Studying the Behavioral Antecedents of Logistics Outsourcing Intentions : Evidence from Finnish Trading and Manufacturing Companies
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From the 1990s onwards, outsourcing business functions has undergone a shift from tactical
decision to a strategic one, and although today some companies are already withdrawing their
outsourced functions back in-house, studies show that outsourcing still remains an attractive
alternative for enhancing competitiveness. The strategic angle has meant a stronger focus on the
quality of relationship between involved parties, yet the early stages of the outsourcing process
where it is considered whether to outsource or not have lacked attention. Although theories like
transaction cost economics and core competency approach have been proposed to aid in the
decision-making, these have proven to be difficult to be implemented into practice. In this thesis,
the problem is approached by finding out what drivers form the base of intentions to outsource
logistics functions from an individual’s point of view.
By conducting a literary survey logistics and its outsourcing were outlined in terms of a company’s
overall business goals, and psychological factors related to strategic decision-making were assessed.
Based on the literature, five constructs were identified to predict the intention to increase logistics
outsourcing: attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, importance of logistics, and
logistics asset specificity. These were included in a conceptual framework, which further presents a
connection between the intention and the previous level of logistics outsourcing. Web-based
questionnaire survey data gathered as a part of Finland State of Logistics 2018 survey was analyzed
with covariance based structural equation modeling, and the data was found to support the effect of
attitudes and subjective norms on intention, as well as the relationship between intention and
previous level of outsourcing. On the contrary, the influence of importance of logistics and logistics
asset specificity on intentions could not be confirmed.
The results suggest that individuals do not necessarily deliberate the aspects suggested by normative
theories on whether to outsource or not. Instead they may rely on psychological factors such as
attitudes and norms prior to forming an intention to consent to a strategic decision such as
increasing the outsourcing of logistics functions. This offers an implication for what to take into
account when designing future theoretical frameworks and processes regarding logistics
outsourcing in practice.