Essays on Outsourcing

Accenture has emerged as one of the leading global outsourcing companies in the world due to its costs effective outsourcing, technology and management services that have enabled many operations of their clients transform into successful businesses. The company has emerged a leading outsourcing services provider touching on many industries of business and industrial nature. The company has grown from a little known provider to a global giant that gives superb services that have transformed the operations of the organizations that have worked for. The company prides itself of giving cheat and fast services while working on a way to Continue reading...

Cathay Pacific Airline Limited, which was established in 1946, is a profitable airline that has its operations globally. The company has received many awards due to its efficiency in its operations. Nonetheless, the airline has experienced some challenges in its supply chain, particularly in maintenance, services as well as repairs. Therefore, to permit firm’s maintenance, it needs a sophisticated spare parts management process in its supply chain management (Chopra & Meindl, 2013).
- What are some particular supply chain management issues for spare parts operations that Robert (manager of inventory operations) and Paul (manager of procurement of aircraft components Continue reading...

Although outsourcing has been important as a solution to shortages in labor supply, it has been noted to espouse problems. The term “outsourcing” refers to the staffing process that involves contracting third parties on jobs that can be performed by current employees. This implies that it will not constitute hiring a new accountant when the current one is seriously ill. Outsourcing, which can be both foreign and domestic, has been causing controversies on whether it is beneficial or problematic, since some firms have been experiencing varied results from it. Various authors have noted that the problems should be solved Continue reading...

Importance of logistics management and globalization

Introduction
Logistics management is an important part of any manufacturing company’s success rate; it basically controls and manages the movement of goods from one place to another, via rail, sea, air or road. Logistics management is that part of the supply chain management that plans, controls and implements the effective, efficient forward and reverse flow and storage of services, goods and necessary information between the point of origin and the point of destination, in order to meet the client’s requirements (Importance of Logistics, 2012).
In simple words, if an Indian company wants to buy capital equipment from Continue reading...

Introduction

The case dwells upon a decision, which is to be taken by the Global Positioning System Navigator (GPSN) Manager Wally Wizard at the largest automobile manufacturer in the United States, Behemoth Motors Corp (BMC). The scope of the decision looks at two alternatives: 1) in-house production of 8,000 units of GPSN per months to be installed on the Sports Utility Vehicles (SUV), and 2) outsourcing of this production volume to reasonably new Far East Enterprises (FEE) Company under the terms of two-year contract. There are three critical aspects that should be considered as part of the decision-making process: Continue reading...

Yes, it is ethically defensible to outsource the production to the developing where the cost of labor is low. This is because people in the developed countries are not willing to work at the lower wages. The people in developing countries have the required skills, but they do not have the required resources available in order to start their work, so they become willing to provide labor at lower wages (Harrison & Learner, 1997). In this way, the companies get benefitted with the cheap labor and the people in developing countries can earn in order to support their families. Further, Continue reading...

Background of the Issue

With increasingly difficult organizational structures and continuously evolving markets, modern companies face more severe competition. This competitive market environment is no longer determined by the high level supply and demand curve and product features, as it used to be somewhat forty and even thirty years ago. Contemporary businesses have to learn to compete on price and upstream effectiveness to be able to develop sustainable competitive advantage in their respective markets. Past decades put in focus an emerging trend of production and manufacturing outsourcing, where large corporation found a great cost advantage in offshoring their operations in lower labor cost Continue reading...

Debt and equity financing for an investment outsource

In the investment of technology, in an organization, the stakeholders will consider the benefits that will ensure that the value, share and wealth are raised. To consider the debt or the equity financing, they will evaluate the level of returns. Debt financing is where they take a loan so as to invest in technology development. Even though it does not dilute the business ownership, it has a number of shortcomings. Money must be paid in spite of the business success. It requires commitment of the business assets and to the extent of the personal assets as collateral.
On the Continue reading...

