. Common collaborators are suppliers who become integrated into the buying firm's NPD project. Scholars and practitioners alike have stressed the importance of involving suppliers in NPD (Takeishi, 2001;Petersen, Handfield, & Ragatz, 2005;Silverstone, Wallis, & Mindrum, 2012;Tevelson, Alsén, Rosenfeld, Benett, Farrell, & Zygelman, 2013). However, finding suppliers and collaborating with suppliers in NPD can be problematic. In addition, external collaborations also impact the buying firm internally, since it often needs to coordinate its departments. Supplier involvement in NPD has been studied for decades (for an overview of the field see Johnsen, 2009), however, little is known about the impact of technological uncertainty in these settings. Consequently, the purpose of this thesis is to explore supplier involvement in NPD under technological uncertainty.The research in this thesis is based on six case studies that were conducted at two large system integrator firms: ABB and Ericsson. In total, 53 interviews and two workshops were conducted to collect relevant data. The thesis consists of a compiled summary and five appended papers. The framework that is developed in the thesis highlights that challenges in supplier involvement in NPD projects under technological uncertainty can be divided into challenges that are related to supplier selection, buyer-supplier collaboration, and internal coordination between R&D and purchasing. The main findings of these studies revolve around the identified challenges.Challenges in supplier selection are concerned with the issues of involving new suppliers or relying on old acquaintances, managing uncertainties, the dilemma of whether to commit to long-term relationships or to maintain flexibility, and deciding on which department that is responsible for evaluating and selecting the supplier. The present study of buyers and suppliers in NPD, shows the challenges that are involved in balancing control, reaching goal alignment, and managing transactional and relational governance. Internal challenges investigate the coordination between the R&D department and purchasing in NPD projects where suppliers are involved. The results of the study indicate that, in projects with high technological uncertainty, there is limited coordination between the R&D department and purchasing since purchasing had but little involvement in these projects. There is organisational separation however, where purchasing is mainly responsible f...

show abstract

Section: Papersupporting

confidence: 79%

Section: Post Selectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Supplier Involvement in New Product Development under Technological Uncertainty

Melander¹

2014

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…We propose that technological uncertainty may require the firm to be flexible and not commit to one particular supplier or technology in order to be able to quickly change technology if another technology proves to be superior. Seconding these findings, Bhattacharya et al (2013) show that firms use flexible and open-ended contracts as a way to manage technical uncertainty in outsourcing arrangements.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Uncertainty in collaborative NPD: Effects on the selection of technology and supplier

Melander

Tell

2014

Journal of Engineering and Technology Management

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

To gain competitive advantage, firms involve suppliers in New Product Development (NPD).However, uncertainty affects selection of suppliers and associated technologies, and selection outcomes in terms of commitment to one supplier or maintaining flexibility. We report on a case study of collaborative NPD with the aim to develop an energy storage unit. The case involved selection of both technology and supplier, where both were changed during the NPD. Drawing upon Hall et al. (2011), we analyze technological, organizational and commercial uncertainties. We demonstrate how technological, commercial and organizational uncertainties cause firms to seek flexibility rather than commitment to one supplier.

show abstract

“… "A special form of contractual-based and results-oriented inter-organisational relationship where one party that is the service receiver organisation employs external provider/s to provide services for traditional in-house functions" (Bhattacharya et al, 2013);…”

Section: Definitionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Management Outsourcing Business Models: A perspective of Sustainability

Jerónimo

Pereira

Saraiva

2019

2019 IEEE International Conference on Engineering, Technology and Innovation (ICE/ITMC)

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

ACKNOWLEDGMENTSI would like to start from thanking my supervisor, Professor Carlos Jerónimo, for all the support provided, availability, encouragement, guidance, and knowledge shared throughout this whole process. More than a professor, Professor Carlos Jerónimo represents a mentor to me, who is a reference and an inspiration for my professional life.A genuine thank you to my parents and brother, who have always supported me during my path as a management student, being always present to give me encouragement, motivation and provide good energies and so much love. You are the biggest loves of my life. A very special thank you to my boyfriend Hugo, for all the weekends and working days we spent together, always supporting each other, helping each other, encourage each other, motivate each other, and laugh with each other. I love you. To my lovely family, a huge thank you for always being on my side to support me and demonstrate the pride you have on me. To my shining star, who would be so proud to watch me accomplish this achievement, you truly have been a big strength throughout my life and I want to dedicate this to You, my dear grandpa.To my colleagues from ISCTE, that more than colleagues we become true friends, we were all together in this journey, and I am so proud of us for this achieving.To my dear friends, despite I haven't spent much time with you this last year, thank you for supporting me and give me strength, and especially for you friendship.Last but not least, the development of this dissertation was only possible with the participation and contribution of the management professionals. To all of you, who have such a busy life and welcomed me with so much empathy and responsiveness, I would like to express my genuine gratitude.A truly thank you all! ii SUMMARY In a world characterized by intense competition, outsourcing has infiltrated the management world in a major way. Outsourcing services are becoming an increasingly important source to companies focus on their core competencies, reduce costs, and increase efficiency in several organizational functions.Even though outsourcing of business activities has become a prevalent practice amongst organizations, the literature provides only a one-dimensional view of the phenomenon by focusing on the service receivers' perspectivesbuyer.This dissertation overcomes this weakness by investigate and analyze the business models of outsourcing companiesvendor -as a way to understand how they reach a sustainable competitive advantage that differentiates them in a competitive market. Hence, the whole investigation explores the service provider's perspectives by conducting interviews to 16 top executives from 15 different outsourcing companies in Portugal.The findings suggest that all the organizations presented in the study face the same challenges/pains in the market and each of them manifest an exclusive combination of mechanisms, methods, strategies and approaches within their business models to be differentiated in the market and sustainable in terms of effici...

show abstract

Revisiting the outsourcing debate: two sides of the same story

Cited by 18 publications

References 94 publications

Supplier Involvement in New Product Development under Technological Uncertainty

Supplier Involvement in New Product Development under Technological Uncertainty

Uncertainty in collaborative NPD: Effects on the selection of technology and supplier

Management Outsourcing Business Models: A perspective of Sustainability

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About