عنوان

Examining political risk in service offshoring strategies

Number

TLets691013

Title Proper

Examining political risk in service offshoring strategies

General Material Designation

[Thesis]

First Statement of Responsibility

Hansen, Carsten

Subsequent Statement of Responsibility

Mena, Carlos

Name of Publisher, Distributor, etc.

Cranfield University

Date of Publication, Distribution, etc.

2015

Dissertation or thesis details and type of degree

D.B.A.

Body granting the degree

Cranfield University

Text preceding or following the note

2015

Text of Note

This research investigates political risk in the context of service offshoring and the corresponding impact on risk management decisions. The first stage of the study uses the Repertory Grid Technique (RGT), to explore key post-contract political risks experiences within offshore outsourcing activities. Twelve key political risks affecting offshore outsourcing decisions are identified, and the moderating effect of offshoring activity types (BPO, ITO or KPO) on political risk exposure and impact perceptions is highlighted. The research also explores the conditioning effect of industry specific exposure to political risk and enhances the explanatory ability of the Transaction Cost Economics (TCE) constructs, offering a re-operationalization of the political risk component of external uncertainty. The second stage of the research introduces a series of hypotheses between offshoring flows and political risk profiles, and applies multiple regression to analyse political risk affecting offshore activities in low cost countries across contract-based offshoring engagements and FDI. The findings highlight that political risk is a genuine business concern for offshore contract-based outsourcing modalities, and identify concerns with Intellectual Property protection, Quality of Bureaucracy and Corruption as key considerations affecting location decisions in low-cost countries. The research further suggests a positive relationship between strong country level institutional and regulatory systems and high knowledge content in offshoring engagements. From a practical perspective, the research highlights the need for managerial tools to determine diversified firm and industry specific political risk impact on global service outsourcing engagements. The key practical contribution is the development of differentiated political risk typologies that can capture the nuances of external risks in offshoring, allowing for more accurate risk assessment of offshoring decisions.

Low-cost country sourcing

Offshore Outsourcing

Political Risk

Service Offshoring

Hansen, Carsten

Mena, Carlos

Cranfield University

Electronic name

p

[Thesis]

276903

a

Y