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Foster Business Library


Outsourcing Resources


Foster Business Library research guides are aimed at University of Washington students, faculty, and staff, highlighting resources available to them; users not currently affiliated with the university may be unable to access some of these resources.
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Foster Business Library Databases:

The Foster Business Library offers an extensive collection of over fifty databases on its homepage; see under Databases. For a complete list of Foster databases, see the List of All Business Databases. Access to these databases from off campus requires that you first go to the Off-Campus Access button, in the upper right of all library webpages. These resources may not be accessed from off campus except by those with a valid UW Net ID and password. For more information on Foster business databases, click Databases, A-Z. For information on which Foster business databases to use, see the Database Index. For information on accessing Foster databases from off campus, see Database Access. For guidelines on responsible database usage, see Database Usage.

  • EconLit:   Included under Business Databases on the Foster Business Library homepage. Produced by the American Economic Association, EconLit is the fundamental research tool in economics. The database provides bibliographic citations, with selected abstracts, to the international literature on economics since 1969. Econ Lit corresponds to the Journal of Economic Literature and the Index of Economic Articles, covering journal articles, books, and dissertations, as well as articles in collective works, such as conference proceedings and collected essay volumes.

    A search for Outsourcing retrieved over 330 references.

  • EIU Online:   One of the world's top sources for country intelligence, the EIU (Economist Intelligence Unit) employs 500 analysts who research almost 200 nations. The Foster Business Library provides access to their Country Profiles, Country Reports, Country Commerce, and Country Finance in print editions and this database provides online access to these publications, often in both HTML and PDF formats.

    An advanced search in Viewswires, for Outsourcing, retrieved a list of over 1,100 articles.

  • Forrester Research:   Under Business Databases on the Foster Business Library homepage. Forrester Research provides access to reports and briefings on the effects of technology change on businesses, consumers, and society, and analyzes such technology areas as new media, computing, software, networking, telecommunications, and the Internet. To use this database, UW users must establish a personal account from a UW IP address. (Available from off-campus.)

    A search in this database for Outsourcing produced more than 580 reports.

  • Gale Virtual Reference Library:   On the Foster Business Library homepage, listed under List of All Business Databases.   The Gale Virtual Reference Library is a database of encyclopedias, almanacs, and specialized reference sources for multidisciplinary research; go to Business for three major business sources:   the Encyclopedia of American Industries (4th ed., 2005), the Encyclopedia of Business and Finance (2001), and the Encyclopedia of Small Business (2nd ed., 2002).

    See Outsourcing in the Business Environment, in the Encyclopedia of Business and Finance.

  • Gartner Research:   Under Business Databases on the Foster Business Library homepage. The Gartner Research database provides in-depth analysis and market intelligence for the information technology industry. It covers the full range of products and technologies associated with computer hardware, software, communications products, outsourcing, financial services, electronic business, and healthcare application software worldwide. Ten industries are covered in depth:   banking, education, energy, government, healthcare providers, insurance, investment services, manufacturing, media, and retail. Access to this database, on campus or off, requires a valid UW Net ID.

    A search for Outsourcing produced over 1,900 references.

  • InfoTech Trends:   On the Foster Business Library homepage, listed under Business Databases. This database indexes statistics and forecasts published in computer and telecommunications trade publications and offers this information in chart format (also available in Microsoft Excel format).

    A search in this database, in articles published since the beginning of 2002, for Outsourcing, produced more than 120 tables.

  • Investext:   On the Foster Business Library homepage, listed under Business Databases. Investext contains indexing and the full text of company and industry research reports prepared by leading Wall Street firms, as well as regional and international brokerage and financial firms. All reports are in PDF format. (This database is available widely on campus and may be accessed from home via the U.W. connectivity kit or via the Libraries' proxy server.)

    A keyword search for Outsourcing produced a list of over 700 reports.

  • JSTOR:   This database may be found under Electronic Journals, which may be found by going to Reference Tools in the left menu, under Find It. JSTOR is a subject searchable index of 360 journals, with full-text backfiles of scholarly journals, some of which date back to the 1800's. Among the collections of scholarly journals on this site are ones for Business and for Economics, encompassing 72 journals.

    A search, in Economics and Business, for Outsourcing, produced a list of more than 200 articles.

  • Public Affairs Information Service (PAIS):   This database, to be found under List of All Business Databases, at the bottom of the list of business databases on the Foster Business Library homepage, indexes articles from over 1,400 journals along with thousands of government documents, statistical directories, reports, pamphlets, conference proceedings and books in the broad field of public and social policy issues, dating back to 1980.

    A search for Outsourcing produced over 80 references.