Detroit was once the richest city in the entire United States. With an already established automobile manufacturing industry, Detroit after the Second World War experienced its highest levels of prosperity. However, Detroit today is a mere shadow of this prosperous and progressive city. Detroit’s vast rows of empty houses, dilapidated structures, abandoned factories, and decaying warehouses show how much of Detroit is left.
Moreland (2013) claims that the continuing decline of Detroit’s local economy is due largely to the effect of the US joining the North American Free Trade Agreement or NAFTA . He states that the continuous Continue reading...

Purpose

Procurement outsourcing is usually utilized to reduce costs for goods and services. Acquisition of goods and services can be outsourced with the help of a third party, for example, a procurement outsourcing company. Outsourcing of business operations will result in cost reduction, efficiency of business processes, enhanced compliance, increased competitiveness, increased revenues, and offer an opportunity for the Company to focus on its core competencies.
According to Above the Standard Procurement Group Inc. (2012), many companies do not have enough internal staff or the level of expertise of internal staff engaged in procurement is low. Therefore, internal staff cannot Continue reading...

Response Paper - ‘Made in USA’

The article ‘Made in the USA’ On The Rise As Manufacturing Costs Drop by Moodley (2012) is an interesting compilation of Boston Consulting Group and other empirical studies on the newest trends in manufacturing and production operations across the globe. The argument that the article is trying to make is that we are moving towards the new era, where previously clear and well established practices of labor outsourcing to less cost-intensive countries set the dynamics of the international business environment. The core of the author´s argument is the statistics that reflect current trends of international companies, such as Continue reading...

Management

Abstract
This paper describes Smiths Information Services Inc. Data centre outsourcing options. As part of corporate overhead reduction program Smith’s Information Service Inc., is faced with a variety of options with regards to outsourcing its data centre management services. The paper reviews the business outsourcing alternatives, short term and long term considerations with data security, service-level agreements, and HR and client issues being of major concern. It will also discuss contractual parameters for the outsourcing process as well as evaluation criteria proposed to be included in the RFP. Finally, the paper will discuss vendor particulars and timeline for Continue reading...

Outsourcing refers to the process of contracting specific tasks, services, and business processes to outside contractors and entities. Outsourcing is one of the most effective strategies to increase operational efficiency, reduce costs, and tackle shortages of skilled labor. In the current era, business analysts utilize this perspective in different scenarios and they attain long-tern benefit from the perspective of outsourcing. Outsourcing is prevalent in all sectors of the economy including services, manufacturing, customer services, information technology, and retailing. The outsourcing trend is also increasing rapidly in the healthcare industry due to the challenges faced by healthcare enterprises. Many healthcare Continue reading...

Labor, GDP, and the Firm

1. Labor is an essential factor of production for all firms. The recent estimated unemployment rate of February 2013 is 7.7%. Economists have considered three types of unemployment, which include structural unemployment, frictional unemployment, and cyclical unemployment. Structural unemployment would affect General Electric more as compared to other forms of unemployment. The structural unemployment occur when there is a mismatch of the skills, the skills possessed by workers do not match the skills required for the job, which paves the way to the lack of demand for people having particular set of the skills (Gupta). Moreover, the advancement in Continue reading...

Maintenance for aircraft in foreign shores

The international outsourcing of maintenance of US airlines is a significant turn of events. It was noted that as early as several years ago, US airline companies were the sole maintenance providers of their own aircraft. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) mandates that airlines to revamp all of their planes every two years or earlier, and little “armies” of union airline mechanics retooled and restored the planes. However, by 2002, when airlines were beginning to feel the “red ink” creeping into their bottom lines, airlines began to find ways to cut down on costs. One the largest costs that Continue reading...

Abstract

The information technology industry is an industry in turmoil. Today, the industry faces a significant number of companies that are choosing to outsource technical support. This outsourcing has caused changes in both the structure of these companies and the local markets in which they reside. This paper is an examination of those changes and the impacts that outsourcing has had on the information technology industry.
In the western world, there is a debate raging between those who support outsourcing and those who claim it harms the economy. Ever since the American market crashed in the post-September 11th world, companies Continue reading...

