Do what you do best and outsource the rest!

- The Strategic Imperative

The essential thrust of this paper is to offer the reader a Strategic Insight into the concept of outsourcing of business services and functions.

The outgoing decision falls within the company's Strategic Domain and should therefore find place in its Strategic Thinking and Plan. Its importance and impact will be understood better if one was to reflect on the fact that the Outsourcing Decision affects both Business Operations/Processes and Business/Organization Structure

Indian business, across the board, is no more in enjoyment of a Protected market and Restricted Capacities. Today, the top management of our companies have to come terms with Pervasive environment changes, highly competitive markets both in terms of cost and quality, exponential changes in technologies across the board coupled with Technological obsolescence and rapidly changing and difficult - to - understand consumer needs and Preferences. Added to this is India's steady integration with the global economy which will ultimately result in the unfettered movement of Goods and Capital and increased human migrations. We belong to this rapidly changing Global Space and therefore we, like many others all around us will have to learn to cope with and adjust to those changing paradigms.

What does all this mean for Indian Corporate Strategy, Organization Structure and the 'Outsourcing' decision in particular? A lot; the company's Strategic Plan and 'SWOT analysis' should help generate an environment to facilitate Decision-Execution, raise Competitive Barriers, point towards a well defined Producer - Market Matrix and an action plan for sensitizing the company to the importance and needs of the customer - the customer focused company. This calls for a clear understanding of Critical Activities & Processes and required Core-Competencies.