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The Chief Information Officer of the Standard Bank Group, Brenda Niehaus, was contemplating her next steps. It is 2014 and she has just been appointed in her role and was burdened with a considerable set of challenges. Standard Bank Group's IT costs were far above industry benchmarks, delivery was slow, staff was unhappy and there were a couple of large signature projects that were over time and budget by orders of magnitudes. Her predecessor has embarked on a large whole scale outsourcing journey and a decision needs to be made if that will continue. Dawie Olivier, her Head of Build, advocates something different: Agile and DevOps. The dream in this approach is to have many small cross-functional two-pizza teams that work together in close proximity and build software. The code created on a developer's laptop will then seamlessly deploy to production automatically without the interference of pesky change control boards or some manual intervention. Should she continue with outsourcing or insource and focus on Agile? What she didn't realise was that her successors will all face a similar situation and that answers will not be ready at hand. Many organisations face a similar dilemma of balancing outsourcing, Agile, DevOps and general constraints around skilled resources. We provide a rich narrative of the choices CIOs face in developing countries around these themes to help students understand the risks and opportunities these different approaches bring. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Market competitiveness drives the electric motors industry, which in turn necessitates the selection of optimal production scenarios, particularly in the context of packaging. This is crucial for maintaining competitiveness and meeting the rigorous quality and logistical demands that are characteristic of this industry. This paper presents a systematic analysis of the packaging production chain for electric motors, employing the SAPEVO-M method as a decision aid tool. The study examines various strategic options, including outsourcing and internalizing processes, with a particular focus on their impacts on logistics, quality control, and overall supply-chain efficiency. The research conducts a comprehensive evaluation of these strategies to ascertain the most effective approach for managing the complexities of packaging production. The SAPEVO-M method facilitated a structured decision-making process, allowing for the aggregation and prioritization of diverse criteria such as cost, quality, flexibility, environmental impact, and supply risk. A sensitivity analysis was performed to validate the robustness of the decision-making outcomes under varying alternatives. The findings highlight the benefits of internalizing certain processes, particularly the assembly (with a score of 43.27%), to gain direct control over production variables, leading to enhanced operational efficiency and product competitiveness. This paper contributes to the literature by demonstrating the application of MCDA in enhancing strategic decisions within the electric motors industry, providing insights for analyzing other manufacturing factors in the improvement of supply-chain processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The global supply chain problem, intensified by events such as the Covid-19 pandemic, natural disasters, geopolitical tensions and trade disputes, has highlighted the need to reassess and reorganize logistics processes. One of the strategic options for enterprises is backsourcing, which enables increasing resilience, improving control and managing risk in response to the global crisis resulting in delays and significant interruptions in supply chains. The aim of the study is therefore to present the essence, the most important determinants and advantages and disadvantages of the backsourcing process, with particular emphasis on the current experiences of European enterprises in this area. Backsourcing as a new trend among European companies can make it easier to understand the strategic adjustments and consequences associated with this business strategy. The conclusions obtained from such research can help companies, politicians and academics in making informed decisions and developing strategies in line with the current market characteristics and dynamics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Orientation: The study was conducted in two higher education institutions that underwent insourcing and harmonisation of conditions of employment for support services. Research purpose: This study aims to determine how harmonisation shapes outcomes among support service labour in selected higher education institutions and to develop a management framework to harmonise conditions of employment following insourcing. Motivation for the study: The study capitalises on organisational complexities in higher education institutions that experienced insourcing of support services employees to address concerns assumed to be premised on historical exclusionary and exploitative employment practices. The study documents the experience and perceptions of institutional stakeholders in creating new knowledge on harmonisation following insourcing. Research approach/design and method: Employing a qualitative approach, 16 interviews were conducted with selected multi-level management and personnel directly involved in a harmonisation. Main findings: The study found tangible and intangible aspects, processes and other psychological perspectives on implementing harmonisation across employment levels. Furthermore, it was found that an efficient and effective harmonisation framework is required. Effective harmonisation for inclusion was viewed as being compromised by factors such as government intervention, and a lack of policy, framework and legislation to guide the process. Practical/managerial implications: Practical recommendations are provided for implementing harmonisation strategies following insourcing across employment levels in South African higher education institutions. Contribution/value-add: The study contributes to novel theory on harmonisation after insourcing and provides a management framework for harmonisation of conditions of employment.