IT OUTSOURCING

Sourcing offers an opportunity to cut costs by leveraging lower costs abroad, besides getting the benefit of a 24-hour job cycle by sourcing out to countries in different time zones such as India and China. It is critical carefully to consider the nature of tasks that can be sourced out profitably without affecting quality and functionality. It is also necessary to consider the potentially adverse effect of the decision on employees’ morale as well as the costs of establishing/maintaining smooth operations with outside companies. Further cultural factors that could affect cooperation, security, compliance and integrity must be borne into Continue reading...

American Outbound International, USA.

Now that we are in the process of outsourcing our customer service activities, I would like to bring to your notice, in what ways people of the United States of America are of a totally different nature. It is much harder for anyone to convince them to purchase a product or service. On a daily basis, they are contacted by a lot of outsourcing company agents who offer them with their unique services. Therefore, to ensure the best customer service, it is essential people in your team have excellent command over the English language, have good understanding abilities, analytical Continue reading...

Outsourcing is a strategy employed by many firms with the view of reducing costs. These costs include high taxes, high labor costs, many government regulations, high energy costs, and high production costs. This research studies the impact of outsourcing on the performance level of firms. The dependent variable is performance of firms. The performance of firms is measured by the profits reported by the firms. The independent variables include labor, raw materials, government, and capital. Outsourcing enables a firm to get employees from other regions or countries. A firm can get raw materials at low costs if it has Continue reading...

The term, “Outsourcing” refers to contract out business to a third party. Hiring third parties for specific tasks or business is not new and companies have been practicing such things since centuries but the term, “outsourcing” was used in the 1980’s. Outsourcing is one of the most disputed words in the business world and people interpret it in different ways. Some find it satisfying while others hate this word. A lot has been said on outsourcing by different politicians in the United States of America from time to time. This paper intends to discuss outsourcing and how it Continue reading...

(Author)

Introduction

Technology has changed many aspects of business in the last few decades. It has covered almost every department of different businesses such as consumer services, financing and sales, human resources (HR), and marketing. Many important tasks in a business need technology more than age-old principles of business such as the use of business models. In the present era, businesses are moving at a very fast pace with technology and are increasingly becoming complex with the addition of new things. Moreover, technology is not only moving faster but its speed is also accelerating that is producing huge changes in Continue reading...

Question One

In coining the theory of plant location, Weber made three simplifying assumptions. One of the assumptions was that there was a fixed center of consumption. Secondly, Weber assumed that although the distribution of raw material deposits around the globe was uneven, the cost was the same. Thirdly, Weber assumed that the centers of supply of labor are fixed and the supply of labor at a cost is unlimited. Unlike Weber’s theory that considers two factors, transportation and labor cost, the spatial margin profitability considers more factors like taxes, convenience for customers and area costs. The location of heavy Continue reading...

Abstract

Barnes and Noble has maintained its performance through effective strategies and policies that have sustained its revenue yield and profitability. However, recent prevailing economic turmoil has led to significant challenges in their performance mandate. As such, the organization has been facing three main problems: increased costs of publishing books, stagnation in profitability and reduced customer awareness. The various challenges facing the organization have posed a daunting avenue for successful operations and sustenance of viability or survivability within the organization. Thus, with an aim of handling the challenges evident, it is significant that the organization incorporates three main solutions. The Continue reading...

Outsourcing is the process of pass on the company’s business process to a third party or external agencies to enjoy benefits from low cost of labor to better quality of the products and service modernization (Haugen, Musser, and Lovelace, 2009. p.5). As an owner of a small company, I have been entertaining the thought of outsourcing some aspect of my business. Commonly outsourced services range from Information Technology to marketing and even human resources. The aspect of my business I have decided to subcontract is Human Resource services.
My reasons for outsourcing HR services spans from a number Continue reading...

