Outsourcing and Dependent Autonomy

• In Event: 1184 - Section on Organizations, Occupations, and Work Refereed Roundtable Session
  In Refereed Roundtable 100min: Table 20. Networks and Social Capital

Abstract

Outsourcing offers entities a type of autonomy in that it can give these entities greater control over what activities they perform as well as how they are performed. However, this is a dependent form of autonomy in that it is only made possible by the outsourcing entity becoming dependent upon those whom take these activities on. Recognizing the dependent nature of outsourcing’s autonomy is important because dependency introduces a number of risks that can be quite detrimental both to the entity engaging in outsourcing as well as to some broader social concerns. This paper focuses on three such risks: how this autonomy is dependent on the availability of suppliers willing and able to take on one's outsourced affairs; how this kind of dependency can lead to a loss of an entity’s internal capabilities; and how an entity can inadvertently outsource its core activities. Given that the dependence inherent in outsourcing relationships is the source of so many of outsourcing’s benefits as well as its risks, this paper highlights the highly precarious nature of dependent autonomy.

Author

• Craig D. Lair, Gettysburg College