Abstract Background Considering the significance of care delegation in enhancing the quality of nursing care and ensuring patient safety, it is imperative to explore nurses’ experiences in this domain. As such, this study aimed to explore the experiences of Iranian nurses regarding the delegation of care. Methods This qualitative study was conducted between 2022 and 2023, employing the content analysis method with a conventional approach. The study utilized purposeful sampling method to select qualified participants. Data collection was carried out through in-depth and semi-structured interviews utilizing open-ended questions. The data analysis process followed the steps proposed by Graneheim and Lundman (2004) and involved the use of MAXQDA version 12 software. To ensure the trustworthiness of the data, the study employed the four rigor indices outlined by Lincoln and Guba (1985). Results In the present study, a total of 15 interviews were conducted with 12 participants, the majority of whom were women. The age range of the participants fell between 25 and 40 years. Through qualitative data analysis, eight subcategories and three main categories of “insourcing of care”, “outsourcing of care” and “delegating of care to non-professionals” were identified. Additionally, the overarching theme that emerged from the analysis was “delegation of care, a double-edged sword”. Conclusions The results of the study revealed that the delegation of care occurred through three distinct avenues: to colleagues within the same unit, to colleagues in other units, and to non-professionals. Delegating care was found to have potential benefits, such as reducing the nursing workload and fostering teamwork. However, it was also observed that in certain instances, delegation was not only unhelpful but also led to missed nursing care. Therefore, it is crucial to adhere to standardized principles when delegating care to ensure the maintenance of high-quality nursing care.

This paper provides insights into the predominant styles of political reasoning in England and Wales that inform penal policy reform. It does so in relation to a particular development that constitutes a dramatic, perhaps even unique, wholesale reversal of a previously introduced market-based criminal justice delivery model. This is the 'unification' of probation services in England and Wales, which unwound the consequential privatization reforms introduced less than a decade earlier. This paper draws on in-depth interviews with senior policy makers to present a narrative reconstruction of the unification of probation services in England and Wales. Analogies with desistance literature are drawn upon in order to encapsulate the tensions posed for policy makers as they sought to enact this penal policy reform. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the auto industry's 2008 crisis, the decades-long trend toward outsourcing by the Detroit Three automakers has stalled. During and after the crisis, original equipment manufacturers moved work inside their corporate boundaries, including the purchase of eight previously spun-off parts plants. Why has this happened? Drawing on 77 interviews in the United States and Canada and 27 insourcing cases, the authors explore how and why insourcing has taken place. Past literature has considered the costs and benefits of creating the vertically integrated corporation, the managerial politics behind vertical disintegration, and the labor–management relations that shape both. While much industrial relations scholarship points to decentralized plant-level partnerships as a union strategy to win investment, the authors find that local unionists are intervening in the politics of the corporation above the plant level to influence the purchasing, manufacturing, and engineering functions that determine the sourcing decision. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Market competitiveness drives the electric motors industry, which in turn necessitates the selection of optimal production scenarios, particularly in the context of packaging. This is crucial for maintaining competitiveness and meeting the rigorous quality and logistical demands that are characteristic of this industry. This paper presents a systematic analysis of the packaging production chain for electric motors, employing the SAPEVO-M method as a decision aid tool. The study examines various strategic options, including outsourcing and internalizing processes, with a particular focus on their impacts on logistics, quality control, and overall supply-chain efficiency. The research conducts a comprehensive evaluation of these strategies to ascertain the most effective approach for managing the complexities of packaging production. The SAPEVO-M method facilitated a structured decision-making process, allowing for the aggregation and prioritization of diverse criteria such as cost, quality, flexibility, environmental impact, and supply risk. A sensitivity analysis was performed to validate the robustness of the decision-making outcomes under varying alternatives. The findings highlight the benefits of internalizing certain processes, particularly the assembly (with a score of 43.27%), to gain direct control over production variables, leading to enhanced operational efficiency and product competitiveness. This paper contributes to the literature by demonstrating the application of MCDA in enhancing strategic decisions within the electric motors industry, providing insights for analyzing other manufacturing factors in the improvement of supply-chain processes.