Introduction

Before the year 2001, many airline companies in the United States performed the larger part of their maintenance activities by themselves. However, in a bid to cut costs, many airlines started outsourcing maintenance activities. In fact, outsourcing has become so popular such that whenever passengers board a commercial flight in the modern day, there is a 50% probability that the aircraft that they are on has its maintenance performed not by FAA approved mechanics that have been employed by the airplane, but rather by outside individuals from the many contract repair companies or stations that exist (Ghobrial, 2005). Statistics Continue reading...

What are the advantages and disadvantages of outsourcing?

Living in a global economy, the activity of multinational corporations is becoming increasingly more dependent on outsourcing services. The outsourcing process implies contracting international workforce, from world regions wherein companies do not activate at the moment. Because of its specificity of long-distance working, outsourcing has both advantages and disadvantages for companies that approach this business strategy.
The advantages of outsourcing mostly refer to cost reduction opportunities. Working with people from developing or underdeveloped countries implies benefits both for the outsourced employees and for the company who employs them. The company benefits of considerable lower costs compared to the expenses Continue reading...

Analysis and Discussion 4

Similarities:.. 4
1. Operations.. 4
2. Distribution System 5

Differences:. 5

1. Outsourcing or own tanneries? 5
2. Management 5

Implications on applied project 6

1. Global Value Chain 6
2. Supply Chain and Distribution Channels 6
3. Risks 6

Conclusion 7

1. Business success of companies going international depends on
value chain management. 7
2. In-house production versus outsourcing. 7
3. Outside-in perspective versus inside-out perspective. 7

References 8

ECCO Global Value Chain Management
Introduction
The Danish shoe company ECCO A/S (ECCO) occupies one of the leading places in the footwear industry and is known for its innovative production technology and high quality of shoes owing to the effective Continue reading...

Every business operates with contracts. In an outsourcing, the contract is the most critical arrangement between the outsourced vendor and the client. Thus, creating contracts require very much thinking and planning before being signed. Contracts should have provisions such as conditions for termination to give the company some leverage and to make sure that service providers live up to its commitments. White (2006) states that contract termination provisions should be such that both the client and the vendor can get out of it without having too much burden. Moreover, he discusses other provisions and clauses a contract must contain Continue reading...

I confirm that this is my own work and is the final version. I have acknowledged each use of the words or ideas of another person, whether written or oral.

Business Internal Assessment Proposal and Report

Research question
Should Embassy India outsource its IT services?
The question provides a sufficient platform to analyze Embassy India and determine whether outsourcing its IT services is economically viable for the organization. Embassy India is a middle level organization that specializes in retail operations. The organization’s IT services are currently supported in-house. This research question probes the pros and cons of outsourcing IT services to an external vendor Continue reading...

Offshore outsourcing has been an increasing trend in recent years. Businesses opt to have some of their operations handled by an outside provider due to its reduced costs. However, some companies tend to overlook a variety of things when it comes to client-vendor relationships. In outsourcing, it is important to note that the how the process really works is not as easy as it sounds like. Puranam and Srikanth (2007) debunked seven myths about offshore outsourcing, ranging from unrealistic expectations to poor ideas about structuring contract and convoluted views of risks. They further state that belief in these myths Continue reading...

The article summarizes the current trend of companies to outsource their operations to low-wage countries. The trend has been proven effective with the success of General Electric, and British Airways in the 1990s. And with this advantage, other companies have followed the same operational strategy. With the advent of globalization, market labor has been smaller and more accessible. Technology has also led the way to minimize communication costs and help bridge employer-employee transaction.
It has been said that not all companies are drawn to this current trend of outsourcing. Even with their efficient international operation, outsourcing must be done Continue reading...

Organizations are always committed to earn economic profit with expanding the network accordingly, and there are certain aspects that depend heavily over the financial competitiveness of the company. There are certain industries of the world that are expanding their networks accordingly and effectively at the same time in particular. Financial and strategic capabilities are some of the major aspects from the viewpoint of the organization for which an entity takes different decisions.
Organizations usually referred to as places that have a number of departments in particular and among them, the name of Human Resources Department is one of them. Continue reading...

