When would outsourcing be an effective resource strategy? Apex
Answers
The term “outsourcing” refers to a strategy whereby corporate tasks and structures are given to an external contractor. These can be individual tasks, specific areas, or entire business processes. ... In contrast, a task given in its entirety to an outside company is known as external outsourcing...
Answer:
A. Tasks that are critical to your operations, and not a vital component of your strategy.
Pretend, for a moment, that your company manufactures organic fruit snacks. While you need to deliver your product to grocery stores and other outlets, how you choose to do so is unlikely to impact the people who ultimately buy your snacks. Given that there is little strategic advantage to shipping the product yourself, this might be a task that you outsource. If you can ensure that your deliveries will be cost-effective and timely – thus avoiding unnecessary extra delivery and storage fees – outsourcing may be able to help you more efficiently complete this task.
B. Commodity tasks. Commodity tasks are also well suited to outsourcing. For instance, many printing companies offer an array of services that come with overnight shipping. In order for you to quickly produce business cards of the same quality as one of these companies, you would have to invest upfront in commercial-grade inks and printers. Or take janitorial services – you can hire full-time team members to clean your office building, or you can leverage the economies of scale that a full-service facilities business offers. The funds that you save on full-time staff can thus be redirected to other areas of your company. Customer service call centers are another example of this kind of outsourcing.