Purpose: An increase in outsourcing of consultancy services has been observed during procurement and delivery of public-sector infrastructure projects. However, the incidence of project failure has continued unabated despite this shift by public-sector entities. Also, there appears to be limited literature focussed on seeking to provide the rationale governing the decision to outsource or insource consultancy services by public-sector organisations. The purpose of this study was to appraise the performance of public-sector projects in which consultancy services have been outsourced or insourced. These are the gaps which this study was undertaken to fill. Design/methodology/approach: A grounded theory methodology (GTM) research design was adopted based on the nature of evidence sought and gathered from a Provincial Department of Public Works and Infrastructure (PDPWI) in South Africa. Data was obtained from a mixture of semi-structured interviews and project-specific documents spanning a five-year period and was analysed according to the procedures associated with GTM. Accordingly, open coding, axial coding and pattern matching were carried out at several intervals to develop categories and themes. Findings: The findings of the study showed the absence of a structured approach within the PDPWI for facilitating decisions pertaining to outsourcing or insourcing consultancy services within construction projects. Furthermore, the study established that both approaches yielded similar results across all performance facets of cost, time and quality. In addition, a detailed insight into the steps required for the successful application of GTM in built environment research has been provided in the study. Originality/value: Limited studies have been undertaken to compare the impact of either outsourced or insourced services on the organisational and project performance. This was the gap to which the study reported in this paper was undertaken to contribute. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We draw on the literature to categorise the supply chain disturbances (risks and uncertainties) that affect high-value manufacturing (HVM) firms when adopting the following two sourcing strategies: (a) insourcing/nearshore outsourcing, and (b) outsourcing/offshoring. We build a hierarchy structure of disturbances, which was tested in a case study of a European HVM operating in the aerospace industry. A novelty of this study is the quantitative prioritisation and comparison, using the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) method, of the disturbances reported by two groups of managers: three product managers (internally facing) and four supply chain managers (externally facing). Our findings show that managers' perceptions of firm-related, network-related and location-related disturbances can be prejudiced by their functional boundaries. We show that both product and supply chain managers prefer the insource/nearshore outsource strategy, as they feel that the disturbances while outsourcing/offshoring are significantly greater and offset the benefits of low-cost production – a counterintuitive finding. Through in-depth interviews with both groups of managers, we found the mitigation strategies are reshoring, full consideration to the total cost of acquisition (including hidden costs of distant operations) and building clusters in emerging markets to support the firm's regional hub by partnering with its existing suppliers from developed countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Maintenance plays an indispensable role in the productive sector of an organization. The increasing use of high-precision operations in the steel industry means that hydraulic systems demand greater attention. This study proposes an evaluation framework for analyzing the economic feasibility of insourcing hydraulic maintenance services, seeking to present tools for assisting managers in decision-making and optimizing maintenance strategies. This paper presents a cash flow study, where the Net Present Value (NPV), the Internal Rate of Return (IRR), and the Profitability Index (PI) are calculated. Subsequently, the Monte Carlo method is applied to perform a sensitivity analysis for viewing the probabilities and output results. The main contribution of this study is to enable the evaluation of the results considering the economic feasibility of insourcing or outsourcing maintenance contracts through the proposed framework. In this case, the economic viability of insourcing presents a cost reduction in maintenance services. This approach suggested an industrial case study, where the use of the Monte Carlo and cash flow methods are useful tools for decision-making, contributing to the optimization of resources among industrial managers.

