IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/worbus/v48y2013i3p407-419.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Governing business process offshoring: Properties, processes, and preferred modes

Author

Listed:
  • Luo, Yadong
  • Wang, Stephanie Lu
  • Jayaraman, Vaidyanathan
  • Zheng, Qinqin

Abstract

This article examines an important yet understudied issue—the governance mode for business process offshoring (BPO). By applying transaction cost economics and organizational control perspective in the global BPO context, we suggest that BPO's governance mode (foreign captive, joint venture, and independent vendor) is determined by task features, such as knowledge specialization, information security, and process codifiability, and by needed process integration, horizontally between departments and units within the provider and vertically between the provider and its global client and its local subcontractor. Findings from our analysis of 308 global BPO units in India and China confirm our hypotheses.

Suggested Citation

  • Luo, Yadong & Wang, Stephanie Lu & Jayaraman, Vaidyanathan & Zheng, Qinqin, 2013. "Governing business process offshoring: Properties, processes, and preferred modes," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 48(3), pages 407-419.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:worbus:v:48:y:2013:i:3:p:407-419
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jwb.2012.07.024
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1090951612000776
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jwb.2012.07.024?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Bruce Kogut, 1988. "Joint ventures: Theoretical and empirical perspectives," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 9(4), pages 319-332, July.
    2. Ravi Ramamurti, 2004. "Developing countries and MNEs: extending and enriching the research agenda," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 35(4), pages 277-283, July.
    3. Erin Anderson & Hubert Gatignon, 1986. "Modes of Foreign Entry: A Transaction Cost Analysis and Propositions," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 17(3), pages 1-26, September.
    4. Arie Y Lewin & Silvia Massini & Carine Peeters, 2009. "Why are companies offshoring innovation? The emerging global race for talent," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 40(8), pages 1406-1406, October.
    5. Edward J. Zajac & Cyrus P. Olsen, 1993. "From Transaction Cost To Transactional Value Analysis: Implications For The Study Of Interorganizational Strategies," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(1), pages 131-145, January.
    6. Kshetri, Nir, 2007. "Institutional factors affecting offshore business process and information technology outsourcing," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 13(1), pages 38-56, March.
    7. Arie Lewin & Silvia Massini & Carine Peeters, 2008. "Why are companies offshoring innovation ?the emerging global race for talent," Working Papers CEB 08-009, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    8. Kedia, Ben L. & Mukherjee, Debmalya, 2009. "Understanding offshoring: A research framework based on disintegration, location and externalization advantages," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 44(3), pages 250-261, July.
    9. Hausman, Jerry & McFadden, Daniel, 1984. "Specification Tests for the Multinomial Logit Model," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 52(5), pages 1219-1240, September.
    10. Jonathan P Doh & Kraiwinee Bunyaratavej & Eugene D Hahn, 2009. "Separable but not equal: The location determinants of discrete services offshoring activities," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 40(6), pages 926-943, August.
    11. David J. TEECE, 2008. "TRANSACTIONS COST ECONOMICS AND THE MULTINATIONAL ENTERPRISE: An Assessment," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: The Transfer And Licensing Of Know-How And Intellectual Property Understanding the Multinational Enterprise in the Modern World, chapter 20, pages 427-451, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    12. Yadong Luo & Stephanie Lu Wang & Qinqin Zheng & Vaidyanathan Jayaraman, 2012. "Task attributes and process integration in business process offshoring: A perspective of service providers from India and China," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 43(5), pages 498-524, June.
    13. Kuldeep Kumar & Paul C van Fenema & Mary Ann von Glinow, 2009. "Offshoring and the global distribution of work: Implications for task interdependence theory and practice," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 40(4), pages 642-667, May.
    14. William G. Ouchi, 1979. "A Conceptual Framework for the Design of Organizational Control Mechanisms," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 25(9), pages 833-848, September.
    15. Ram Mudambi, 2008. "Location, control and innovation in knowledge-intensive industries," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 8(5), pages 699-725, September.
    16. Oxley, Joanne E, 1997. "Appropriability Hazards and Governance in Strategic Alliances: A Transaction Cost Approach," The Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization, Oxford University Press, vol. 13(2), pages 387-409, October.
    17. Kathleen M. Eisenhardt, 1985. "Control: Organizational and Economic Approaches," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 31(2), pages 134-149, February.
    18. Anoop Madhok, 1997. "Cost, Value And Foreign Market Entry Mode: The Transaction And The Firm," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 18(1), pages 39-61, January.
