The Offshoring Challenge

The continuous search for efficiency gains and the goal of attaining a sustainable competitive advantage have steadily increased the volume of goods and services procured globally from third party vendors. In this context, named as “the next wave of globalization”, the offshoring phenomenon has stimulated research and political debates. With the rise of services offshoring, international value chain disaggregation for services has reached a formerly unknown scale. Also, it is increasingly complex transactions, requiring a higher degree of qualification, which are becoming subject to offshoring as well.

The Offshoring Challenge: Strategic Design and Innovation for Tomorrow’s Organization features selected chapters by an international research community on the topic of offshoring. All potential business models from offshore outsourcing to third party providers are covered, from cooperative arrangements to internal organizational set-ups including captive offshore centers. Contributions have significant insights regarding: the increasing offshoring of knowledge-intensive services; the offshoring process; business models incorporating offshoring; the hidden costs of offshoring; and the administration of offshoring activities within firms

The book is aimed at a broad audience of scholars, students and practitioners in the fields of strategy, international business and operations management.

Dr. Torben Pedersen is professor at the Department of Strategic Management and Globalization, Copenhagen Business School. He has published over 100 articles and books concerning the managerial and strategic aspects of globalization and more than 25 teaching cases. His research interests are located at the interface between strategy and international management and with a strong interest in knowledge management, offshoring/outsourcing, and subsidiary entrepreneurship. He is currently co-editor of Global Strategy Journal.

Dr. Lydia Bals is head of the department Procurement Solutions (e.g. Procurement Strategy, Risk Management, Sustainability, Organization and Processes) at Bayer CropScience's Global Procurement. Prior to that she worked as a Project Manager at Bayer Business Consulting, Germany. She is a visiting scholar at the Department of Strategic Management & Globalization at Copenhagen Business School since 2008. Her research focuses on globalization of R&D, (offshore) outsourcing of services and sustainable sourcing. She obtained her doctoral degree from EBS European Business School, Germany and made research visits at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and at Columbia Business School, Columbia University, United States.

Dr. Peter D. Ørberg Jensen is associate professor at the Department of Strategic Management and Globalization, Copenhagen Business School. Peter D. Ørberg Jensen’s research is related to various aspects of firm internationalization. His research specializes on the global sourcing of advanced and high-value services and technical functions, and the strategic, organizational and contractural aspects of global sourcing. His career track record includes 11 years in business consulting and a 3-year assignment at United Nations DevelopmentProgramme. His research is published in highly ranked journals, and he serves as an academic reviewer for a range of international journals in the business and management fields.

Marcus M. Larsen is assistant professor at Department of Strategic Management and Globalization, Copenhagen Business School. His research interests are related to the organizational design of offshoring, and particularly on how the relationship between complexity and learning influences decision making and performance. His research is published in Strategic Management Journal and Global Strategy Journal. He has also published a number teaching cases.