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Rating: 
Summary: A Guide to....wasting your money
Review: Absolutely worthless book. An attempt to make a guide for all possible outsourcing situations -and as a result it gives few ideas and nothing really useful.
Rating: 
Summary: Great guide and reference
Review: Outsourcing has proven to be a very effective guide and reference tool. We use a variety of reference materials and publications, and this is the most complete work on outsourcing in our Library. Thorough coverage on reasons to outsource, potential pitfalls, and management strategies makes this book invaluable. A useful tool for both decision makers and advisors.
Rating:
Summary: Great guide and reference
Review: Outsourcing has proven to be a very effective guide and reference tool. We use a variety of reference materials and publications, and this is the most complete work on outsourcing in our Library. Thorough coverage on reasons to outsource, potential pitfalls, and management strategies makes this book invaluable. A useful tool for both decision makers and advisors.
Rating:
Summary: Most complete book on Outsourcing
Review: This book is the most complete and organized book written on outsourcing to date. While other books of the same topic focus specifically on one job function, Steven Bragg expertly discusses the advantages and disadvantages of outsourcing for each business unit, from Accounting to Engineering to IT, and so on. Whether you're a General Manager, CFO, CIO, or a Materials Manager, no other text can substitute for the wealth of knowledge found this book. Bragg also provides the reader with an excellent analysis of detailed legal and contractual issues for each department. Every manager responsible for making an outsourcing decision must keep this book by his or her side!
Rating:
Summary: A Very Topical Subject - Outsourcing
Review: This is a great book to understand Outsourcing, why you need it, when you need it and how to do it successfully. The book guides you through;(1) The Advantages and Disadvantages of Outsourcing. (The basic rationale of the decision) (2) Contract-specific issues. (Legal, strategic impact, etc) (3) Transition issues. (Employment contracts, timelines, personnel) (4) Creating Control Points. (So you know what's going on) (5) Measuring the outsourced function. (Milestone events and performance tracking) (6) Managing the outsourced function. (Show optimal management type for every function) (7) Potential customer service issues. (Also applies to Internal Customers, the employees) (8) Getting out of the outsourcing arrangement. (You need to put it in the contract) Interestingly enough, every function can be outsourced, either partially or completely. (Yes, even YOUR job!). Take a proactive approach. Buy the book, absorb the knowledge and be part of the solution rather than the problem. In addition to being an excellent author, Mr. Bragg "walks the talk". He's not an academician telling us how things could be but rather an experienced professional who understands how things work in the real world. A rare talent. You need this book. Rated A+++
Rating:
Summary: A Great Book -- As Far As It Goes
Review: This volume is a fine guide for streamlining your business, for carving away all the non-core funtions staffed by people who don't add any value to your company -- human resources folks, accountants, info technology workers. Once you rid yourself of the burden of dealing with such activities, except as arm's-length, third-party service providers, you free up massive resources to grow your core business and prosper. What this book does NOT reveal is the true effect of outsourcing those functions. When the outsource process begins, you will have to lie to the employees you are outsourcing, to convince them they are headed for a better life. At the same time you are freezing their wages and gutting their benefits, you must persuade them to buy into the core-business vision; you must fool them into thinking they will have more control over their careers after they are no longer chained to just one company. You will tell them they can now be free to work for any other firm in the industry, to build a huge client base and gain exposure to myriad new practices and policies. You will be lying to them. Once they realize they have been duped, that there aren't really any new clients, that they are no longer receiving the benefits they once did, that they indeed still are chained to just one company (though out in the back yard, like a dog), then you will reap the true consequences of outsourcing. Your outsourced service providers will stealthily work to become as efficient as possible at secretly minimizing their workload. Their innovations won't be to maximize YOUR return on investment, but to minimize THEIR labor, to perform the ABSOLUTE MINIMUM. Since they are not earning raises or bonuses any more, why exert any extra effort? And believe it, they will have innovative ideas for improving your business -- but they will never tell you about them, since you think they add no value. Well, they DEFINITELY won't ever again add value to YOUR company, chump, after you've booted them to the outsource pit. The textbook model for outsourcing is wonderful, but it gets a lot more muddled in the real world, especially after you dump on a bunch of your formerly loyal employees. Good luck with your core business now, chump.
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