    19. Yadong Luo, 2001. "Determinants of Entry in an Emerging Economy: A Multilevel Approach," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 38(3), pages 443-472, May.
    20. Ariño, Africa & de la Torre, Jose & Ring, Peter S., 2001. "Relational quality: Managing trust in corporate alliances," IESE Research Papers D/434, IESE Business School.
    21. Yadong Luo & Oded Shenkar & Mee-Kau Nyaw, 2001. "A Dual Parent Perspective on Control and Performance in International Joint Ventures: Lessons From a Developing Economy," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 32(1), pages 41-58, March.
    22. David L. Levy, 2005. "Offshoring in the New Global Political Economy," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 42(3), pages 685-693, May.
    23. Arie Lewin & Silvia Massini & Carine Peeters, 2009. "Why are companies offshoring innovation the emerging global race for talent (Journal of International Business Studies (2009) 40 (901-925) DOI:10.1057/jibs.2008.92)," ULB Institutional Repository 2013/205625, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    24. Tailan Chi & Anju Seth, 2009. "A dynamic model of the choice of mode for exploiting complementary capabilities," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 40(3), pages 365-387, April.
    25. Susan M. Mudambi & Stephen Tallman, 2010. "Make, Buy or Ally? Theoretical Perspectives on Knowledge Process Outsourcing through Alliances," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(s2), pages 1434-1456, December.
    26. Sea-Jin Chang & Arjen van Witteloostuijn & Lorraine Eden, 2010. "From the Editors: Common method variance in international business research," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 41(2), pages 178-184, February.
    27. Sunil Mithas & Jonathan Whitaker, 2007. "Is the World Flat or Spiky? Information Intensity, Skills, and Global Service Disaggregation," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 18(3), pages 237-259, September.
    28. Lahiri, Somnath & Kedia, Ben L., 2009. "The effects of internal resources and partnership quality on firm performance: An examination of Indian BPO providers," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 15(2), pages 209-224, June.
    29. J. Myles Shaver, 1998. "Accounting for Endogeneity When Assessing Strategy Performance: Does Entry Mode Choice Affect FDI Survival?," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 44(4), pages 571-585, April.
    30. Paul W Beamish & John C Banks, 1987. "Equity Joint Ventures and Theory of the Multinational Enterprise," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 18(2), pages 1-16, June.
    31. Anoop Madhok & Stephen B. Tallman, 1998. "Resources, Transactions and Rents: Managing Value Through Interfirm Collaborative Relationships," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 9(3), pages 326-339, June.
    32. Susan M. Mudambi & Stephen Tallman, 2010. "Make, Buy or Ally? Theoretical Perspectives on Knowledge Process Outsourcing through Alliances," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(8), pages 1434-1456, December.
    33. Ram Mudambi & Markus Venzin, 2010. "The Strategic Nexus of Offshoring and Outsourcing Decisions," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(8), pages 1510-1533, December.
    34. Hongxin Zhao & Yadong Luo & Taewon Suh, 2004. "Transaction cost determinants and ownership-based entry mode choice: a meta-analytical review," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 35(6), pages 524-544, November.
    35. Diana Farrell, 2005. "Offshoring: Value Creation through Economic Change," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 42(3), pages 675-683, May.
    36. Jonathan P. Doh, 2005. "Offshore Outsourcing: Implications for International Business and Strategic Management Theory and Practice," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 42(3), pages 695-704, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Niccolò Pisani & Joan Enric Ricart, 2016. "Offshoring of Services: A Review of the Literature and Organizing Framework," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 56(3), pages 385-424, June.
    2. Musteen, Martina, 2016. "Behavioral factors in offshoring decisions: A qualitative analysis," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 69(9), pages 3439-3446.
    3. Mukherjee, Debmalya & Nuruzzaman, N. & Gaur, Ajai S. & Singh, Deeksha, 2023. "Pro-market reforms and the outsourcing tradeoffs: Evidence from the transition economies," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 32(4).
    4. Hung, Tung Min & Contractor, Farok & Lo, Yi-Ju, 2022. "Manage the value and liability of offshoring innovation," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 31(2).
    5. Manning, Stephan, 2014. "Mitigate, tolerate or relocate? Offshoring challenges, strategic imperatives and resource constraints," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 49(4), pages 522-535.
    6. Vendrell-Herrero, Ferran & Gomes, Emanuel & Bustinza, Oscar F. & Mellahi, Kamel, 2018. "Uncovering the role of cross-border strategic alliances and expertise decision centralization in enhancing product-service innovation in MMNEs," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 27(4), pages 814-825.
    7. Schoenherr, Tobias & Narayanan, Sriram & Narasimhan, Ram, 2015. "Trust formation in outsourcing relationships: A social exchange theoretic perspective," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 169(C), pages 401-412.
    8. Stephanie Lu Wang & Qian Gu & Mary Ann Glinow & Paul Hirsch, 2020. "Cultural industries in international business research: Progress and prospect," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 51(4), pages 665-692, June.
