Title: Offshoring industry of Central and Eastern Europe: the perspective of service vendor and investor

Authors: Damian Kedziora; Andrzej Hak; Andrzej Kraslawski; Timo Kärri

Addresses: Lappeenranta University of Technology, Skinnarilankatu 34, 53 850 Lappeenranta, Finland ' Zeromskiego 116, 90 924 Lodz, Poland ' Lappeenranta University of Technology, Skinnarilankatu 34, 53 850 Lappeenranta, Finland; Lodz University of Technology, Zeromskiego 116, 90 924 Lodz, Poland ' Lappeenranta University of Technology, Skinnarilankatu 34, 53 850 Lappeenranta, Finland

Abstract: Business process offshoring industry has been dynamically growing worldwide in recent years, and its rapid expansion has been particularly visible in Central Europe. Both parties involved in the organisational transformation: service buyer and vendor, can perceive such changes in a different way. The paper examines the attractiveness of a service offshoring destination, both from the investment and customer point of view, and provides a comparative analysis of five countries considered as key regional competitors: Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Bulgaria and Romania. Although the cost reduction is still very important, additional factors become major influencers for the offshore destination, like the potential for business process reengineering and service optimisation, political stability, and access to wide talent pools of sector-experienced workers. The study is supposed to serve decision makers as a reference in the assessment of offshoring investments.

Keywords: service; European; regional; offshoring; transition; market; investment; attractiveness; outsourcing; strategy.

DOI: 10.1504/IJMED.2018.093534

International Journal of Management and Enterprise Development, 2018 Vol.17 No.3, pp.193 - 223

Received: 06 Apr 2017
Accepted: 14 May 2017
Published online: 27 Jul 2018 *

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