re: Extreme: Movin' OutOutsourcing is not inherently stupid. It is not the answer to all problems. It has the same risks/ benefits of any other business or manufacturing process.
However, I would say it is applied without any consideration to down side consequences, because it has reached the realm of business religion.
At the BUSINESS PHYSICS level, the only reasons to outsource are to take advantage of something that has reached the stage of commodity. Meaning: there are multiple sources, they are all high quality, the market is competitive, your product can use any of them, and it's performance is not affected by those variations.
Almost everthing else associated with it is downside. Because if all you do is put together outsourced parts, your product is a collection of commodity parts. And it can be made without you.
However, I would say it is applied without any consideration to down side consequences, because it has reached the realm of business religion.
At the BUSINESS PHYSICS level, the only reasons to outsource are to take advantage of something that has reached the stage of commodity. Meaning: there are multiple sources, they are all high quality, the market is competitive, your product can use any of them, and it's performance is not affected by those variations.
Almost everthing else associated with it is downside. Because if all you do is put together outsourced parts, your product is a collection of commodity parts. And it can be made without you.
-Why