    9. White, George O. & Boddewyn, Jean J. & Galang, Roberto Martin N., 2015. "Legal system contingencies as determinants of political tie intensity by wholly owned foreign subsidiaries: Insights from the Philippines," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 50(2), pages 342-356.
    10. Zimmermann, Angelika & Ravishankar, M.N., 2016. "A systems perspective on offshoring strategy and motivational drivers amongst onshore and offshore employees," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 51(4), pages 548-567.
    11. Stephanie Lu Wang & Dan Li, 2019. "Responding to public disclosure of corporate social irresponsibility in host countries: Information control and ownership control," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 50(8), pages 1283-1309, October.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Martinez-Noya, Andrea & Narula, Rajneesh, 2018. "What more can we learn from R&D alliances? : A review and research agenda," MERIT Working Papers 2018-022, United Nations University - Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (MERIT).
    2. Martinez-Noya, Andrea & Garcia-Canal, Esteban & Guillen, Mauro F., 2012. "International R&D service outsourcing by technology-intensive firms: Whether and where?," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 18(1), pages 18-37.
    3. Niccolò Pisani & Joan Enric Ricart, 2016. "Offshoring of Services: A Review of the Literature and Organizing Framework," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 56(3), pages 385-424, June.
    4. Clampit, Jack & Kedia, Ben & Fabian, Frances & Gaffney, Nolan, 2015. "Offshoring satisfaction: The role of partnership credibility and cultural complementarity," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 50(1), pages 79-93.
    5. Julien Gooris, 2013. "The impact of host-country environment and home-host country distance on the configuration of international service activities," ULB Institutional Repository 2013/209404, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    6. Rodgers, Peter & Khan, Zaheer & Tarba, Shlomo & Nurgabdeshov, Assylbek & Ahammad, Mohammad F., 2019. "Exploring the determinants of location choice decisions of offshored R&D projects," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 103(C), pages 472-483.
    7. Yi-Ju Lo & Tung Hung, 2015. "Structure offshoring and returns on offshoring," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 32(2), pages 443-479, June.
    8. Jensen, Peter D. Ørberg, 2012. "A passage to India: A dual case study of activities, processes and resources in offshore outsourcing of advanced services," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 47(2), pages 311-326.
    9. Gooris, Julien & Peeters, Carine, 2014. "Home–Host Country Distance in Offshore Governance Choices," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 20(1), pages 73-86.
    10. Schmeisser, Bjoern, 2013. "A Systematic Review of Literature on Offshoring of Value Chain Activities," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 19(4), pages 390-406.
    11. Julien Gooris & Carine Peeters, 2012. "Home-Host Country Distance and Governance Choices in Service Offshoring," Working Papers ECARES ECARES 2012-007, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    12. Upadhyayula, Rajesh & Karthik, D. & Karna, Amit, 2015. "Role of Clusters and Certification in the Internationalization of Offshoring Service Providers from Emerging Markets: A Study of Indian IT firms," IIMA Working Papers WP2015-03-35, Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad, Research and Publication Department.
    13. Mukherjee, Debmalya & Kumar, Satish & Pandey, Nitesh & Lahiri, Somnath, 2023. "Is offshoring dead? A multidisciplinary review and future directions," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 29(3).
    14. Manning, Stephan, 2014. "Mitigate, tolerate or relocate? Offshoring challenges, strategic imperatives and resource constraints," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 49(4), pages 522-535.
    15. Stephan Manning & Arie Y. Lewin & Marc Schuerch, 2011. "The Stability of Offshore Outsourcing Relationships," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 51(3), pages 381-406, June.
    16. Caniato, Federico & Elia, Stefano & Luzzini, Davide & Piscitello, Lucia & Ronchi, Stefano, 2015. "Location drivers, governance model and performance in service offshoring," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 163(C), pages 189-199.
    17. Stephan Manning & Silvia Massini & Carine Peeters & Arie Y. Lewin, 2018. "The changing rationale for governance choices: Early vs. late adopters of global services sourcing," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 39(8), pages 2303-2334, August.
    18. Larsen, Marcus M., 2016. "Failing to estimate the costs of offshoring: A study on process performance," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 25(1), pages 307-318.
    19. Mol, Michael J. & Brandl, Kristin, 2018. "Bridging what we know: The effect of cognitive distance on knowledge-intensive business services produced offshore," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 27(3), pages 669-677.
    20. Manning, Stephan, 2013. "New Silicon Valleys or a new species? Commoditization of knowledge work and the rise of knowledge services clusters," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 42(2), pages 379-390.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:worbus:v:48:y:2013:i:3:p:407-419. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/620401/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.