That Are Outsourcing Michael Useem, Professor of Management and Director Center for Leadership and Change Management, Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania.
American firms continue their rapid expansion of service and product outsourcing.
More than nine out of ten large U.S. manufacturing companies already source at least one activity, and the typical company sources nine. More than half outsource in the areas of marketing and manufacturing, and more than three-fifths in information systems, human resources, transportation, and general administrative services, including property and inventory management. Firms that outsource their products or services are discovering that they need managers with a new blend of leadership capabilities to create and oversee the work. The management style that comes with issuing orders is giving way to one of negotiating results. The skill for sending work downward is being replaced by a talent for arranging work outward.