‘Do versus Buy’ Decisions in the Demand for Knowledge Intensive Business Services

The search for the maximum use of scale and agglomeration economies and the need to operate firms in the most flexible way have provided a strong impulse for companies to increase their use of external intermediate services. Because of their strategic role, the use of business services that are intensive both in labour qualification and in technological requirements is key for these policies. The purpose of this paper is to analyse the patterns followed by companies in the two relevant decisions on this issue: firstly, whether to use knowledge intensive business services or not and, secondly, whether (and to what extent) to buy these services from another firm or to provide them inside the organisation. In both cases, we intend to identify the factors that affect the ‘do versus buy’ decision with respect to total KIBS as well as particular categories. A specific feature in our study is that it focuses on the behaviour of firms working in a region without a well-developed supply of KIBS. Applying discrete response models to the data obtained in a survey elaborated by the authors, the most relevant variables for the use of KIBS are satisfaction with previous outsourcing experiences and location of the firm in a large urban centre, but they do not affect their external provision. The size of the firm, its export orientation and its technological complexity have opposite effects on use and outsourcing.     

企业物流业务外包的利益与风险分析

企业物流业务外包能够减少设备投资,降低成本;集中有限资源,发展核心业务;得到更专业化的服务,提高服务质量。需要注意的问题是:物流业务外包在带来利益的同时,也隐藏着物流业务控制能力下降、客户关系管理削弱、信息泄露等风险。企业应正确识别核心竞争力,选择好外包伙伴,控制物流外包活动,调整企业内部组织结构,以"双赢"为原则,巩固合作关系。     

Co-evolution of institutional and organizational factors in explaining offshore outsourcing

Offshore outsourcing of business functions is widely practiced by firms in advanced economies. Although scholars have argued for various theoretical perspectives in explaining its nature and implications, a coherent explanation of how crucial factors that aid this growing phenomenon coevolve has not been offered. Further, a potential gap in the extant literature concerns inadequate simultaneous attention to clients and providers – the key actors in offshore outsourcing. With an aim to fulfill these research gaps, we provide in this paper an integrated framework wherein we delineate various institutional and organizational factors that coevolve to enable engagement of clients and providers in offshore outsourcing. Our conceptualization draws from information obtained by interviewing 46 executives of 31 firms of the Indian business process outsourcing industry.     

Knowledge-intensive business services in transition economies

Knowledge-intensive business services accounted for a rapid growth in transition economies after 1989. The growth in value added outpaced growth in employment, which indicated increasing labour productivity in this sector. Studies based on input–output tables found that development of business services was closely related to development of communication services in advanced EU member countries. The input–output analysis did not confirm this relation for Slovakia and the Czech Republic and found a medium to strong level of correlation for Hungary. Development of a market economy was likely to be a major factor behind development of business services. This assumption was tested on empirical data. The use of communication and business services could be a proxy for introduction of new technologies in production functions. The functions indicated that these industries made a significant contribution to economic growth both in advanced and transition economies. Output elasticity coefficients were quite similar in the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia and the EU member countries.     

Involvement, satisfaction, and brand loyalty in a small business services setting

Considerable resources are expended annually on building business brands, yet the literature is virtually silent on brand loyalty in a business setting. This study examines the relationship between attitudinal loyalty and behavioral loyalty in a business services context, and attempts to identify two key antecedents of loyalty in this context. In particular, little is known about small businesses as customers, despite their significant contribution to the economies of developed nations. A longitudinal design is implemented, and data are captured on both attitudinal loyalty and subsequent loyalty behaviors (i.e., actual purchase behavior). The findings demonstrate the value of conceptualizing and measuring both attitudinal and behavioral components of brand loyalty. Specifically, the results indicate that attitudinal loyalty mediates the effects of the antecedents studied (category involvement and purchase satisfaction) on behavioral loyalty. Implications for marketing theory and practitioners are discussed, and possible directions for future research are sketched.     