Copyright of Ekonomske Ideje i Praksa is the property of Centar za Izdavacku Delatnost Ekonomskog Fakulteta u Beogradu and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This article provides a systematic review of the literature on backsourcing. The aim is to synthesize existing literature in order to compare and analyze similarities and differences in backsourcing in the private and public sectors. The study asks questions about: which methods and theories have been used, why backsourcing has been implemented, and what reasons have been described for backsourcing. The study is based on an analysis of 500 articles about backsourcing and 33 articles in the final data set. The results show that backsourcing is primarily caused by: increased costs, lack of quality, and contract problems in the private sector, along with loss of control, cost saving, and changed strategy in the public sector. The study's synthesis highlights three explanations for how backsourcing is managed and interpreted in both the sectors. The article contributes specifically to summarizing current research on backsourcing, synthesizing how backsourcing has been studied, illustrating gaps in the research, as well as explaining relevant differences between private and public backsourcing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Employer engagement is increasingly emphasised in the context of efforts to bring more disadvantaged people into work. A new approach in the Norwegian Employment and Welfare Service (NAV) combines demand-side and supply-side measures in a 'combined workplace-oriented approach'. Through qualitative interviews with frontline staff – including job coaches following the Supported Employment (SE) method – the paper examines the intermediary role of the street-level organisation (SLO) through the targeted use of SE methods directed at young users and employers. The findings suggest that young users are 'creamed by motivation' into the SE programme, which can be explained by the importance the SLO places: on maintaining inter-organisational relationships with employers, on job coaches' performance goals and the need to uphold an organisational structure in the SLO that seemingly works efficient to shift caseloads of young unemployed into work. Hence, creaming is not specific to outsourcing but can also occur when insourcing employer engagement services into a public SLO. Although relational work directed at both employers and young clients is seen as the benefit of a combined workplace-oriented approach, it appears a rather flimsy foundation for successful ALMPs unless supported by more structural demand-side measures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose The process and challenges associated with an initiative to pivot from insourcing the batch compounding of high-volume sterile preparations to insourcing patient-specific compounding of parenteral nutrition (PN) at a health-system central fill pharmacy (CFP) serving 8 hospitals in central Florida are described. Summary The insourcing initiative was prompted by a need for greater oversight of sterile compounding to ensure patient safety and the potential for cost savings. In 2014 the health system opened a CFP to provide replenishment of automated dispensing machines and insourcing of 19 compounded sterile preparations (CSPs) as the hub of a hub-and-spoke distribution system for 8 local hospitals. The need to comply with a 2016 proposed Food and Drug Administration requirement limiting the distribution by 503A pharmacies of non–patient-specific CSPs beyond 1 mile and the state of Florida's scope of practice definition related to sterile compounding prompted the CFP to switch from CSP insourcing to PN insourcing. The business case was based on substantial projected cost savings of more than $900,000 annually from PN insourcing versus outsourcing. A hybrid model for insourcing PN preparation was developed by using the PN compounding device, solutions, and additives from different vendors. Standardization of PN formulations and order templates streamlined the ordering process and reduced the unnecessary use of additives and associated costs. Conclusion With careful planning, the CFP successfully pivoted from insourcing CSPs to insourcing PN. A collaborative approach with early and frequent communication among key health-system and vendor stakeholders was vital to the success of the initiative. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relevance of the paper is determined by IT expansion; striving the management of these enterprises for expenditure minimization connected with organization and management; positive changes in legislation, which contribute to the development of IT-enterprises. The article aims at disclosing the forms of accounting organization, taking into account the possibilities of their use at the IT-enterprises. The set goal is reached through using the methods of observation, comparison, analysis, synthesis, and generalization. The author generalizes the factors, which influence the choice of the accounting organization form at the IT-enterprise (requests from investors, IT-enterprise size, the duration of operating on the market, the general scheme of functioning the IT-enterprise), and determines the most acceptable options among each of them, The research of the requests brought out by employers to the bookkeepers for the IT-enterprises, confirms the necessity in the deep knowledge of the field peculiarity. The lack of experience in working in the IT field results in bookkeepers’ making a number of mistakes, the most important of which are generalized in the article (incorrect classification of operations, the availability of inaccuracy in accounting representation, the overstatement of tax base), and those, which require special attention from the management when checking the bookkeeper’s level of proficiency. The author proposes to choose the outsourcing or insourcing forms of accounting organization for IT-enterprise, taking into account the peculiarities of its activity. The results of the current study contribute to the rational organization of accounting at the IT-enterprise by choosing the optimal entity for its doing.

