Various forms of sourcing

Sourcing involves finding the right balance between carrying out activities yourself and outsourcing them. One of the forms of sourcing is outsourcing.

Outsourcing can be divided into four types, each of which can be subdivided. The most well-known and oldest form is the entire or partial outsourcing of facility services. A second form is co-sourcing, whereby sourcing is the joint responsibility of two or more parties. Better known is business process outsourcing (BPO), which involves the complete transfer of business processes to a third party. Strictly speaking, the term outsourcing does not apply to the fourth type, namely benefit-based relationships or strategic sourcing, whereby investments are made in a common solution, with the sourcing designed according to the strength of each party.

Facility outsourcing is usually aimed at reducing costs. Co-sourcing, BPO and strategic sourcing are long-term decisions, focused on partnership and the adding of value. TOTE-M is currently performing research among decision makers in the field of customer management in the Netherlands. The aim of this research is to obtain insight into the criteria that determine the outsourcing of customer management. In addition, we want to bring the strategic sourcing of customer management to the attention of the top management in the Netherlands.