我国金融服务外包发展趋势及对黑龙江省的启示

目前,我国金融服务外包业务仍处于成长阶段,承接金融外包能力有待提升。我国金融服务外包业正面临着外包规模扩大、外包产业集聚效应增强、承接外包的区域向二线城市转移、外包的内容将向知识流程深化的趋势。这一趋势所带来的启示是:黑龙江省应将发展金融服务外包做为转变经济发展方式的重要内容,纳入战略性新兴产业发展规划。同时,要鼓励省内大型金融企业开展外包并逐步扩大规模、建立金融服务外包园区、以提高竞争能力;利用区位优势和成本优势,承接国际业务,实现经济的再次腾飞。     

企业物流外包风险的经济学解析

本文认为,物流外包以其资源整合的优势得到众多企业的青睐,成为企业物流发展的主流营运模式,但外包风险也时时存在,不容忽视,如业务失控、成本上升、机密泄漏等。文章提出,交易成本与委托代理关系所引发的利益博弈导致企业物流外包风险因素增加,因而企业物流自营仍有其存在的价值。     

The performance implications of outsourcing customer support to service providers in emerging versus established economies

Recent discussions in the business press query the contribution of customer-support outsourcing to firm performance. Despite the controversy surrounding its performance implications, customer-support outsourcing is still on the rise, especially to emerging markets. Against this backdrop, we study under which conditions customer-support outsourcing to providers from emerging versus established economies is more versus less successful. Our performance measure is the stock-market reaction around the outsourcing announcement date. While the stock market reacts, on average, more favorably when customer-support is outsourced to providers located in emerging markets as opposed to established economies, approximately 50% of the outsourcing firms in our sample experience negative abnormal returns. We find that the shareholder-value implications of customer-support outsourcing to emerging versus established economies are contingent on the nature of the customer support that is being outsourced and on the nature of the outsourcing firm. Customer-support outsourcing to emerging markets is less beneficial for services that are characterized by personal customer contact and high knowledge embeddedness than for customer-support services that involve impersonal customer contact and are low on knowledge embeddedness. Firms higher in marketing resource intensity and larger firms benefit more from outsourcing customer-support services to emerging markets than firms lower in marketing resource intensity and smaller firms.     

The strategies of the Spanish cotton textile companies before the Civil War: The road to longevity

This study, based on family business theories, offers an innovative vision of the Spanish cotton industry. It proves that Spanish cotton companies – just like their European counterparts – implemented a strategy that was consistent with their nature as family businesses and went beyond the economic-institutional frames within which they developed. The article identifies this strategy as ‘conservative’, because its main objectives were longevity and family control and because it was based on a high percentage of own resources, low levels of indebtedness and organic growth, thus sacrificing profitability for the sake of security.     

The management perception of the strategic outsourcing of services: An empirical examination in the hotel sector

This work will analyse the strategy of outsourcing, or the predisposition on the part of a firm to entrust some of its services to a third party. The research will focus on discovering empirically the role that this strategy plays in hotels, and in order to do this we will carry out an analysis of hotel managers' perceptions regarding outsourcing based on the main advantages as well as the drawbacks and barriers which using the strategy can involve, with a view to determining which of these are related to a predisposition to outsource. The results of the research suggest that the main reasons which determine outsourcing are of a strategic rather that cost-reducing nature. Despite the fact that although current outsourcing is conditioned by the cost factor alone, any future increase in the use of the strategy will be determined exclusively by factors of a strategic nature. With respect to the disadvantages of outsourcing which tend to limit the use of the strategy, we will see that these are related to loss of control and autonomy together with a distrust of external suppliers. This work will enable us to assess the extent of the existing demand for outsourcing main services as well as those factors which determine and limit the outsourcing strategy and which have prevented a large number of services where outsourcing would be applicable from being outsourced to the present date. Finally we will present our main conclusions and recommendations.     

