The theory and evolution of outsourcing and offshoring processes

In this chapter, the authors focus on four key issues related to outsourcing and offshoring. They start by presenting the historical background of these processes analysed from the perspective adopted by the representatives of classical economics A. Smith and D. Ricardo. In the next section, they describe the concept of outsourcing and offshoring as derived from Porter's value chain. In his approach, business activities are divided into primary and support activities; the processes considered in this book take place in the latter area of company operations. In the third section, the authors examine a range of concepts associated with the processes studied, and in the fourth one they discuss the advantages and disadvantages of outsourcing and offshoring. Since these issues are widely discussed in the literature, the intention of the authors is not so much to create new knowledge in this area as to summarize the key topics relevant to further reflection on embeddedness.