Realising the Real Benefits of Outsourcing: Seven steps to effective outsourcing measurement
New booksAuthored by Dr Ilan Oshri, WBS Associate Fellow, and Julia Kotlarsky, Associate Professor at WBS.
This research was conducted by Warwick Business School in collaboration with Cognizant, a leading provider of information technology, consulting, and business process outsourcing services. It focuses on understanding the real benefits of outsourcing beyond a one-time cost saving alone. The study goes beyond this objective by trying to understand the underpinning factors behind client firms’ inability to systematically measure the benefits offered through outsourcing and by examining the strategic role that key players can play in achieving this goal.
The ideas presented in this paper are based on original research conducted at Warwick Business School (UK) and carried out by Dr Ilan Oshri and Dr Julia Kotlarsky. The researchers conducted semi-structured interviews and held discussions with experts in the field of outsourcing, including CIOs and CFOs from leading multinationals with headquarters based in Europe, such as ABN AMRO, Maersk, Shell and Phillips. These firms are considered to be some of the most sophisticated outsourcing clients and their practices have become a benchmark for many others.
The ideas in this paper are also based on a quantitative survey, which was carried out in partnership with research organisation Vanson Bourne. The quantitative survey sampled 263 CIOs and CFOs across the UK (52%) and other European countries such as France, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Switzerland and Benelux (Belgium, Netherlands and Luxemburg), comprising 48% CFOs and 52% CIOs at companies with revenues from $500m up to over $6bn (71% over $1bn) from financial services, manufacturing, logistics, retail, utilities, telecom and other sectors.
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This research was conducted by Warwick Business School in collaboration with Cognizant, a leading provider of information technology, consulting, and business process outsourcing services. It focuses on understanding the real benefits of outsourcing beyond a one-time cost saving alone. The study goes beyond this objective by trying to understand the underpinning factors behind client firms’ inability to systematically measure the benefits offered through outsourcing and by examining the strategic role that key players can play in achieving this goal.
The ideas presented in this paper are based on original research conducted at Warwick Business School (UK) and carried out by Dr Ilan Oshri and Dr Julia Kotlarsky. The researchers conducted semi-structured interviews and held discussions with experts in the field of outsourcing, including CIOs and CFOs from leading multinationals with headquarters based in Europe, such as ABN AMRO, Maersk, Shell and Phillips. These firms are considered to be some of the most sophisticated outsourcing clients and their practices have become a benchmark for many others.
The ideas in this paper are also based on a quantitative survey, which was carried out in partnership with research organisation Vanson Bourne. The quantitative survey sampled 263 CIOs and CFOs across the UK (52%) and other European countries such as France, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Switzerland and Benelux (Belgium, Netherlands and Luxemburg), comprising 48% CFOs and 52% CIOs at companies with revenues from $500m up to over $6bn (71% over $1bn) from financial services, manufacturing, logistics, retail, utilities, telecom and other sectors.
Download PDF file