展览服务外包边界的决定及其组织形式

为了降低交易成本,充分利用组织内外两种资源,企业的服务外包活动已成为经济全球化的一种新标志和一种新的商业模式。本文试图将外包思想运用于作为一个复杂的服务系统的展览活动。基于外包动机的一般微观分析,展览服务外包的边界取决于外包的利益与成本的边际考量。在当前展览活动的外部制度环境和技术环境产生变革的情况下,外包的边界会随着外包收益的显现和交易成本的降低而趋于扩大。而随着展览服务外包边界的最终确定,展览活动的组织形式势必发生新的变化,演变成分工协作的网络动态组织。     

Determinants of the satisfaction of firms with the competencies of university students: a Spanish case study

Spanish universities pay little attention to business demands with regard to workforce training and to the research that has been developed in this area. The present study analyses the effect of various factors on firms’ satisfaction with the education provided by universities. The factors include the content of the student's major subject of study and social, methodological and participation skills. The data were obtained from a survey of businesses. Although the results obtained show that all of the factors have an impact on overall satisfaction, they are not of equal importance. University managers may be able to use the information obtained from this study as a basis for designing and implementing action that might improve employers’ level of satisfaction, which has considerable positive consequences. Moreover, the study's methodology could be applied to other outputs of universities, such as the research performed.     

‘What's so special about family business?’ An exploratory study of UK and Irish consumer experiences of family businesses

While family‐owned businesses are considered to have specific advantages in customer relationships, limited research has been conducted into how these abilities are developed or understood by the public. Consumers may indeed perceive family businesses differently from non‐family businesses, but this aspect has received scant attention within the literature. This paper sets out exploratory work designed to gain an understanding of Irish and UK consumer perceptions of family‐owned businesses, within both urban and rural communities. The study provides insight into the meaning of ‘familiness’ in consumers' minds when linked to family businesses, and explores the relationships and experiences that respondents have of family firms. Emerging issues include family business heritage, community bonds and social stewardship, consumer loyalty and generational transfer, distinction, choice and retail heterogeneity. The findings of this exploratory study suggest that researchers should be paying more attention to the positive aspects of family businesses within communities, and concludes with suggestions for future research to further extend this area of study.     

Entrepreneurial networks: A Triple Helix approach for brokering human and social capital

Through utilising currently available Internet technologies, academic and governmental organisations can provide seedling companies in their incubators with additional competitive advantage through efficient access to markets, partners, knowledge and services both locally and globally. This paper proposes a Triple Helix approach for brokering social and human capital based on the skills brokerage business model. The skills brokerage business model is primarily suited for individuals and firms operating in localised settings. However, by using information and communication technologies, it is also possible to apply the model internationally for firms that need strategic partnerships in countries or regions other than their own. Coupled with the Triple Helix of university–government–industry interactions, it can propel innovation and the commercialisation of it beyond traditional boundaries of geography, such as the region and nation state. The paper also presents an Internet-based service that could be used to facilitate the brokerage process among the firms and people with relevant expertise and resources, and it discusses the implications this would have for a number of stakeholders, such as entrepreneurs, established businesses, service providers and business support organisations. This is still an emerging area and several themes for future research will be highlighted.     

黑龙江省服务外包产业发展探讨

服务外包正逐步取代传统贸易模式成为国际间贸易往来的新宠。随着经济全球化、一体化的深入发展,服务外包在服务贸易中的地位日渐重要。印度、爱尔兰等其他国家的服务外包业务已经走在世界前列,对服务外包产业发展具有重要借鉴意义。黑龙江省目前的服务外包业务正处于发展初期,可以借鉴国内外的成功经验,充分利用省内科技和人才力量,发挥语言和地缘优势,在政府的引导与扶持下,依托省内工业基础优势,推进服务外包产业健康有序发展。     

The Endogenous African Business: Why and How It Is Different,Why It Is Emerging Now and Why It Matters

ABSTRACT

Africa is currently undergoing a transition that is unprecedented in its history. For the first time, the demand of urban populations pulls business development, thus creating economies with higher levels of specialization than before. This essay highlights the phenomenon of the endogenous African businesses that are arising in this process. These businesses tap into the natural resources and the social, economic, and cultural systems that build upon them. These resources and systems make the African business environment different from business environments in other parts of the world. Furthermore, the endogenous businesses have access to knowledge on how to manage modern businesses in the formal sector of the economy. In combination with African resources and systems, such knowledge enables them to create and sustain and competitive advantage in modern dynamic marketplaces. Endogenous African businesses are important because they have the potential to fuel economic growth, to revitalize rural areas, to contribute to food security and healthy diets, and to provide role models of which Africans can be proud. Hence, these businesses deserve our attention in the next two decades of scholarly research and education on African business.     

