Outsourcing in International Business: Theoretical and Practical Insights

The present chapter aims to analyze the outsourcing process as one of the main international business strategies that has a large prevalence at present in the world economy due to the globalization process. The purpose of the paper is to discuss the role played by Romania in the global outsourcing market and to analyze the characteristics of this particular geographical market as a successful destination for outsourcing. The paper will firstly focus on theoretical insights on the subject: the main types of outsourcing activities, and internationalization of the outsourcing activity. The global market of outsourcing and its recent developments are considered and the role of the major players in the outsourcing industry worldwide. The last part of the paper focuses on the analysis of the outsourcing activity developed in Romania. The analysis is based on documentation and is conducted from two perspectives: (a) the study of the top global outsourcing companies and their main activities in the Romanian market and (b) the study of the types of outsourcing services offered by a sample of service business companies located in Romania—selected via an international business directory. The analysis focuses on two main outsourcing services: the Information Technology Outsourcing and the Business Processes Outsourcing, in order to have a more complete overview of the Romanian outsourcing market. The paper illustrates the increasing role that Romania plays in the outsourcing industry, as a new operating model, in the context of globalization.