Outsourcing decisions in global supply chains: an exploratory multi-country survey

Outsourcing has become a necessity for most companies in today's competitive environment, which is also evidenced by a growing interest by academics worldwide. However, to date very few multi-country studies exist that compare and contrast outsourcing decisions and practices by organisations in different countries. The present research aims to contribute to this area by reporting and analysing results from a survey conducted in 15 countries. Using a total dataset of 806 responses, empirical exploratory insights are reported on the evolving approaches and concepts of outsourcing decision-making in different countries. More specifically, this study provides characteristics of the most important suppliers to respondents across the 15 nations, and explores rationales for outsourcing, highlighting country-specific similarities and differences. In addition, using transaction cost economics (TCE), four hypotheses are developed and tested, linking contract specificity, purchase risk, supplier responsiveness, and procedural rigour to purchase performance within an outsourcing context. In addition, differences on these main variables across the 15 countries are explored. Insights for academia and practice are highlighted.