Outsourcing Staffing Function: A Review

The project commences with an identification of project aims and objectives followed by project scope identification, review of the literature, research hypothesis, research design and methodologies both qualitative and quantitative, research limitations, schedule and ends with a conclusion. PROJECT OBJECTIVE The project focuses on identifying whether outsourcing is beneficial to an organization and the specific benefits that come with outsourcing This research project aims at finding out the impact of Outsourcing for organizations within Australia The research seeks to find out the potential disadvantages of outsourcing for Australian Organizations.

Impact of outsourcing the staffing function has on business organizations.
Name
Institution Affiliation
Date

Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
PROJECT OBJECTIVE..................................................................................................................3
PROJECT SCOPE...........................................................................................................................4
LITERATURE REVIEW................................................................................................................4
RESEARCH QUESTIONS/HYPOTHESIS....................................................................................6
RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY...........................................................................6
Qualitative research......................................................................................................................6
Quantitative research....................................................................................................................7
RESEARCH LIMITATIONS..........................................................................................................8
TIME SCHEDULE..........................................................................................................................8
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................9
REFERENCE LIST.......................................................................................................................10

INTRODUCTION
Staffing function is an essential function for any organization. The success of any organization is
dependent on its ability to attract and retain the right type of employees. Vacant position within
an organization can be filled from within the organization or can be filled by outsourcing from
outside the organization (Peck, 2017). Organizations are made of many managerial functions
including controlling; staffing, coordinating, organizing and planning all which collectively
facilitate the realization of organizational goals. Staffing is, however, the most important
function as all other functions are dependent on the staffing function (Chou and Hung,2015).
Staffing function is carried out through insourcing where the needed skills are sought from
within an organization or outsourcing where skills are sought from outside an organization.
Recently there has been a growing focus on outsourcing where the number of organization
delegating functions to organizations that specialize in such functions has been on the rise.
Outsourcing is the process of acquiring human resource services from outside an organization to
allow an organization to focus on other core functions (Auksztol and Chomuszko,2013). This
project proposal aims at analyzing the reasons that make organizations to outsource the functions
and the impact of Outsourcing to Australian Organizations. The project commences with an
identification of project aims and objectives followed by project scope identification, review of
the literature, research hypothesis, research design and methodologies both qualitative and
quantitative, research limitations, schedule and ends with a conclusion.
PROJECT OBJECTIVE

The project focuses on identifying whether outsourcing is beneficial to an organization and the
specific benefits that come with outsourcing
This research project aims at finding out the impact of Outsourcing for organizations within
Australia
The research seeks to find out the potential disadvantages of outsourcing for Australian
Organizations.
The project aims at understanding the advantages that accrue to organization as a result of
outsourcing
PROJECT SCOPE
This research project has a wide project scope. The project aims at finding out what impact
outsourcing of functions has on organizations. The discussion of the project is only limited to the
outsourcing of the staffing function. It aims at finding out both positive and negative impacts of
outsourcing on organizations within Australia, and that is what informs the wide scope. For this
reason analysis of sets of data from many different organizations is required.
LITERATURE REVIEW
So much literature has been written by various scholars on Outsourcing of business functions by
organizations. Among them is Lacity and Willcocks (2014, pp. 66-92), who viewed outsourcing
as a significant function for many businesses as a result of their potential benefits. They also
viewed outsourcing as a function that can be classified into different types out of which each has
its benefits. Chou et al., (2015, pp. 30-43) identify relational rents, adaptability, decreased the
cost of manufacturing, tax evasion and strategic orientation as the main benefits of outsourcing.

