Decision Making in Outsourcing Support Services in the Uk Public Healthcare

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PhD Research Proposal

DECISION MAKING IN

OUTSOURCING SUPPORT SERVICES

IN THE UK PUBLIC HEALTHCARE

Presented by : Norbaya Ab Rahim

Supervisor : David Baldry

Email : N.Abrahim@pgr.salford.ac.uk

ERES PhD Doctoral Sessions

Milan

23 June 2010

University of Salford

School of the Built Environment

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1.0 BACKGROUND TO THE RESEARCH

Outsourcing of support services is not a new concept (Russell and Taylor,

2003; Yang and Huang, 2000; Yang et al., 2007; Winkleman et al., 1993). For a

long period businesses have outsourced non-core services such as catering,

accounting, information technology, payroll or using outside consultants for

their services. Even the type of decision that outsourcing represents is the

same as the make-or-buy decision on products, processes and facilities that

organisations have been doing for many years (Russell and Taylor, 2003).

What has changed is the type and range of services being outsourced and the

extent to which outsourcing has moved from a tactical to a strategic decision

(Fill and Viser, 2000; Schniederjans and Zuckweiler, 2004). Outsourcing is

increasingly becoming a strategic tool for many organisations as this engages

the unique talents of highly skilled service providers in strategically

important activities (Sanders et al., 2007). Momme and Hvolby (2002) argue

that outsourcing should be considered a dynamic process as any decisions

concerning outsourcing should be in line with the strategic direction of the

organisation.

The act of outsourcing is not only prevalent in the private sectors, it is also

growing in the public sectors (Bernard and Antisthenis, 2003). Smith (2008)

describes some of the strengths of the public sector are that it belongs to the

people, is accountable to the people,