  • Social Sciences Citation Index:   Included in Business Databases on the Foster Business Library homepage. This database "is a multidisciplinary index, with searchable author abstracts, covering the journal literature of the social sciences. It indexes more than 1,725 journals spanning 50 disciplines, as well as covering individually selected, relevant items from over 3,300 of the world's leading scientific and technical journals. It "provides access to current information and retrospective data from 1956 forward."

    A topic search for Outsourcing retrieved over 630 documents.

    Web Resources:

    Unlike library databases, Web resources are available wherever you have web access; they do not require that you access them via the Off-Campus Access button, in the upper right of all library webpages. When using web resources, be sure to evaluate the credibility of these resources. For a subject index to web resources, see Business Resources on the Web on the Foster Business Library homepage.

  • AFL-CIO:   This federation of sixty American labor unions includes over 13 million workers. See their Job Tracker, an online database with information on more than 200,000 U.S. jobs that have been outsourced, as well as information about this database.

  • Booz Allen Hamilton:   This worldwide consulting firm, with 13,000 employees, has been in business since 1914, with technology one of its areas of focus. Unlike some consulting companies, this one makes a fair amount of information about its studies available in downloadable PDF reports. A search of this site for Outsourcing produced a list of more than 80 documents and articles, including Business Process Outsourcing and Offshoring (17 pages in PDF format) and Profits or Perils? The Bottom Line on Outsourcing.

  • Business Updates:   According to Robert Berkman, "This portal collects timely headlines from online news sites and a selection of blogs via the use of RSS feed technology. Business Updates currently provides news headlines on more than a dozen popular, narrowly defined business topics as well as news about and from 15 large corporations." Among the topics covered is Outsourcing.

  • National Bureau of Economic Research:  "Founded in 1920, the National Bureau of Economic Research is a private, nonprofit, nonpartisan research organization dedicated to promoting a greater understanding of how the economy works. The NBER is committed to undertaking and disseminating unbiased economic research among public policymakers, business professionals, and the academic community." A site search, for Outsourcing, produced a list of over 460 documents.

  • Organization for International Investment:   The Organization for International Investment is a "business association in Washington D.C. representing the U.S. subsidiaries of international companies. OFII's member companies range from medium-sized enterprises to some of the largest firms in the United States." See their list of several hundred Members, non-U.S. companies with significant operations or subsidiaries in the United States. These companies represent "insourcing," moving jobs into the U.S.; see their Insourcing Statistics.

  • OutsourcingCenter:   "OutsourcingCenter is the world's most prominent Internet portal for authoritative information on methods for creating and sustaining a competitive advantage..." "The Center hosts a wealth of free research, case studies, database directories, market intelligence, and ever-expanding content targeted to the information organizational decision-makers seek on emerging trends and best practices in outsourcing as a strategic business solution. The Center also hosts the monthly online Outsourcing Journal and BPO Outsourcing Journal, with more than 40,000 subscribers." See their Topics area for Logistics, Supply Chain Management, Trade and Transportation, and more.

  • Peterson Institute for International Economics:   "The Institute for International Economics is a private, nonprofit, nonpartisan research institution devoted to the study of international economic policy. Since 1981 the Institute has provided timely, objective analysis and concrete solutions to key international economic problems." See their Policy Brief entitled Globalization of IT Services and White Collar Jobs (13 pages, in PDF format) and their Outsourcing in the New Economy.

  • Public Citizen's Global Trade Watch:   This organization claims that it "promotes democracy by challenging corporate globalization, arguing that the current globalization model is neither a random inevitability nor 'free trade.'" See their Offshoring website.

  • U.S. Department of Labor:   This U.S. government agency has been notably silent about the impact of outsourcing on labor and employment in the United States. See their June 10, 2004 news release entitled Extended Mass Layoffs Associated With Domestic and Overseas Relocations, part of their Mass Layoff Statistics section at the Bureau of Labor Statistics. There are no listings in their A to Z Index of Topics for either outsourcing or offshoring.

  • U.S. Government Accountability Office:   Formerly the Government Accounting Office, this agency acts as an "investigative arm of Congress or the congressional watchdog, is independent and nonpartisan. It studies how the federal government spends taxpayer dollars. GAO advises Congress and the heads of executive agencies (such as Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, Department of Defense, DOD, and Health and Human Services, HHS) about ways to make government more effective and responsive." See their Reports and Testimony for International Trade: Current Government Data Provide Limited Insight into Offshoring of Services (80 PDF pages), dated 22 September 2004. See other documents on the topic of Offshoring.

  • WashTech:   The Washington Alliance of Technology Workers is an organization of high-technology workers, a local affiliate of the Communications Workers of America (part of the AFL-CIO union), active locally on the issue of information technology outsourcing to India and other countries. See their main webpage for frequent outsourcing-related reports. See their Reports for more on outsourcing as an IT worker issue.