According to Auksztol and Chomuszko (2013, pp. 167-190), advantages of outsourcing can be
classified into cost reduction, shift of focus, enhanced innovation, workload management and
Expert operations in which experts help organizations in achieving better outcomes through
acquisition of investments and technological knowledge and helping organizations to establish
relations with experts in different fields .The research by Auksztol and Chomuszko (2013, pp.
167-190), however, has a weakness in that it fails to identify real-life cases and examples
Smokovec and Peljhan (2016, pp. 121-152) identify risk sharing, geographical dispersion, and
transparent project management as the main benefits of outsourcing. They state that outsourcing
helps in reducing risk situations for an organization, helps them in escaping geographical barriers
through the use of technology where is possible to organize activities throughout the year and
creation of professional bonding which is important in the management of projects Wuyts et al.
(2015, pp. 61-76).
Mosca and Bordelon (2017, pp. 152-163), identifies de-motivation, a risk to plans, data security
issues and limited managerial authority as the main disadvantages of outsourcing of the staffing
function. Dependence on experts from outside leads less focus on training and development
hence a feeling of dissatisfaction among employees Verma et al. (2013, p. 322). Authority of
managers is curtailed since they can only exercise their power from within their organization. It
also leads to leakage of organizations data to outsiders Szymczak (2013, p. 151) and may have a
negative outcome hence affecting an organization plans Thompson(2014, pp. 412-420).
However, Peck (2017, p. 388) lists a few more inconveniences of incorporating outsourcing as
an active process within the organizational structure:

Peck (2017, p. 388) identifies lack of loss sharing, hidden costs, public backlash as the main
inconveniences resulting from outsourcing. It involves other costs which make it expensive than
activities carried out internally. Outsourcing enables service providers to escape potential losses
since it is contracted on prepaid services (Molinelli and Paccagnella, 2013, pp. 65-
78).Outsourcing is considered as a foreign practice which denies outsourcing companies a
chance to be recognized a fact which is disputed by Moscaand Bordelon (2017)
RESEARCH QUESTIONS/HYPOTHESIS
Primary question
Does outsourcing of staffing function have an impact on organizations?
Secondary questions
Does Organization’s efficiency increase as a result of Outsourcing?
Do Organizations reduce operational costs as a result of Outsourcing?
Does outsourcing lead to dissatisfaction and lack of motivation among employees
RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY
The study will incorporate a combination of both qualitative and quantitative research designs.
Qualitative research
Qualitative research is an exploratory research that is intended at diving deep into a problem to
gain a deeper understanding. Qualitative research is founded on descriptive data and is used in
developing hypotheses and ideas for quantitative research (Goertz & Mahoney, 2012).

Qualitative data collected through this research will undergo an analysis to help understand the
fundamental motivations, reasons, and opinions relating to outsourcing. These will be used as a
basis for the conclusions of this research. Recent books, Journal Articles, and dissertations will
be the main sources of data for this study. Collection of data will be then followed by
classification in which similar sets of data will be classified together into groups, where each
group will be given a unique code for purposes of identification and deduction .The study will
use a number of qualitative research methods including ethnography which refers top qualitative
research that is carried out on the basis of participant observation, Grounded theory which will
be used to provide explanations behind the use outsourcing in organizations, phenomenological
which will involve carrying out interviews, visiting different organizations to understand the
meaning that different organizations place on Outsourcing and watching related videos. Case
studies will also be used. The qualitative research methods will be used to arrive at a conclusion
regarding the issue of investigation (Maxwell, 2012). Comparisons of performance in periods
before the use outsourcing and the periods after the adoption of outsourcing will be used to
analyze the impact of outsourcing of staffing function. The data so collected will be presented in
reports which will include findings and recommendations.
Quantitative research
The quantitative method of research is used to collect data that is numerical. It refers to the
systematic empirical investigation of phenomena that can be observed through the use of
computational or mathematical methods. The four main types of quantitative research designs
are experimental, descriptive, Quasi-experimental and correlation whose difference is with
regards to the degree of control of the variables by the researcher (Hoy,2010). Quantitative
research will be used in collecting numerical data on the impact of Outsourcing on various

