Gaining Flexibility and Innovation through Offshore Outsourcing

Abstract

Recently, offshore outsourcing has become extremely important for companies that compete worldwide. In many industries, only companies that manage to be competitive globally can aspire to attain sustainable competitive advantages. Therefore, offshore outsourcing has become essential for many companies and recently has become more and more a vital part of the long-term strategies of the leading firms. The rapidly shifting conditions in the marketplace is forcing management to constantly review and defend its core competencies. Management is now confronted with a higher level of complexity and disruptions brought about in particular by the new waves of globalization and the irresistible march of technological changes. For these reasons, offshore outsourcing is transforming the functions of the traditional firms into a network of competencies. The tendency to offshore most of the productive and economic activities and processes can lead companies to transform themselves into virtual organizations, where all the functions could be outsourced through the formation of flexible networks and agile organizational structures.