THE ROLE OF RELEVANT ACCOUNTING INFORMATION IN THE SELECTION AND IMPLEMENTATION OF OUTSOURCING STRATEGY

In the period when business environment is characterized by the crisis and when rapid development of information technology and globalization generate the need for new ways and sources for building and keeping competitive advantage on the global market, companies more frequently opt for the implementation of outsourcing strategy. The research presented in the paper investigates presence of outsourcing in business practice and effects of its implementation and analyzes the relevant accounting information and financial data used by company's management while making decisions on the selection and implementation of the outsourcing strategy. As a matter of fact, by using the relevant accounting information and analyzing potential advantages and disadvantages of outsourcing implementation from the accounting aspect, it is possible to create the model for making decisions on outsourcing and to set the assumptions for its implementation. The paper aims at defining the needs of modern companies for the outsourcing strategy and specifying the relevant accounting information and defining the ways for their proper usage, so that managers would be able to make the right decisions on the implementation of the outsourcing strategy which would then lead to desired results. The empirical research and its results presented in the paper included 34 Bosnian and Herzegovinian (BiH) companies. The questionnaire was used as a data collection instrument and it was filled in by managers. The research results indicate that 65% of the companies surveyed use outsourcing for one or more business activities, while 35% of them do not use this strategy. The activities that are mainly subject to outsourcing are the segments related to transport and distribution, marketing services, export/import, and legal services. The research results also show that the subjects believe the key advantage of outsourcing is the reduction and better control of costs, focus on company's core activities and increased flexibility.