Title: Outsourcing strategies of accounting functions in a developing economy: a study of the determinants by a triangulated approach

Authors: Serge Valant Gandja; Jean-Guy Degos

Addresses: BEM Bordeaux Management School, 680, cours de la Libération, 33405, Talence Cedex, France ' IAE Business School of Management, University Montesquieu Bordeaux IV, 35, Avenue Abadie, 33072, Bordeaux Cedex, France

Abstract: This study puts forward an explanatory model for the probability of a business having internal or external accounting at a specific moment. It is supported by resource- and skill-based theory, contingency theory and transaction cost theory which is considered as a main theory. With a triangulation method, we were able to identify the determinants of accounting outsourcing in Cameroon. The study's results emphasise the influence of differentials in skills and costs as the main factors explaining the probability of accounting outsourcing. Greater uncertainty in the external environment also seems to reinforce the decision, thus confirm the flexible nature attributed to external forms. The make-or-buy decision depends on contextual factors such as the size of the business, training systems and accounting referential.

Keywords: transactional costs theory; resource-based theory; skills-based theory; contingency theory; outsourcing strategies; developing economies; accounting outsourcing; Cameroon; uncertainty; make-or-buy decisions.

DOI: 10.1504/AJAAF.2012.052135

African Journal of Accounting, Auditing and Finance, 2012 Vol.1 No.4, pp.319 - 337

Published online: 31 Jul 2014 *

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