Outsourcing is one of the business tools that enable companies to maximize on their profits by minimizing the level of costs incurred in running a business while maintaining or improving on the quality of goods and services produced by the company. Outsourcing also involves searching for resources from different markets in a cost effective manner. In the process of outsourcing, business organization may sometimes relocate to other countries that offer similar resources at lower prices. In addition, other financial benefits such as reduced taxes and lower energy costs may be the reason as to why various companies relocate their Continue reading...

In most businesses, outsourcing is highly regarded as every organization’s ultimate goal is to achieve greater revenues. Outsourcing refers to using of contracts when a business organization is entering into a deal with another organization. Business people have decided to go regional or international depending on how viable the outsourcing could be promising. However, over the years, businesses are being discouraged to outsource to other countries since there are more risks associated with it as compared to outsourcing within the country (Gitman, L., & McDaniel, C., 2009). It involves the entails the existence of the third parties. For some Continue reading...

Critical analysis of ‘Nike’s voice looms large. Social policy’ by Ballinger Jeff

Ballinger focuses his work on one company that has been known to exploit its workers. This is a tactic by Ballinger to ensure that his work is effective. Nike is a rich U.S. company that had been infamous for exploiting its workers. By using it as his target in his work, Ballinger was able to draw out worldwide attention for his book. An author writes his work with the aim of reaching out to his readers to make them aware or educate them about something. Ballinger as a labor activist had the aim to inform people of how rich Continue reading...

Purpose

This paper aims at discussing business process outsourcing on investment and asset management. This is an area that firms consider when making hedge and mutual funds financial decisions. This paper focuses on this area with an aim of transforming an organization to maximize on the cost savings for the business process.

Current Situation

Many categories seek to facilitate business processes when one thinks about outsourcing. A business process touch on different areas in an organization, customers, and vendors categorize business processes under different structure depending on the company’s internal structure. An Investment and Asset Management proposal can offer a firm Continue reading...

Business Assignment

The objectives of electronic commerce differ from small businesses to larger ones. While the general purpose for e-commerce engagement is to increase revenues, these objectives vary with the size of the business as well as the market. For a small-scale business, the objectives could vary depending on the owner’s personal objective, the growth objective, and the competitive objective. Small-scale businesses are privately owned as personal or family ventures (Epstein, 2004). The personal objectives of the owner of the business in engaging in e-commerce include earning a better living for the family members. However, large businesses have the objective Continue reading...

According to Kathawala, Zhang, and Shao (2005), the term outsourcing has its roots in the mid-1980s, yet the idea of hiring employees to carry out specific jobs in firms has been in existence for the past hundreds of years. Outsourcing is everywhere in business in large and small firms, complex and simple businesses alike. In the 1900s, the practice was only specific for labor intensive and productive tasks in firms and other activities that fell outside the core competitiveness of a firm. In the recent years, the outsourcing market has changed dramatically with the emerging phenomenon now becoming a Continue reading...

Business outsourcing refers to giving certain responsibilities in a company or business to a contractor. These services maybe cleaning, advertising, book-keeping or marketing and the contractor may be stationed locally or overseas. A company may also decide to move certain departments such as production to other countries, which is known as offshoring. The causes of outsourcing are cost reduction, increased flexibility and increased efficiency.

Cutting Costs

There are various types of costs in an institution, they include wages, overheads and inputs and the need to reduce these costs is one of the key drivers of outsourcing. It reduces labor cost because Continue reading...

Management

The 787 project of Boeing lost several billions of dollars due to wrong management decisions. Aside from the delay in the delivery schedule of the planes that took more than three years, the management decision has taken a toll on the accomplishment of the planes on time. There were about 848 planes that were already purchased but only 6 percent of such number had been delivered (Denning, 2009).
After Boeing lost its market share to Airbus during the 1990s, the best decision could have been to work on minimizing the costs and the prices of their aircrafts. However, the Continue reading...