International outsourcing of services: A partnership model

The business landscape is currently witnessing widespread migration of service functions from developed nations like the U.S to several foreign destinations as India, China, Ireland, Philippines etc. This happens as more and more firms engage in international outsourcing of services (IOS) to survive in today's highly competitive business environment. Despite increase in IOS, the nature of partnerships involved between clients and their overseas providers have not received adequate attention in the scholarly literature. In this paper, we develop a conceptual model that explains three possible types of IOS partnership. We discuss how these partnerships vary in the way they are conceived and implemented. Propositions are offered after elaborating on each type of partnership. We conclude by discussing the academic and practical implications of our model. (C) 2007 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.