Emerging trends in sourcing of business services

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine key emerging trends in sourcing of business services.Design/methodology/approach – The paper is primarily theoretical and observational. It is based on the author's review of major academic and managerial publications, extensive interactions with industry leaders and prior experience in the industry.Findings – Scale and scope of sourcing of business services from across firm and national boundaries is increasing. Offshore is increasingly being leveraged for higher value activities. As business services get more industrialized, activities are being split into smaller units for servicing, and a services supply chain is beginning to emerge. With sourcing becoming more strategic, risk management has become more complex and critical.Research limitations/implications – This paper provides an overview of significant emerging trends in sourcing of business services. Further complementary research – theoretical, survey or case‐study based – on each of these identif...

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