Dictionary of Procurement Terms

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Search Results: 1-5 of 5 results for “Outsourcing”

  • Business Process Outsourcing

    To carve out an internal business process such as IT (Information Technology) or HR (Human Resources) and outsource it to a private entity in an attempt to reduce costs and improve efficiency.

  • Crowdsourcing (otherwise known as Cyberspace Outsourcing)

    A form of institutional outsourcing that solicits a large group of people who are not directly employed by, or who lack a contract with the originating institution. Solicitations are typically put out in the form of a wide call on the Internet, and the chosen work-product may or may not yield compensation. Crowdsourcing is an innovative way to leverage distributed knowledge on the Internet so that highly intractable problems can be solved in a low-cost manner, typically by shifting time costs to the experts who are interested in helping to the solve the quandary. This frees up institutional employees to focus on core competencies.

  • Outsourcing

    Occurs when an entity makes an informed decision to contract out a product, service, or business process that was previously provided by internal (in-house) resources. The responsibility for providing the contracted-out product, service, or business process remains with the entity, and the entity pays the contractor for the work done and administers the contract.

    See Also: Insourcing (in-house), Contracting Out

  • Outsourcing of Non-Core Activities

    Evaluating purchasing and supply activities to place non-core activities with outside contractors or suppliers. A form of “second-level” cost savings. (Crimi & Kauffman, 2003)

  • Procurement Outsourcing

    The contracting out of the procurement function to a third-party or private contractor. (Martin & Miller, 2006)