  • Wikipedia:   This free online user-created and maintained encyclopedia can be a good starting point for an orientation to a topic. See their extensive entry for 0utsourcing.

  • Wipro Technologies:   This company is the IT consulting subsidiary of one of India's largest firms. Business process outsourcing is, with IT services, one of its major activities. A search for Outsourcing at this site retrieved over 700 references. See also their Business Process Outsourcing section.

  • Zinnov:   This company is an "offshore research and consulting" firm, based in India, with U.S. offices in Texas and California. See their White Papers & Articles on Offshoring and Outsourcing.

    Foster Business Library Reference Collection:

    The Foster Business Library Reference Collection consists of business handbooks, encyclopedias, dictionaries, and other quick reference tools. It is located behind the Reference Desk in Foster, arranged by call number. Reference materials cannot be checked out; they may only be used in the library.

  • Standard & Poor's industry surveys.
    This three-volume set provides 30-page profiles on 52 industries with a focus on the current economic environment, trends, regulation and outlook for each industry. Major companies in each industry are profiled, with references to sources of additional industry information.
    Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: HC106.6 .S74 (Quarterly)

    See the industry profile for Computers: Commercial Services in volume one, with references to Outsourcing.

  • The encyclopedia of management.
    This one-volume covers 348 management topics, arranged alphabetically from Activity-Based Costing to Zero-Sum Game.
    Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: HD30.15 E49 2000.

    See Employment Agencies and Outsourcing, with references to Outsourcing on pages 262 and 268 (with other references on pages 521 to 522).

  • Business: the ultimate resource.
    This 2,200-page single volume is "designed to offer a wide range of insights, information, and practical guidance on every aspect of management" via 2.5 million words of text from 200 contributors, with 700 illustrations and 150 maps, in seven major sections including best practice, a management library, business thinkers and management giants, a business dictionary, a world business almanac, and a guide to business sources. See the World Business Almanac section, on pages 1368 to 1767, for brief reports on 150 countries.
    Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: HD38.15 .B878 2002.

    See Outsourcing, on pages 89 to 90, and Deciding Whether To Outsource, on pages 490 to 491.

  • Encyclopedia of global industries.
    Twelve-page descriptions of 125 global industries, with background and development information, current conditions, industry leaders and further reading.
    Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: HD2324 .E53 2003.

    See the chapter on Data Processing Services, with references to Outsourcing on pages 154 to 156 and on page 159.

  • Encyclopedia of emerging industries.
    Five page descriptions of over 100 new industries, with an industry snapshot, organization and structure, background and development, pioneers in the field, current conditions, industry leaders and references to further reading.
    Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: HD2324 .E528 2001.

    See the chapter on IT Consulting, with references to Outsourcing on pages 375 to 381.

  • Plunkett's outsourcing & offshoring industry almanac.
    This almanac describes itself as the "only complete guide to the outsourcing and offshoring industry," with profiles of the top 250 firms in this industry, and recent industry statistics and trends.
    Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: HD2365 .P5 2005.

  • Encyclopedia of business ethics and society.
    This five-volume reference work includes 900 essays by scholars, arranged alphabetically by topic, on all aspects of business ethics.
    Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: HF5387 .E53 2008.

    See Outsourcing in volume four, on pages 1555 to 1558.

  • Directory of foreign firms operating in the United States.
    This one-volume annual publication lists 2,800 companies, headquartered outside the U.S., from 79 countries, accounting for over 7,200 businesses owned by these foreign firms. Part one lists the countries in alphabetic order, detailing the companies operating in the U.S., with an alphabetical listing of companies in part two; part three is a list of American affiliates, in alphabetical order.
    Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: HG4057 .A155 (Annual)

    A good source for listings of companies with significant operations in the U.S.

  • Directory of American firms operating in foreign countries.
    This three-volume annual publication lists 2,600 U.S. companies with 35,000 branches, subsidiaries, and affiliates in 190 countries. Volume one lists the firms in alphabetic order, detailing the countries in which the companies operate; following the companies section are listings by country, with Albania to Egypt in volume one, El Salvador to Mauritius in volume two, and Mexico to Zimbabwe in volume three.
    Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: HG4538 .A1 .D5 (Annual)

    The main source for listings of American companies with significant operations outside the U.S.

    Foster Business Library Books:

    The Foster Business Library maintains a collection of over 70,000 books on all business topics. To search for materials on all three campuses of the University of Washington, go to the UW Libraries Catalog, in the upper left corner of the Foster Business Library homepage. Search by keyword, title, author, series, etc.

