$6-70$ Outsourcing

A popular term for make$-$or$-$buy decisions is outsourcing decisions. There are many examples of outsourcing, from Nike$$s outsourcing of nearly all its production activities to small firms$$ outsourcing of their payroll activities. Especially popular outsourcing activities are warehousing and computer systems.

The purpose of this exercise is to share information on different types of outsourcing decisions. It can be done in small groups or as an entire class. Each student should pick an article from the literature that tells about a particular company$$s outsourcing decision. There are many such articles: A recent electronic search of the business literature turned up more than $4,000$ articles. An easy way to find such an article is to search an electronic database of business literature. Magazines that have published outsourcing articles include Fortune, Forbes, Business Week, and Strategic Finance. Many business sections of newspapers also include such articles. The Wall Street Journal usually has a couple of articles on outsourcing each month.