دانلود رایگان مقاله انگلیسی برون سپاری و عملکرد شرکت: یک متاآنالیز - امرالد 2018

Abstract

Purpose – In the extant literature, the effect of outsourcing activities on the firm performance has been an area of interest for several decades; yet, the body of knowledge lacks a holistic view of this phenomenon. The potential outcomes of outsourcing and its impact on firm performance have not been aggregated in the literature. The purpose of this paper is to conduct a meta-analysis of 51 empirical results using 24 articles to examine the relationship between these variables and firm performance. The authors discuss the extant literature and examine which type of outsourcing has the greatest influence on firm performance. The authors also present the limitations and future opportunities. Theoretical and managerial implications are discussed to highlight which outsourcing functions would be fiscally beneficial for firms. Design/methodology/approach – This paper takes a granular approach by looking at different outsourced functions in the both the manufacturing and service industry. Using meta- analysis, this paper combined the quantitative study data from several selected studies in an effort to increase power, improve the effect size and resolve the uncertainty about the effects of outsourcing activities on firm performance measures. Findings – The authors found that outsourcing enhances the firm performance. When outsourcing functions were studied individually, only IT outsourcing had significant effects on firm performance in comparison to other forms of outsourcing. This might be attributed to the fact that IT outsourcing is less costly to implement in the organization compared with other forms of outsourcing. Originality/value – This paper is the first paper that uses a meta-analytic approach to investigate the relationship between outsourcing and performance measures based on past empirical studies that have used both primary and secondary data.

6. Discussion

Our study reveals that outsourcing activities positively enhance firm performance and this relationship is moderated by the measure of firm performance captured (financial, operating and relational). Post hoc analysis suggests that outsourcing is positively related to financial performance, operating performance and relational performance. Our study also suggests that the nature of the sample also affects the relationship between outsourcing and the firm performance. Studies with manufacturing industry, US samples, non-US samples, primary data, service industry only moderates the relationship. However, the post hoc univariate analysis above suggests that studies with both manufacturing and service industries, combination of US samples and non-US samples, both primary and secondary data, service industry are what is important when the nature of the sample used in the study is investigated. Additionally, our study reveals that IT outsourcing is the only type of outsourcing that had significant effects on firm performance in comparison to other forms of outsourcing when we looked at the effect of the different types of outsourcing. This explains the current trend in the industry as a major proportion of outsourcing is related to IT functions. This study also sheds some light on other aspects of outsourcing. Even though there is an increasing trend of retail manufacturing being outsourced to countries such as China, there are no conclusive results to suggest whether it would lead to improved performance for manufacturing firms. Our study also encourages firms to rethink the longitudinal benefits of HR and manufacturing outsourcing to outside countries. The results reinstate the fact that IT outsourcing is less costly to implement in organizations because there are little or no large financial investments made involving factors such as machinery, factories, equipment and land in comparison to manufacturing and HR. Additionally, there is no significant switching cost when it comes to changing one business partner to another as most of the IT resources used are intangible by nature.