IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jbrese/v103y2019icp397-406.html

HR outsourcing: The impact on HR's strategic role and remaining in-house HR function

Author

Listed:
  • Patel, Charmi
  • Budhwar, Pawan
  • Witzemann, Alissa
  • Katou, Anastasia

Abstract

Past research on HR outsourcing (HRO) has offered conflicting views about its impact on HR's strategic position. This study highlights the processes by which decisions to outsource HR are made, followed by the processes implemented post such decisions and their effect on the HR function. Using a case study approach and semi-structured interviews (N=35) within a German subsidiary of a US MNC, we provide a framework of HR processes seeking to achieve standardization in terms of harmonization of HR activities across the subsidiary. The findings reveal that the effects of outsourcing on in-house HR showed a decrease in flexibility of the HR function, a slowdown in processing time of transactional HR as well as a decrease in satisfaction and work intensification for HR managers. Further, it remains questionable as to whether the function of HR was able to enhance its strategic position through outsourcing.

Suggested Citation

  • Patel, Charmi & Budhwar, Pawan & Witzemann, Alissa & Katou, Anastasia, 2019. "HR outsourcing: The impact on HR's strategic role and remaining in-house HR function," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 103(C), pages 397-406.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jbrese:v:103:y:2019:i:c:p:397-406
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jbusres.2017.11.007
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0148296317304538
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jbusres.2017.11.007?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

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Williamson, Oliver E, 1979. "Transaction-Cost Economics: The Governance of Contractural Relations," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 22(2), pages 233-261, October.
    2. Howard Gospel & Mari Sako, 2010. "The unbundling of corporate functions: the evolution of shared services and outsourcing in human resource management," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 19(5), pages 1367-1396, October.
    3. Pereira, Vijay & Anderson, Valerie, 2012. "A longitudinal examination of HRM in a human resources offshoring (HRO) organization operating from India," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 47(2), pages 223-231.
    4. repec:icf:icfjkm:v:10:y:2012:i:2:p:61-86 is not listed on IDEAS
    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. Flora Kulembayeva & Aruzhan Seitkaziyeva & Rakymzhan Yelshibayev, 2022. "Economic Efficiency of Outsourcing Business Models: A Comparative Assessment," Global Journal of Flexible Systems Management, Springer;Global Institute of Flexible Systems Management, vol. 23(1), pages 75-88, March.
    2. Samson Mbanje & Orthodox Tefera, 2023. "Drivers and risk of business process outsourcing in South African mobile telecommunication industry," International Journal of Research in Business and Social Science (2147-4478), Center for the Strategic Studies in Business and Finance, vol. 12(4), pages 123-135, June.

    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. Han, Shaojie & Su, Jingqin & Lyu, Yibo & Liu, Qing, 2022. "How do business incubators govern incubation relationships with different new ventures?," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 116(C).
    2. Mariani, Marcello M. & Fosso Wamba, Samuel, 2020. "Exploring how consumer goods companies innovate in the digital age: The role of big data analytics companies," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 121(C), pages 338-352.
    3. Miguel Espinosa, 2021. "Labor Boundaries and Skills: The Case of Lobbyists," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 67(3), pages 1586-1607, March.
    4. Markus Groth, 2005. "Auctions in an outcome-based payment scheme to reward ecological services in agriculture – Conception, implementation and results," ERSA conference papers ersa05p180, European Regional Science Association.
    5. Trautmann, Gerhard & Bals, Lydia & Hartmann, Evi, 2009. "Global sourcing in integrated network structures: The case of hybrid purchasing organizations," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 15(2), pages 194-208, June.
    6. Junyon Im & Sunny Sun, 2015. "Profits and outreach to the poor: The institutional logics of microfinance institutions," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 32(1), pages 95-117, March.
    7. Pietro Cunha Dolci & Antonio Carlos Gastaud Maçada, 2014. "Information technology investments and supply chain governance," RAC - Revista de Administração Contemporânea (Journal of Contemporary Administration), ANPAD - Associação Nacional de Pós-Graduação e Pesquisa em Administração, vol. 18(2), pages 217-235.
    8. Bo Cheng & Shiyu Lu, 2023. "Judicial system reform and trade credit financing: Evidence from a quasi‐natural experiment," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 44(6), pages 3422-3436, September.
    9. Jonathan H. Reed, 2022. "Operational and strategic change during temporary turbulence: evidence from the COVID-19 pandemic," Operations Management Research, Springer, vol. 15(1), pages 589-608, June.
    10. Schwesinger, Georg & Müller, Stephan & Lundan, Sarianna M., 2016. "Governance Structures, Cultural Distance, and Socialization Dynamics: Further Challenges for the Modern Corporation," VfS Annual Conference 2016 (Augsburg): Demographic Change 145907, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    11. Ariño, Africa & Reuer, Jeffrey J., 2004. "Alliance contractual design," IESE Research Papers D/572, IESE Business School.
    12. Daniel Scholten & Rolf Künneke, 2016. "Towards the Comprehensive Design of Energy Infrastructures," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(12), pages 1-24, December.
    13. Peter G. Klein & Michael E. Sykuta, 2010. "Editors’ Introduction," Chapters, in: Peter G. Klein & Michael E. Sykuta (ed.), The Elgar Companion to Transaction Cost Economics, chapter 1, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    14. Eisenberg, Julia & Mattarelli, Elisa, 2017. "Building Bridges in Global Virtual Teams: The Role of Multicultural Brokers in Overcoming the Negative Effects of Identity Threats on Knowledge Sharing Across Subgroups," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 23(4), pages 399-411.
    15. Franklin Allen & Meijun Qian, 2025. "Alternative finance in the international business context: a review and future research," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 56(1), pages 43-61, February.
    16. Athias, Laure & Wicht, Pascal, 2025. "Make or buy for public services: Culture matters for efficiency considerations," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).
    17. Omar Martin Fieles‐Ahmad & Matthias Huber, 2022. "Learn German, Buy German? Language‐learning opportunities abroad and exports," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 45(10), pages 3031-3058, October.
    18. Hoontaek Seo & Sangho Yi & William McCumber, 2024. "Friendly Boards and the Cost of Debt," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 17(7), pages 1-17, July.
    19. Robert S. Gibbons & Manuel Grieder & Holger Herz & Christian Zehnder, 2019. "Building an Equilibrium: Rules Versus Principles in Relational Contracts," CESifo Working Paper Series 7871, CESifo.
    20. Joao Dias & Vitor Mendes Magrico, 2009. "The impact of resource conditions and environmental uncertainty on inter-firm alliance strategies," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 43(6), pages 757-765.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:jbrese:v:103:y:2019:i:c:p:397-406. 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/locate/jbusres .

    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.