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“Is the concept of outsourcing positive or negative?” Fellow classmate Karsten Hagge wrote an interesting blogpost answering this very question.

Karsten states that “Outsourcing to companies is only likely to be engaged if there is a reasonable expectation that doing so is advantageous to the company who is seeking to outsource.” I would like to add onto this statement and say that the advantages include:

• Reducing and controlling operating costs
• Improving company focus
• Accelerating reengineering benefits

G Adventures is a company which has discovered these advantages of outsourcing. Bruce Poon Tip, founder of the sustainable-travel company, believes that the rigid processes of his human-resources department are hurting his company’s innovation. Running a HR department is costly and complicated; thus, G Adventures outsourced most of its HR needs to IBM.

By replacing humans with technology, the company has reduced operating costs while creating a more efficient way to handle HR. Responsibilities such as payroll and company data can now easily be automated and handled online. It has also improved the company’s focus on innovation. Overall, the company has seen improvements in areas such as cost, quality, service, and speed.

Works Cited:

Nelson, Jacqueline. “Should you fire your HR department? | CanadianBusiness.com.”CanadianBusiness.com. N.p., 3 Nov. 2011. Web. 17 Nov. 2011. <http://www.canadianbusiness.com/article/54587–should-you-fire-your-hr-department>.