Study On The Insourcing And Outsourcing Process Information Technology Essay

Many outsourcing decisions involve the concept of a core competency. Define what is meant by this term. Discuss if film technology is truly a core competency of Santek

  The concept of core competency was first introduced by C.K. Prahalad and Gary Hamel in ‘The Core Competence of the Corporation (1990)’, they describe core competence as something that a firm can do well that meets all of the three conditions which are if the product provides consumer benefits and if its not easy for for competitors to imitate it and when it can be leveraged widely to many of the markets. Film technology indeed seems to be the core competency of Santek Images because it seems to fulfill all the three reasons that are needed to justify. First the product provides consumer benefits as in the hardware is the outsourced product, but the final product is used in many day to day applications by consumers. Though consolidated products is a global corporation, santek images is one of its individual business unit which produces instant film and the imaging products that use that film for industrial applications and it has almost only one competitor in the market which makes it hard for anyone else to imitate the product and the product indeed found a wide market in every other part of the globe which proves it into market and consumer reach level and thus film technology is truly a core competency of Santek images.

Develop a process that would guide firms through the insourcing/outsourcing process. Create a process that is robust enough to use across a variety of product/service applications

Any organization which decides to insource or outsource are bound to follow few basic steps which are as follows. First the staff needs to be trained which can be either the insourcing staff or the outsourcing staff because they need to have knowledge about the product, then a vendor with a domain knowledge is required; we need to be assured if the project is financially viable and in case of outsourcing the contractual safeguards should be in place and one of the important steps is to assign a very efficient project manager who has good knowledge and acts wisely both for insourcing and for outsourcing at our end .Either its outsourcing or insourcing, we need to be aware of the various time zones and plan shifts for the workers accordingly because there must be someone readily available to put off fires at any place for any problems that arise or else the work will halt then and there. Incase of outsourcing, we need to take care that changes happening to the various sites around the world are as per our requirements and we need to document our requirements properly so that it is feasible for everyone to understand things easily. We need to select projects with less volatility to ensure even development in both the processes and as a thumb rule, the estimated time for the first project needs to be increased by 30% and then monitored to check if everything goes well. We need to make sure if we have all the tools required to initiate the process and to make sure that the same team is working on the project for the entire duration to avoid time constraints and one last things would be we need to make sure that the team we paid are exactly working for our projects during outsourcing.

A major challenge with an insourcing/outsourcing analysis involves gathering reliable data. Discuss the various groups that should be involved when conducting an insourcing/outsourcing analysis. What information can each of these groups provide?

The data or the information required for a process can be collected in many different ways for example a team which is an expert in market place might elect to meet with the supplier or an external consultant who specializes in certain markets. The information obtained from these teams are often the best source and are not as such published. Secondary data sources are those on databases, reports and websites and they are not often reliable because they can be outdated and inaccurate and may not provide specific information. For the purpose of market research, specialized market research teams should be used such as ICE and various others which are specialized outsourced providers. Next comes processing and integrating the data which is to analyze the market and check for potential areas for the successful introduction of new products and their sustainability. All information obtained from various sources should be triangulated or cross referenced and the probability of the success for a process should be more, so that it can be successfully implemented.

4)Do you think hardware suppliers are candidates for alliances or partnerships with Santek? Why?

Santek images is an organization which is concentrating on the core competency, ‘media’ and for such an organization outsourcing a process would mean a great deal of the business being focused in a vertical and so it will keep outsourcing its hardware requirements. Unless the organization comes up with a plan for insourcing the process it will keep outsourcing, and it will take a substantial amount of time for it come up with the former plan. So I believe it will be a profitable venture if the hardware supplier’s had alliances with Santek because it has a stable root though it acts as an independent organisation and there is minimal risk for associated candidates who want to establish alliance with the organisation.

Partnerships and alliances are special forms of supplier-buyer relationships. First, define the concept of partnerships and alliances. Second, identify when a firm should pursue a partnership or alliance with selected suppliers. Use the portfolio segmentation tool to assist with your answer

Partnership essentially means dealing of two or more persons in a particular business. In a partnership, the individuals have profit shares divided among themselves and all the investment made is also by the all them either. The terms and conditions of the business are defined by mutual understanding of all the partners. Another type of partnership is where one of them just invests money and remains passive whereas the other is the skilled person and works on the project and enjoys shared profits. The essential element of kind of partnership is the mutual consent between the business partners. Also their skill set plays a key role in the business partnership. An agreement between business generally motivated by improved customer service and cost reduction is called a business alliance. All parties share an equitable risk and opportunity and it is usually managed by a totally integrated project team. According to my understanding, a firm should consider striking a partnership with a company which is either equal in market value as it is so that a good deal can be struck between the two or it should pair up with another company where it sees a lifetime of resources and a profitable venture even in average conditions of business so that it’s a win-win deal for both of them because sharing both profits and losses with a company is something which requires much deliberation and cannot be jump started by meager benefits. Whereas an alliance with a company can be relatively easier to decide on and comes in handy where one big organisation needs to outsource few products from another organisation and when the former organisation sees a more than fair deal which it can strike with the alliance, they form one. As discussed before, they are just bound by an agreement and don’t own any rights on each others intellectual property.

Develop a process that firms can use when identifying and developing supply chain alliances

While developing a supply chain alliance, the following steps have to be carefully taken into consideration. Planning is the essential part of any design, we need to define our specific service requirements and how they will be measured and evaluated and we need to confirm the selection process and we need to eliminate all the obstacles that bar us from reaching success in the process. We need to select a best in class firm to form an alliance with and should negotiate a mutually beneficial agreement which benefits both equally. Building a good relationship and sharing the supply chain information delivers a superior value to the process and all start up issues need to be resolved jointly. A cross organisation training facility will improve the quality of the work force and will enhance knowledge sharing and performance measures should be exchanged on a regular basis to identify key areas which can be focused and improved. The supply chain alliance should be developed to agree on tradeoffs and to share the various risks associated with the process. By following all these steps a harmonious supply chain alliance can be devised.