Dall'offshoring all'espansione di mercato. Driver e aspetti strategici

Executive Summary - English To describe the following thesis it’s necessary a premise of what has been its engine startup, the Offshoring Research Network. The ORN is an international network of researchers and practitioners dedicated to study the transition for the firms to a global management of their administrative and technical services. This international research project was launched in year 2004 by Duke University Center of Education and Research (CIBER), The Fuqua School of Business, and is recognized as one of the most important projects for the study of trends related to the phenomenon of offshoring. The ORN is responsible for conducting annual surveys to analyze trends in the corporate strategies of global sourcing of business services, in order to understand: offshored functions, decisional factors, implementations and results. This thesis has different objectives. First, offshoring will be framed as a whole, and we will see the differences respect a similar managerial instrument: outsourcing. In the next step, it will be possible to understand detailed characteristics of business service offshoring and analyze scientific literature linked to the argument. Please note that the same literature will be used in the section dedicated to the thesis models. Great emphasis will be placed to research and understand the reasons (drivers) and the location decisions in a business service offshoring process. For this reason one of the main aspects is to understand the drivers that impact on the choice of localizational aspects of high value added activities. This will be done through the use of a measurement model and a structural model based on the ORN data. This data are referred to companies that externalize high added value business activities. After that, with the same records used to validate the models we will analyze firms preferred locations. This work will take us to the definition of two main TOP LOCATIONS: India and China. This results are also confirmed from AT Kerney’s Global Service Location Index (GSLI), a master consulting society in this studying area. At the same time, studies and documents showing the growing attractiveness of developing countries, especially the Asiatic continent, will be included in the parts over described. This attractiveness for offshoring firms, as will be understood, is not only related to the possibility of cost savings or the presence of qualified intellectuals and productive resources. Something new is happening, a new opportunity is emerging for the CEO’s of firms located in developed countries: locations like India and China are growing enormously in terms of consumption and purchasing power and, at the same time, their attractiveness for business activities offshoring is the best compared to other States. Today, a presence in this markets permits to escape the wearing competitivity of European and North American markets. Furthermore, the localization in this economies permits to absorb and understand quickly the lifestyle and desires of local customers; so it will be possible to create new products or to adapt existing ones for local customers. The intent is to understand if it could exist a possible positive relation between market and offshoring attractiveness. Unfortunately, the ORN database doesn’t help to understand the significance of this phenomenon. The ORN’s market expansion driver is not significant. Considering all the firms records used as sample, the market expansion driver average value is too low - compared to other drivers average values - to explain the relational evidence over mentioned. Convinced in a positive relation between the two main points and considering their strategically importance, has been found, attached and analyzed an emblematical paper written by consulting firm Deloitte. This study remarks the importance of market expansion that can be achieved through offshoring of high added value business services. Last but not least, it will be possible to understand how the number of functions offshored affects firms profits. This thesis is designed as the introductory part of future researches related to market expansion through offshoring of high added value business services. It request a location where it’s possible to find a match between, from one site, cost savings possibilities, excellent human and productive resources and from the other site, the capacity/propensity to consume and spend of people living there. Executive Summary - English To describe the following thesis it’s necessary a premise of what has been its engine startup, the Offshoring Research Network. The ORN is an international network of researchers and practitioners dedicated to study the transition for the firms to a global management of their administrative and technical services. This international research project was launched in year 2004 by Duke University Center of Education and Research (CIBER), The Fuqua School of Business, and is recognized as one of the most important projects for the study of trends related to the phenomenon of offshoring. The ORN is responsible for conducting annual surveys to analyze trends in the corporate strategies of global sourcing of business services, in order to understand: offshored functions, decisional factors, implementations and results. This thesis has different objectives. First, offshoring will be framed as a whole, and we will see the differences respect a similar managerial instrument: outsourcing. In the next step, it will be possible to understand detailed characteristics of business service offshoring and analyze scientific literature linked to the argument. Please note that the same literature will be used in the section dedicated to the thesis models. Great emphasis will be placed to research and understand the reasons (drivers) and the location decisions in a business service offshoring process. For this reason one of the main aspects is to understand the drivers that impact on the choice of localizational aspects of high value added activities. This will be done through the use of a measurement model and a structural model based on the ORN data. This data are referred to companies that externalize high added value business activities. After that, with the same records used to validate the models we will analyze firms preferred locations. This work will take us to the definition of two main TOP LOCATIONS: India and China. This results are also confirmed from AT Kerney’s Global Service Location Index (GSLI), a master consulting society in this studying area. At the same time, studies and documents showing the growing attractiveness of developing countries, especially the Asiatic continent, will be included in the parts over described. This attractiveness for offshoring firms, as will be understood, is not only related to the possibility of cost savings or the presence of qualified intellectuals and productive resources. Something new is happening, a new opportunity is emerging for the CEO’s of firms located in developed countries: locations like India and China are growing enormously in terms of consumption and purchasing power and, at the same time, their attractiveness for business activities offshoring is the best compared to other States. Today, a presence in this markets permits to escape the wearing competitivity of European and North American markets. Furthermore, the localization in this economies permits to absorb and understand quickly the lifestyle and desires of local customers; so it will be possible to create new products or to adapt existing ones for local customers. The intent is to understand if it could exist a possible positive relation between market and offshoring attractiveness. Unfortunately, the ORN database doesn’t help to understand the significance of this phenomenon. The ORN’s market expansion driver is not significant. Considering all the firms records used as sample, the market expansion driver average value is too low - compared to other drivers average values - to explain the relational evidence over mentioned. Convinced in a positive relation between the two main points and considering their strategically importance, has been found, attached and analyzed an emblematical paper written by consulting firm Deloitte. This study remarks the importance of market expansion that can be achieved through offshoring of high added value business services. Last but not least, it will be possible to understand how the number of functions offshored affects firms profits. This thesis is designed as the introductory part of future researches related to market expansion through offshoring of high added value business services. It request a location where it’s possible to find a match between, from one site, cost savings possibilities, excellent human and productive resources and from the other site, the capacity/propensity to consume and spend of people living there.

