Aligning organizational control practices with competitive outsourcing performance

The aim of this article is to present a research model that defines how different outsourcing strategies influence organizational control mechanisms that impact outsourcing outcomes. This research study consists of five case studies, each focusing on a foreign multi-national corporation (MNC) that has outsourcing experience in China. The results of these case studies examine the relationships among outsourcing strategies, organizational control, and outsourcing performance outcomes. In addition, the findings explain how trust competence and in-house knowledge of outsourced tasks have moderating effects between outsourcing strategies and process control. This article provides practical insight into the ways that business executives exercise organizational control in order to achieve effective outsourcing outcomes within China's evolving economic context. (C) 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.