Title: Multiattribute analysis of the offshore outsourcing location decision using a decision support system framework

Authors: P.D.D. Dominic, Ahmad Kamil Mahmood, V. Murugesh, P. Sridevi

Addresses: Department of Computer and Information Science, Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS, 31750, Tronoh, Perak, Malaysia. ' Department of Computer and Information Science, Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS, 31750, Tronoh, Perak, Malaysia. ' Department of Information & Communication Engineering, Hannam University, 133 Ojung-dong Daeduk-gu, Daejeon 306–791, South Korea. ' Department of Management Studies, National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirapalli – 620 015, India

Abstract: Today|s global business environment, characterised by unprecedented competitive pressures and sophisticated customers that demand speedy solutions, creates a large set of potential suppliers to evaluate and select from. The business landscape is currently witnessing widespread migration of services and functions from developed nations like the USA to destinations like India, China, the Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, Hungary, Poland, New Zealand and other countries. Several factors influence the outsourcers to offshore effectively and efficiently. This paper presents a structured framework with subjective and objective factors for guiding the outsourcers in making the decision on the proper outsourcing location. Based on this, a Decision Support System (DSS) framework was developed to provide a way for outsourcers and practitioners to have a more comprehensive approach to the outsourcing location decision. The process illustrates the way the system aids management in the offshore outsourcing decision through knowledge support.

Keywords: outsourcing; offshore locations; decision support systems; DSS; Brown-Gibson model; objective factors; subjective factors; location preference.

DOI: 10.1504/IJBIS.2008.018595

International Journal of Business Information Systems, 2008 Vol.3 No.5, pp.445 - 463

Published online: 01 Jun 2008 *

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