    To limit the results of your search just to materials in the Foster Business Library collection, use the Modify or Limit options at the top of the search results and change the library location to Foster Business Library. Availablity is indicated on the right of each online catalog record. First, note in which collection, within Foster, your materials are in, since the library has ten different Collections, each in a different location and often with differing arrangements. "Available" indicates that the book should be on the shelves under that call number and available for you to check out. "Due" and a date indicates that the book is already checked out to someone and is due back on the date indicated; you can have the "Request/Place Hold" feature to recall the book for your use.

    If the material you want is not in the collections of the University of Washington, you can use the "Search Summit" feature to repeat your search in the combined holdings of over thirty cooperating libraries in Washington and Oregon. Use the "Request This Item" feature in Summit to have books in those library sent here to Foster for you to check out.

    The Foster general stacks collection is located south of the main part of the Foster Business Library, through the two pass-throughs into the basement of Balmer. The arrangement is by call number, from A (at the east end, near the Copy Center) to Z (at the far west end).

    A search for the keyword Outsourcing produced a list of over 160 records in the UW Libraries, including over forty records in the Foster Business Library. A subject search for Offshore Outsourcing produced over a dozen records.

    The relevant subject term is Contracting Out, which covers a broader area than outsourcing outside the U.S. A subject search for Contracting Out produced a list of more than 740 records in the UW Libraries, including over fifty records in the Foster Business Library.

    Examples of titles in Foster from these searches include:

    Foster Business Library Articles:

    Articles in academic journals, magazines, trade periodicals, and newspapers are one of the best sources for any kind of research. While the Foster Business Library offers a large periodicals print collection, comprising over 800 titles, articles are most easily accessed online, 24/7, in such fulltext article databases as EBSCO Business Source Premier, Factiva, LexisNexis Academic, Newsbank Infoweb, and ProQuest Databases. These article databases are available in the library or from off-campus, and provide access to over 10,000 periodicals and millions of articles.

    Library access to most ProQuest databases will terminate at the end of spring quarter 2008, except for ProQuest NewsStand, ProQuest Dissertations and Theses, Historical New York Times, and the Historical Wall Street Journal. For more about this change, see UW Libraries Providing New Databases. After this change, comprehensive article searches should be performed in EBSCO Business Source Premier, Newsbank Infoweb, and ProQuest NewsStand. Also, after this change, links to the articles below will be broken.

    ProQuest Databases:

    This database--actually, a family of over two dozen databases--offers full text articles for over 10,000 publications, including scholarly journals, magazines, trade and industry periodicals, newspapers, and reports on a very wide range of topics. To find articles on specific topics, search by word or phrase by keying your search phrase into the search box--or search for your topic in the Topic Guide.

    Your search terms will be highlighted in red in each article.

    For example, a basic search for Outsourcing, in multiple databases, produced a list of over 33,000 articles, including over 1,200 articles in scholarly journals, over 1,700 articles in magazines, over 21,000 articles in trade and industry publications, and over 6,700 newspaper articles. A similar search for Offshoring produced a list of over 450 articles, including two articles in scholarly journals, over 25 articles in magazines, over 170 articles in trade and industry publications, and over 180 newspaper articles.

    Go to Topic Guide to do more targeted searches by company, subject, country, etc. A search for the subject SUB(Outsourcing) produced over 19,000 articles, with more than 380 related narrowing terms, including:

      SUB(Outsourcing) and SUB(Advantages), over 1,100 articles;
      SUB(Outsourcing) and SUB(Benefit Cost Analysis), just 25 articles;
      SUB(Outsourcing) and SUB(Business Forecasts), over 120 articles;
      SUB(Outsourcing) and SUB(Case Studies), over 890 articles;
      SUB(Outsourcing) and SUB(Competitive Advantage), over 110 articles;
      SUB(Outsourcing) and SUB(Corporate Profiles), over 400 articles;
      SUB(Outsourcing) and SUB(Costs), over 1,400 articles;
      SUB(Outsourcing) and SUB(Disadvantages), over 180 articles;
      SUB(Outsourcing) and SUB(Economic Impact), 80 articles;
      SUB(Outsourcing) and SUB(Employees), over 480 articles;
      SUB(Outsourcing) and SUB(Forecasts), over 180 articles;
      SUB(Outsourcing) and SUB(Statistical Data), over 320 articles;
      SUB(Outsourcing) and SUB(Studies), over 180 articles;
      SUB(Outsourcing) and SUB(Success), over 1,400 articles;

    Examples of articles from these searches include:

    Help:

    13 May 2005; updated 29 May 2008.   Peter Stevens, Business Librarian, stevens@u.washington.edu