New technologies and technological information in small businesses

The use of new management and production technologies is essential for most small businesses if they are to improve their competitiveness and thus face up to increasing national and international competition. This presupposes access to scientific, innovative, and technological information, making firms aware of developments in technology and the resources available for obtaining and using the technology correctly.Many authors have already shown that small businesses lag far behind large firms in their use of new technologies. Some reasons put forward to explain this include the more generally limited resources of small firms and a national structure for the production and transfer of new information that is poorly adapted to small business needs. However, assuming that some gap between small and large firms actually exists, how can we explain that most small firms nevertheless not only survive, often for a very long time, but also produce a return comparable to large firms?One way of doing this is to study the situation of small businesses by using methods adapted to the small business sector and not developed for large firms. It is important to analyze not only the characteristics of the firms themselves, but also what they do to become competitive.Our own research in the small business field has shown that the lag in terms of new computer technologies has decreased considerably in recent years, and also that it tends to be smaller in many industries if specific advanced technologies are added. The perspective also changes if we examine the innovation capacity of small business, and its ability to develop niches or to work on smaller and more specific markets.The same applies to technological watch. An inquiry following a case study shows that small firms use different channels according to their objectives and turn to networks to overcome the limits of the information transfer system they use. They evaluate information by comparing different sources, and they use iterative techniques and intuition to complete their information and to decide on their investments. New technology acquisition by small and large firms cannot be compared; for small firms, it is an entrepreneurial act that in no way resembles the behavior of larger firms.However, to understand small businesses, further research is required into their behavior in different kinds of decision-making situations. To do this, we need tools developed specifically for the small business sector, free of any presumption of the supposedly better performance of large-scale production.     

Outsourcing and the US Labour Market

There is worldwide concern about the vulnerability of the current labour force to displacement by future imported services. In the USA, some have suggested that as much as one‐third of the workforce might be vulnerable to such outsourcing. However, the labour market impacts of this displacement are difficult to assess using purely analytical or statistical approaches. In this paper, simulation methods are used to understand how sensitive the US economy and labour market are to increases in services imports. Specifically, the scenario examined assumes that the share of imported services in total employment increases from 0.8 per cent to 7.25 per cent over a time horizon in which workers are unable to change occupations. In response, it is found that all industries increase their use of imported services and their use of the composite input that is comprised of imported services and tradable labour. With the exception of legal workers, all workers in tradable occupations experience declines in their real wages. Demand for non‐tradable occupations labour rises in the industries that expand the most, while demand falls in shrinking industries. The non‐tradable occupations that are used intensively in the shrinking industries experience declines in real wages, while the real wages rise for workers in non‐tradable occupations used intensively in the expanding industries.     

中国承接离岸服务外包的人才需求与培养模式

人才是承接服务外包的命脉。虽然中国已经是全球第二大离岸服务外包承接大国,但服务外包专业人才数量短缺,供求结构失衡已经成为制约该产业快速发展的主要瓶颈。目前,培养离岸服务外包人才主要有高校"非订单式"、校企合作的"订单式"、政府设立的培训基地以及与国际知名大公司合作培训等四种模式,并都存在一定的弊端。应根据中国目前对离岸服务外包人才的需求情况,对现有的服务外包人才培养模式进行优化:以培养技术蓝领的职业教育和以培养中层白领技术、管理人才的高校专业教育为主;以国内外知名公司和机构培训高级管理和组织人才为辅,建立梯队式人才培养体系,满足中国离岸承接服务外包业对人才的需求。     

Relatedness of decisions in business services outsourcing

The literature of service outsourcing is mainly focused on case studies or specific service activities. However, there is no evidence about the pattern of relatedness among outsourcing of services. This paper analyses this issue by a relatedness index previously applied in the framework of product and technological diversification. The index is applied to analyse the degree of relatedness for outsourcing decisions among an array of fourteen services in a large data set of Spanish manufacturers in 1990–2006, detecting four time-constant clusters. An econometric analysis tests the alternative explanations about this pattern of joint decisions, based on shared knowledge and on workers' expertise.