Proposing an approach for selecting outsourcing strategies in the two-level bidirectional service supply chain with a case study in healthcare services

This paper aims to propose an approach for selecting outsourcing strategies in the two-level bidirectional service supply chain.

Design/methodology/approach:

 Analytic hierarchy process (AHP) has been used for selecting two factors that have maximum influence on service outsourcing decisions. The selected factors have been integrated with quadrant analysis for selecting outsourcing strategies. Two questionnaires have been developed to indicate the importance and correlation of objectives of outsourcing and choosing factors that have an influence on service outsourcing decisions in the selected service supply chain of a hospital in Isfahan, Iran. Questionnaires have been fulfilled by senior managers and supervisors in a hospital.

Findings indicate that customer contact and relative capability position in the process have maximum effect on service outsourcing decisions in the selected service supply chain and when relative capability position in the process is high, it is better for the decision-makers to contribute with other organizations since it provides better situation to discover weaknesses of the organization.Research limitations/implications: The case study was limited only to one type of service supply chain, i.e., a two-level bidirectional service supply chain.

Practical implications: 

Managers of various (industrial and service) sectors by using the proposed model of this research can concentrate on the variables that have more influence on outsourcing the desired processes and choose appropriate supply strategies for their processes in various conditions.Social implications: In this paper, customer contact and relative capability position in the process were found as having a maximum influence on pathology process outsourcing and they were selected for quadrant analysis and defining outsourcing strategies.

Originality/value: 

The uniqueness of the subject of this paper is apparent as no similar research was found in the literature investigating the relationship between different service supply chains types and outsourcing