Outsourcing Human Resource Activities:: Measuring the Hidden Costs and Benefits

This book provides one of the most comprehensive examinations of human resource outsourcing (HRO) to date. Dealing conceptually and empirically with the important question of how to strategically outsource a core business process like human resource management (HRM) Norman shares a wealth of data gathered from surveys and interviews with several hundred companies to analyze the outsourcing decision. A conceptual model is developed to test several hypotheses about process attributes associated with the suitability of HRO such as complexity, frequency, firm-specificity, interdependence, expertise and social capital. In particular, Norman is concerned about the effect of HRO on employee retention, engagement and customer satisfaction as these metrics impact the bottom-line. Several resulting hypotheses are tested empirically using a rich data set that controls for size, industry and location. The analysis reveals important findings about the organizational costs of outsourcing the wrong HRM activities. Business leaders and human resource professionals will find a wealth of useful information in the numerous tables inside this book.