Executive Summary - Italiano Per descrivere il seguente elaborato serve una premessa su quello che è stato il suo motore di avvio, ovvero l’organizzazione dell’Offshoring Reserach Network. L’ORN è un network internazionale di ricercatori e professionisti che si occupa di studiare il passaggio per le organizzazioni a una gestione globale dei propri servizi amministrativi e tecnici. Questo progetto di ricerca internazionale è stato lanciato nel 2004 dal Duke University Center for Business Education and Research (CIBER), The Fuqua School of Business, ed è riconosciuto come uno dei più importanti progetti di studio delle tendenze relative al fenomeno dell’offshoring. L’ORN si occupa di condurre survey annuali per analizzare le tendenze delle aziende nelle strategie di global sourcing dei servizi di business, in termini di funzioni delocalizzate, fattori decisionali, implementazione e risultati ottenuti. Con la seguente tesi ci si pone diversi obiettivi. Innanzitutto verrà inquadrato l’offshoring nel suo complesso, andando ad evidenziare le differenze rispetto ad un’altra scelta manageriale affine, ovvero l’outsourcing. Successivamente, si dettaglieranno le caratteristiche dell’offshoring dei servizi aziendali, argomento principe di questa tesi e dell’organizzazione ORN. Seguirà un’attenta analisi della letteratura scientifica che verrà, poi, utilizzata nella sezione dedicata al modello di tesi. Grande enfasi verrà posta sulla ricerca e la comprensione delle motivazioni (driver) e scelte di localizzazione delle imprese che esternalizzano i propri servizi di business. In particolare si vorrà capire quali sono i driver che impattano sulla scelta delle caratteristiche di localizzazione dei servizi di business ad alto valore aggiunto. Ciò sarà fatto attraverso l’utilizzo di un modello di misura e di un modello strutturale. Per entrambi i modelli veranno utilizzati i dati del database dell’ORN relativi ad aziende che de localizzano attività di business ad alto valore aggiunto. Fatto ciò, con gli stessi record utilizzati per validare il modello, si analizzeranno le località preferite dalle imprese. Questo lavoro ci porterà alla definizione di due TOP LOCATIONS: India e Cina. Tale risultato, tra l’altro, è confermato dal Global Services Location Index (GSLI) della società A.T. Kearney. Parallelemante a quanto descritto sopra, verranno inseriti nel testo studi, documenti, e articoli di riviste che manifestano la crescente attrattività di una localizzazione nei Paesi in via di sviluppo, in particolare il continente asiatico. Tale attrattività, come si comprenderà, non è soltanto legata alla possibilità di savings di costo o alla qualificata presenza di risorse intelettuali e produttive. Sta emergendo una nuova consapevolezza per i CEO delle imprese dei mercati sviluppati: le località oggetto di offshoring stanno crescendo enormemente dal punto di vista dei consumi e della capacità di acquisto. Ciò è tanto più vero quanto più si considera il continente asiatico ed in particolare, ancora una volta, India e Cina, ritenute dagli esperti i due poli più interessanti non solo da un punto di vista dell’offshoring ma anche dei consumi. Infatti, la presenza in determinati mercati permette di sfuggire l’ipercompetitività e il mercato di pura sostituzione delle economie europee e nordamericane. Inoltre, la localizzazione in questi Paesi permette di recepire maggiormente e più velocemente i gusti, gli usi e i costumi della popolazione locale; ciò faciliterà alle aziende la creazione di prodotti ad hoc per queste popolazioni o l’adattamento dei prodotti già esistenti nel portafoglio. L’intento è quello di scoprire la possibile esistenza di una correlazione positiva tra gli interessi legati ad un mercato fiorente e quelli connessi all’attrattività per l’offshoring di attività ad alto valore aggiunto. Purtroppo, però, il database dell’ORN non aiuta a spiegare la significatività di questo fenomeno. Considerando il campione di dati precedentemente mensionato, il driver legato agli interessi di espansione di mercato nelle località oggetto di offshoring ha un valore medio molto basso, il più basso tra tutti i driver appartenenti al database ORN. Convinti, però, in una correlazione positiva tra i due punti sopra elencati è stato trovato, allegato e analizzato uno studio condotto dalla società di consulenza Deloitte. Tale studio sull’offshoring enfatizza l’importanza dell’espansione di mercato che si può ottenere attraverso l’esternalizzazione di servizi di business ad alto valore aggiunto. Si vedrà, inoltre, come il numero di funzioni esternalizzate attraverso l’offshoring incida sui profitti aziendali. È significativo vedere come all’aumentare delle funzioni esternalizzate aumentino anche i profitti internazionali. In sostanza, questa tesi è stata pensata come parte introduttiva di possibili ricerche future inerenti location che possano permettere un’espansione di mercato, sia attraverso la creazione di prodotti ex-novo sia tramite l’adattamento dei prodotti esistenti. Tale espansione di mercato, però, dovrà essere il risultato di un’operazione di esternalizzazione di servizi di business ad alto valore aggiunto. Pertanto, la location dovrà offrire risorse eccellenti, umane e produttive, e risparmi di costo significativi. Parallelamente, dovrà risultare interessante per ciò che concerne i consumi e la capacità/propensione alla spesa delle persone ivi residenti.