Automatic Service Agreement Negotiators in Open Commerce Environments
International Journal of Electronic Commerce
| Hi-index | 0.00 |
between investments in information technology, manufacturing plant strategies and their impact on business process outsourcing (BPO) in manufacturing plants. Using survey data from US manufacturing plants, we develop a theoretical framework for studying the antecedents of BPO at the plant level. Our analysis suggests that the level of information technology (IT) investments, as a percentage of plant sales, is positively associated with the outsourcing of plant production activities. We also find that plants with higher levels of in-house software infrastructure are less likely to outsource plant support business processes. Furthermore, we find that plant manufacturing strategies and other plant-specific characteristics, such as production volume and the degree of worker unionization, also have a significant impact on the types of business processes that are outsourced. Managerial and research implications of our research into the antecedents of BPO are summarized.