The article is aimed at researching the status of the Ukrainian accounting services market; allocating the features, advantages and disadvantages of the existing models of organization of providing accounting services with use of crowd technologies, as well as exploring the prospects for their introduction into activities of national enterprises. The most common models of providing accounting services with use of crowd technologies are analyzed: outsourcing, cosoursing, offshoring, insourcing, outstaffing. It is determined that accounting models, along with significant advantages, have a number of drawbacks. It is noted that the choice of a certain model, the ability and necessity of its use depends on the volumes and types of activities and is left to the owners of the enterprise, taking into account the advantages and presence of an economic effect. It is defined that Ukrainian market of accounting services is represented by a large number of enterprises and individual entrepreneurs, who are increasing the volume of services sold and are in the greatest demand among businesses and institutions in comparison with the ordinary population and other categories of consumers. It is substantiated that, provided the use of services of outsourcers by business owners, it is advisable to focus on the compliance of those who provide services to certain criteria, the main ones among them: professionalism and competence in the specifics and strategies of the customer’s activity; responsibility for result and quality; privacy; cost of accounting services. It is defined that the use of crowd technologies by enterprises in the organization of the accounting process will contribute to its optimization, obtainment of significant benefits from the use of additional resources, and increase in the ability to adapt them to modern economic realities.

This paper extends the existing literature on information systems (IS) backsourcing by the perception of practitioners. For this purpose, we conducted a series of qualitative, semi-structured interviews with IS sourcing experts. The interview questions focused on the participants’ perceptions and experiences with the topic, on identifying reasons for and against IS backsourcing, and on revealing relevant trends pertinent to IS backsourcing. We then compared those findings with two previously conducted comprehensive literature reviews on academic and practitioner literature on IS backsourcing. By following this approach, we contribute to the existing research by verifying previous findings, for example, the most important reasons why companies decide in favor of IS backsourcing. Additionally, we were able to enhance previous contributions as we highlight the significance of differentiating between the scope of IS backsourcing by looking at the underlying services which are potentially backsourced. Further, we identified the importance of managers’ personal preferences as an additional reason for IS backsourcing, for example, based on personal experiences or a perceived need for change. Based on our findings, we created a comprehensive overview of all aspects connected to the IS backsourcing process and derived opportunities for further research to contribute to the IS backsourcing research agenda.

