Outsourcing Management

Recent increases in government and private sector services contracting has created a significant challenge for decision makers in managing the quality received from outsourced services. This challenge often makes the difference between the survival or failure of these organizations. The recent China toy scare is a reminder of the seriousness of managing the quality of outsourced contracts. Quality management of large service-contracts is a daunting task that involves the evaluation of hundreds of quality measures and consideration of a variety of contract types and services. These contracts often create information overload, conceal critical relationships, and present a dizzying array of information. The use of decision support systems (DSS) to assist quality management can greatly enhance the chances of success. The author presents two case studies of DSS used for quality-management of major outsourced contracts that reveal the successful approaches and theory for solving quality management delimas with outsourced services. This book is addressed to professionals in management, contracting, computer systems support, and researchers interested in contract quality management.