organizations. Much of this data will be extracted from financial reports of the sampled
organization with a focus mainly on performance before and after the adoption of outsourcing.
From this comparison, inferences will be made. Qualitative research will also be used to analyze
data on the performance of employees before and after the adoption of outsourcing in the
selected organizations. Data emanating from this method will be analyzed using Excel
spreadsheets and Statistical Packages for Social Scientists (SPSS).Correlation and regression of
the research variables will be used in determining the existing relationships between the
variables (O'dwyer & Bernauer, 2013). Presentation of data will be in forms of tables and
graphs.
RESEARCH LIMITATIONS
It is expected that the research will face some limitations. Some of the limitations expected are
unreliability of data collected by interviews which are likely to be underrated or exaggerated in
some organizations (Hill, 2015). It is also expected that the research will be limited by time
constraint because the time allocated for this research is not enough to collect and analyze as
much information as possible.
TIME SCHEDULE
Task/Activity Time schedule
Preparation for the study 15th Oct 2017-18th /10/2017
Data collection from various secondary
sources
19th /10/2017-21st /10/2017
Data analysis 22nd /10/2017-27th /10/2017

Writing of report 28Th /10/2017-29th /10/2017
Presentation 30th /10/2017
CONCLUSION
In conclusion this research proposal looks at the effect of Outsourcing of major functions among
Australian organizations; it introduces the concept of outsourcing, presents the objectives and
scope of the project and analyzes literature by various scholars on outsourcing. The research
aims and objectives are providing to act as a guide during the research process as well as
research hypothesis which will be addressed by the research. Project research design and
methodology is also addressed and finally anticipated research limitations and time schedule.

REFERENCE LIST
Auksztol, J., and Chomuszko, M. (2013). Business processes outsourcing: Origin and
development. Zarządzanie I Finanse, pp. 167-190.
Chou, S.W., Techatassanasoontorn, A.A. and Hung, I.H., (2015). Understanding commitment in
business process outsourcing relationships. Information & Management, 52(1), pp. 30-43.
Goertz, G., & Mahoney, J. (2012). A tale of two cultures: qualitative and quantitative research
in the social sciences. Princeton, N.J., Princeton University Press.
Hill, C. W. L. (2015). International business: Competing in the global marketplace.New York,
NY: McGraw Hill Education, p. 319.
Hoy, W. K. (2010). Quantitative research in education: a primer. Los Angeles, SAGE.
Lacity, M. and Willcocks, L., (2014). Business process outsourcing and dynamic
innovation. Strategic Outsourcing: An International Journal, 7(1), pp. 66-92.
Lacity, M. C., and Willcocks, L. (2015). Nine keys to world-class business process outsourcing.
London: Bloomsbury, p. 471.
Maxwell, J. A. (2012). Qualitative research design: an interactive approach.
https://nls.ldls.org.uk/welcome.html?ark:/81055/vdc_100025519734.0x000001.
Molinelli, F. E., and Paccagnella, L. S. (2013). Economics of regulation and outsourcing. New
York: Nova Science Publishers, pp. 65-78.

Mosca, J.B. and Bordelon, G.R., (2017). Human Resource Managers Detect Management and
Legal Disadvantages to Outsourcing. Business, Management and Economics Research, 3(2), pp.
152-163.
O'dwyer, L. M., & Bernauer, J. A. (2013). Quantitative Research for the Qualitative Researcher.
https://nls.ldls.org.uk/welcome.html?ark:/81055/vdc_100025421708.0x000001.
Parlour, D. (2016). Successful outsourcing and multi-sourcing. London: Routledge, p. 389.
Peck, J. (2017). Offshore: Exploring the worlds of global outsourcing. Oxford: Oxford
University Press, p. 388.
Smogavec, T., and Peljhan, D. (2016). Satisfaction with outsourcing: Empirical analysis on the
case of SMEs. Corporate Governance, pp. 121-152.
Stanfield, K., and Thompson, S. (2014). Outsourcing. Biall Handbook of Legal Information
Management. Farnham : Ashgate, pp. 412-420.
Szymczak, M. (2013). Managing towards supply chain maturity: Business process outsourcing
and offshoring. Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire; New York, NY : Palgrave Macmillan, p.
151.
Verma, S. B., Singh, S. K., and Gupta, S. K. (2013). Business process outsourcing. New Delhi:
Shree Publishers & Distributors, p. 322.
Wuyts, S., Rindfleisch, A. and Citrin, A., (2015). Outsourcing customer support: The role of
provider customer focus. Journal of Operations Management, 35, pp. 61-76.