Sourcing of Services

Companies are increasingly sourcing services from third party providers on a global level. Nevertheless, the academic research on phenomena such as offshoring, international purchasing and the sourcing of certain specific categories is still scarce.


Lydia Bals provides terminological clarity regarding the field of offshoring. She identifies different types of offshoring, concluding that the buy option of offshore outsourcing versus hybrid or make options is directly related to purchasing. Her in-depth analysis specifically focuses on the sourcing of marketing services. In this context, the investigations of purchasing/marketing integration provide a conceptual model of barriers to purchasing involvement in sourcing of services. Moreover, the author seeks to shed light on issues of providing incentives for advertising agencies from an agency theory perspective. The case study illustrates that the measures taken against an initially problematic situation in the purchase of advertising agency services correspond with the theoretically identified solution mechanisms.