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All 20 Flashcards — Outsourcing and offshoring
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Question
What is outsourcing?
Answer
Hiring another company to do a task or process you used to do yourself.
💡 Hint
Another company does it
Question
What is offshoring?
Answer
Moving part of a business's operations to another country, usually to reduce costs.
💡 Hint
Operations → another country
Question
Two advantages of outsourcing?
Answer
Lower costs + access to specialists; business focuses on core activities; flexible scaling.
💡 Hint
Costs + specialists + focus + flex
Question
Outsourcing = another ___. Offshoring = another ___
Answer
Company; country.
💡 Hint
Company vs country
Question
Two disadvantages of outsourcing?
Answer
Loss of quality control; communication difficulties; risk of data/security breaches.
💡 Hint
Quality + comms + security
Question
Outsourcing = giving work to ___. Offshoring = moving work to ___
Answer
Another company; another country. They can overlap ('offshore outsourcing').
💡 Hint
Company vs country
Question
Name three reasons to outsource
Answer
Reduce costs, focus on core competency, access specialist skills/technology, increase flexibility.
💡 Hint
Cost, focus, skills, flex
Question
Both aim to cut ___ and improve ___
Answer
Costs; efficiency.
💡 Hint
Costs + efficiency
Question
Two advantages of offshoring?
Answer
Significant cost savings (lower wages); access to new markets/talent; 24/7 production across time zones.
💡 Hint
Costs + markets + 24/7
Question
Risks include loss of ___, communication problems and ___
Answer
Quality control; reputation damage.
💡 Hint
Quality + reputation
Question
Why is offshoring common in manufacturing, IT and customer service?
Answer
These tasks can be done remotely or in lower-wage countries — significant cost savings.
💡 Hint
Lower wages + remote possible
Question
What is a core competency?
Answer
What the business does best — outsourcing non-core tasks lets it focus on its strengths.
💡 Hint
Best at + focus
Question
What is 'offshore outsourcing'?
Answer
Giving work to another company that is based in another country — combining both concepts.
💡 Hint
Another company + another country
Question
Two disadvantages of offshoring?
Answer
Language/cultural barriers; quality harder to control; negative publicity (job losses at home); political risk.
💡 Hint
Barriers + quality + publicity + risk
Question
In exams, evaluate whether ___ outweigh the ___
Answer
Benefits; risks — for the specific business in the case study.
💡 Hint
Benefits vs risks
Question
Outsourcing example?
Answer
Tech company outsources customer service to a call centre — focuses on software development.
💡 Hint
Tech + call centre
Question
Quick: Can outsourcing and offshoring overlap?
Answer
Yes — 'offshore outsourcing' = hiring another company in another country.
💡 Hint
Yes, offshore outsourcing
Question
Offshoring can cause negative publicity because ___
Answer
Domestic job losses — customers and media may criticise the company for moving jobs overseas.
💡 Hint
Job losses at home
Question
Outsourcing increases flexibility because ___
Answer
Easy to scale up or down — just adjust the contract rather than hiring/firing staff.
💡 Hint
Scale via contract
Question
Offshoring can enable 24/7 production by ___
Answer
Operating across different time zones — when one country sleeps, the other works.
💡 Hint
Time zone advantage
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Full study notes for Outsourcing and offshoring
Topic 5.4 hub
Location
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