A growing trend to simultaneously insource and outsource the same information technology (IT) activities (“concurrent IT sourcing”) has not yet received research attention. Although it is widespread and recent empirical studies have detected that in-house IT can complement IT outsourcing,whenandhowconcurrent IT sourcing pays off is not yet understood. This study introduces the notion of concurrent IT sourcing. It then develops two interrelated ideas: concurrent IT sourcing simultaneously enhances in-house and outsourced IT performance: (a) via distinctive mechanisms, but (b) only when vendors’ IT capabilities complement the client’s. Econometric tests using survey data from 233 firms support these ideas. Our novel contribution is to explain when and how concurrent IT sourcing enhances a client firm’s inhouse and outsourced IT performance. The explanatory mechanisms for outsourced IT performance are socialization and modeling of clients’ in-house IT practices by vendors; for in-house IT performance they are knowledge spillovers and ratcheting. For practice, our study shows that when a firm’s in-house capabilities complement its IT vendors’ capabilities, firms can simultaneously outsourceandinsource the same IT activities to enhance both in-house and outsourced IT performance. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Local governments are bringing previously outsourced services back in‐house. Research into explanations for sourcing decisions in the public sector is growing, however, few researchers have investigated drivers of both outsourcing and backsourcing in local public‐governance organizations. In this study we utilize transaction cost economic theory (TCE) and political ideology to investigate underlying motives of sourcing in local public governance organizations. Based on a 2018 survey of chief financial officers (CEO) in all of Sweden's 290 municipalities, this study shows that backsourcing is strongly associated with outsourcing and that outsourcing and backsourcing should not be understood as opposite phenomena, rather as interdependent phenomena in a dynamic sourcing strategy. Outsourcing and backsourcing are driven in part by different factors: Outsourcing by political ambitions and economic factors relating to TCE, while managerial and pragmatic concerns are foregrounded for backsourcing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Organizations are increasingly dependent on their Information technology (IT) infrastructure to drive internal operational efficiencies and deliver enhanced customer experience externally. In todays' world, information technology acts as a backbone for most of the business organization, both in domestic and multinational corporations. IT components include hardware, software, data, processes and people. People are integral part of information technology management and are typically involved in the operations and management of IT components. Sourcing decision of an organization deals can with staffing and/or procurement of raw materials. Sourcing strategy can be global or domestic within the country of the organization. Our article is aimed at studying various human resources sourcing strategies in organizations such as outsourcing, offshoring, near shoring, reshoring, insourcing and how it is increasingly becoming more strategic decision in nature with its impact on organizational performance of meeting their strategic objectives. We adopted a narrative literature review method to research on existing literature on the topic and develop a conceptual base for future research. We find that sourcing decision is integral to an organization achieving its strategic objectives, thereby considered one of the strategic decisions in today's competitive and dynamic operating environment of organizations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The organizational structure of an enterprise should provide a system of effective management of operational processes, which can not function without optimal organization of accounting, which is a set of interacting units aimed at the holistic activity and development of the entity. The urgent issue is to study the qualitative and effective organization of accounting at the enterprise, to find alternative models of accounting organization through the use of services of external providers, to identify the relationship between them and differences in their application. The article focuses on such models of accounting organization as the organization of accounting by internal units and on a contractual basis by an external provider, i.e. the transfer of the maximum possible number of accounting processes and procedures to crowd technology (outsourcing, intsourcing, co-sourcing) in terms of accounting transactions’ organization. The essence of the concepts of outsourcing, offshoring, insourcing, outstaffing, co-sourcing is defined. A comparative analysis of these crowd technologies is conducted and their advantages and disadvantages for the purposes of qualitative organization of accounting transactions in the structure of the enterprise are determined. It is emphasized that the choice of any model of organization of accounting processes (outsourcing, insourcing, co-sourcing) is a strategic decision for the enterprise, since this decision is directly related to all aspects of enterprise management. In terms of digital economy formation, by means of information technologies and platforms, business models are dramatically changing. The use of an outsourcing/insourcing/co-sourcing strategy enables the company not only to reduce costs and increase the company’s capitalization, but to grow and develop at a faster rate.

The relevance of the paper is determined by IT expansion; striving the management of these enterprises for expenditure minimization connected with organization and management; positive changes in legislation, which contribute to the development of IT-enterprises. The article aims at disclosing the forms of accounting organization, taking into account the possibilities of their use at the IT-enterprises. The set goal is reached through using the methods of observation, comparison, analysis, synthesis, and generalization. The author generalizes the factors, which influence the choice of the accounting organization form at the IT-enterprise (requests from investors, IT-enterprise size, the duration of operating on the market, the general scheme of functioning the IT-enterprise), and determines the most acceptable options among each of them, The research of the requests brought out by employers to the bookkeepers for the IT-enterprises, confirms the necessity in the deep knowledge of the field peculiarity. The lack of experience in working in the IT field results in bookkeepers’ making a number of mistakes, the most important of which are generalized in the article (incorrect classification of operations, the availability of inaccuracy in accounting representation, the overstatement of tax base), and those, which require special attention from the management when checking the bookkeeper’s level of proficiency. The author proposes to choose the outsourcing or insourcing forms of accounting organization for IT-enterprise, taking into account the peculiarities of its activity. The results of the current study contribute to the rational organization of accounting at the IT-enterprise by choosing the optimal entity for its doing.

