The Offshoring Research Network is an international network of researchers and practitioners studying organizations in their transition to globalizing their business functions, processes and administrative services. The ORN conducts annual surveys tracking global sourcing strategies, drivers, concrete implementations and plans across all business functions and processes.
The ORN is managed by Duke University, The Fuqua School of Business, Center for International Business Education and Research (CIBER). It involves partner universities in Europe, Asia and Australia. The ORN has over 3,000 corporate participants across all industries from all over the world. Based on annual surveys, the ORN research team maintains a comprehensive database of firms and governmental organizations and their implemented and planned offshore sourcing projects over time. In addition, the ORN research team collects data on service providers offering offshore services.
Offshoring, according to the ORN, refers to the process of sourcing business functions or processes supporting home-based or global operations from a foreign country, either through wholly owned organizational units (captive offshoring/shared services) or external service providers (offshore outsourcing). The ORN project captures a wide range of business functions and processes, such as information technology (IT), finance & accounting, contact centers, human resources, legal services (LPO), analytical and knowledge services (KPO), software development, procurement, marketing and sales, engineering and new product development. The ORN studies do not cover offshoring of manufacturing activities, nor do they capture outsourcing or shared services activities onshore/domestically.
Based on their research, ORN partners have published a number of academic and practitioner-oriented articles. In addition, the ORN has completed various research projects as well as case studies; organized academic and practitioner-oriented workshops and webcasts; delivered executive education programs and completed commissioned studies for corporate members of the ORN.
Read more about Offshoring Research Network: Contents, History and Current Objectives, Network Partners and Sponsors, Surveys, Case Studies, and Services, Research Themes, Relevance and Impact, Criticism and Responses, See Also
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