Publications

January 2018 (Revised October 2019)
Case

ZBJ: Building a Global Outsourcing Platform for Knowledge Workers (A)

By: Feng Zhu, Weiru Chen and Shirley Sun

ZBJ.com (ZBJ), an online platform that connects knowledge workers to small- and medium-sized enterprises, is China’s largest outsourcing platform. Founded by Mingyue Zhu in 2006, ZBJ had grown into a unicorn with 4,000 employees and a daily transaction volume of RMB15... View Details

Keywords: Outsourcing; Disintermediation; Digital Platforms; Information Technology; Problems and Challenges; Global Strategy; Information Technology Industry; China

March 2018 (Revised October 2019)
Supplement

ZBJ: Building a Global Outsourcing Platform for Knowledge Workers (B)

By: Feng Zhu, Weiru Chen and Shirley Sun

Supplements the (A) case. View Details

Keywords: Outsourcing; Disintermediation; Digital Platforms; Information Technology; Problems and Challenges; Global Strategy; Information Technology Industry; China

2019
Working Paper

Outsourcing Innovation: The China Shock Hits Brazil

By: Laura Alfaro, Maggie Chen, Andrea Lucchesi and Naercio A. Menezes Filho

Keywords: Outsourcing; China; Brazil; China; Brazil

April 2005 (Revised February 2007)
Case

American Outsourcing

By: Richard H.K. Vietor and Alexander Veytsman

Covers the phenomenon of outsourcing jobs from the United States. Reviews the evolution of Mexico's Maquiladoras, manufacturing special economic areas in China, and information technology and service-sourcing in India. Also reviews exports/imports, exchange rates,... View Details

Keywords: Job Cuts and Outsourcing; Employment; Emerging Markets; Wages; Trade; United States; Mexico; China; India

December 2012
Article

The Microwork Solution: A New Approach to Outsourcing Can Support Economic Development—and Add to Your Bottom Line

By: Francesca Gino and Bradely R. Staats

What's the best way to lift people out of poverty? The social entrepreneurs in the new "impact sourcing" industry believe the answer is providing work, not aid. Their organizations hire people at the bottom of the pyramid to perform digital tasks such as transcribing... View Details

Keywords: Outsourcing; Job Cuts and Outsourcing; Nonprofit Organizations; Partners and Partnerships; Development Economics; Social Entrepreneurship; Welfare; Cooperation; San Francisco

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Read Now

March 2005
Article

Outsourcing Marketing

By: Gail J. McGovern and John A. Quelch

Find at Harvard

April 1995 (Revised June 2002)
Case

Xerox: Outsourcing Global Information Technology Resources

By: Lynda M. Applegate and Kevin Davis

In order to increase revenues, develop new technologies, and manage information technology more efficiently, Xerox decided to sign a 10-year, $3.2 billion contract with Electronic Data Systems (EDS). This case describes the events that preceded Xerox's decision to... View Details

Keywords: Information Technology; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Job Cuts and Outsourcing; Information Technology Industry

February 1992
Article

Outsourcing and Industrial Decline

By: R.A. Bettis, Stephen P. Bradley and G. Hamel

Keywords: Job Cuts and Outsourcing

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01 Sep 2004
News

Outsourcing for Radical Change

Linder Photo Courtesy of Accenture Institute As research director at the Accenture Institute for High Performance Business, Jane C. Linder (MBA 1976, DBA 1989) was asked to provide a managing director with new material for a speech on "transformational outsourcing" –... View Details

Keywords: Laura Singleton; Publishing Industries (except Internet); Information

01 Mar 2011
News

Outsourcing the American Dream?

July 2006 (Revised December 2007)
Case

Strategic Outsourcing at Bharti Airtel Limited

By: Francisco de Asis Martinez-Jerez, V.G. Narayanan and Michele Jurgens

Faced with exponential growth and a competitive telecom environment, Bharti looks for ways to better manage its capital expenditures for telecommunications and information technology. One option is to hand over management of its telecom and IT networks to its vendors.... View Details

Keywords: Innovation and Management; Job Cuts and Outsourcing; Competitive Advantage; Technology Networks; Telecommunications Industry; India

10 Apr 2013
Research & Ideas

Learning Curve: Making the Most of Outsourcing

Companies that outsource merely to shuffle off commodity work to save costs might be missing important opportunities to work with vendors and significantly improve the final product. "When it comes to the View Details

Keywords: by Paul Guttry; Health

04 Jul 2005
Research & Ideas

Should You Outsource Your Marketing?

Most companies already outsource a portion of their marketing function—advertising. But what about direct-mail management, lead management, or customer analytics? Increasingly, expertise in these and other marketing areas lies outside... View Details

Keywords: by Poping Lin

14 Dec 2022
News

Santa Claus Debates Whether to Outsource Toy Production

1995
Chapter

Information-enabled Organization Transformation and Outsourcing

By: F. W. McFarlan

Keywords: Information Management; Knowledge Management; Knowledge Use and Leverage; Organizational Change and Adaptation

29 Dec 2010
News

The Mistaken Attack on Outsourcing

February 2013
Article

Sustaining Innovation When Outsourcing Components in Multi-technology, Multi-component Systems

By: Ian Mackenzie and Casimer DeCusatis

Firms producing multi-technology, multi-component systems are increasingly outsourcing selected components to achieve both reduced cost and enhanced innovation benefits. Given typical inter-dependence between innovation at the system and component levels, an important... View Details

Keywords: Innovation; Job Cuts and Outsourcing; Alignment; Innovation and Invention; Information Technology Industry