A multi-theory approach to understanding the business process outsourcing decision.pdf.pdf

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WORBUS-702; No. of Pages 14

Journal of World Business xxx (2014) xxx–xxx

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Journal of World Business

jo urnal homepage: ate/jwb

A multi-theory approach to understanding the business process
outsourcing decision
b a, a a

Martina Gerbl , Ronan McIvor *, Sharon Loane , Paul Humphreys
a

Ulster Business School, University of Ulster, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom
b

KPMG, Munich, Germany

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

This paper proposes a framework for understanding location distance and governance model choice in

the business process outsourcing (BPO) decision. Much of the current international business (IB)
Article history:

literature employs location-specific factors alone to explain the BPO decision, and this literature is

Available online xxx

dominated by studies of the offshore location option, with limited attention given to the local and

nearshore location distance options as alternatives to offshoring. The framework proposed here was
Keywords:

developed from integrating firm-level and process-level factors with location attractiveness factors, and

Business process outsourcing

Nearshore undertaking in-depth case study analysis of a number of panies. The findings highlight the

Offshore value of integrating firm-level and process-level factors with location attractiveness factors to

Resource-based view understand location distance and governance model choice in the BPO decision, and support those who


Transaction cost economics have argued that existing frameworks in this area cannot fully explain plexities of the BPO
Eclectic theory

decision. Moreover, the findings provide important insights into how these factors interact to influence

location distance and governance model choice. The proposed BPO framework also provides a useful

basis for practical prescription.

ß 2014 Elsevier Inc. A