This paper presents the Experiment in a Box (XB) framework to support interactive technology design for building health skills. The XB provides a suite of experiments—time-limited, loosely structured evaluations of health heuristics for a user-as-experimenter to select from and then test in order to determine that heuristic’s efficacy, and to explore how it might be incorporated into the person’s life and when necessary, to support their health and wellbeing. The approach leverages self-determination theory to support user autonomy and competence to build actionable, personal health knowledge skills and practice (KSP). In the three studies of XB presented, we show that with even the short engagement of an XB experiment, participants develop health practices from the interventions that are still in use long after the intervention is finished. To situate the XB approach relative to other work around health practices in HCI in particular, we contribute two design continua for this design space: insourcing to outsourcing and habits to heuristics. From this analysis, we demonstrate that XB is situated in a largely under-explored area for interactive health interventions: the insourcing and heuristic oriented area of the design space. Overall, the work offers a new scaffolding, the XB Framework, to instantiate time-limited interactive technology interventions to support building KSP that can thrive in that person, significantly both post-interventions, and independent of that technology.

This paper presents research on the need for boundary spanners in organizations that has an offshore insourcing strategy for the IT-function. The research question addressed was: How does an offshore insourcing strategy influence the need for having boundary spanners? Empirical data was collected using a case study in three phases, including semi-structured and structured interview in a multinational company. Boundary spanners is often presented as being of great importance when the IT-function is outsourced. The main conclusion is that boundary spanners that has the capability to communicate over the borders in this kind of organizations is also of high importance. This capability is likewise important in an offshore insourcing case as in the offshore outsourcing case. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper extends the existing literature on information systems (IS) backsourcing by the perception of practitioners. For this purpose, we conducted a series of qualitative, semi-structured interviews with IS sourcing experts. The interview questions focused on the participants’ perceptions and experiences with the topic, on identifying reasons for and against IS backsourcing, and on revealing relevant trends pertinent to IS backsourcing. We then compared those findings with two previously conducted comprehensive literature reviews on academic and practitioner literature on IS backsourcing. By following this approach, we contribute to the existing research by verifying previous findings, for example, the most important reasons why companies decide in favor of IS backsourcing. Additionally, we were able to enhance previous contributions as we highlight the significance of differentiating between the scope of IS backsourcing by looking at the underlying services which are potentially backsourced. Further, we identified the importance of managers’ personal preferences as an additional reason for IS backsourcing, for example, based on personal experiences or a perceived need for change. Based on our findings, we created a comprehensive overview of all aspects connected to the IS backsourcing process and derived opportunities for further research to contribute to the IS backsourcing research agenda.

Copyright of HMD: Praxis der Wirtschaftsinformatik is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The decision to outsource organizational activities is studied widely, but research on the insourcing of outsourced activities is scarce. We study the outsourcing decision as a process, and investigate the influences of organizational mechanisms on its sustainability. We argue that organizational learning from the outsourcing decision process could over time result in competencies that enhance the sustainability of outsourcing decisions. We examine outsourcing and insourcing processes longitudinally. The results indicate that the outsourcing process mechanisms, especially the mechanisms associated with implementing the outsourcing decision, predict insourcing. We discuss the implications for future research on outsourcing and insourcing of public services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the context of the mainstream of globalisation and a new trend of slowbalisation, we review the existing literature including both empirical and analytical papers on the sourcing and location decisions in Supply Chains. After defining the different sourcing strategies, e.g., insourcing, outsourcing, offshoring and reshoring, we present the drivers for each strategy and how they can be incorporated in the analytical models in order to help to optimize the taken decisions. We also discuss the research perspectives in the field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]