There is general agreement that business service outsourcing will continue to escalate, raising questions about the effects of outsourcing on training effectiveness. This study tested hypotheses suggesting that the HR management function can assist outsourcing strategies and that enhancing institutionalization and knowledge sharing between service receivers and external organizations can boost enterprise performance.
According to the study results, knowledge sharing and institutionalization both exert significant influences on outsourcing effectiveness, but the same is not true for partnership. It was also found that the influence of HR management on outsourcing effectiveness moderated the effects of institutionalization and knowledge sharing, thus adjusting employment costs.
Few training outsourcing regulations or guidelines exist, even though many enterprises are involved in multiple projects and plans for HR development. To support effectiveness of outsourced training, the findings suggest that enterprises institutionalize successful and unsuccessful practices and relevant processes as future reference sources in order to help HR managers address these issues and to boost overall firm performance.
The lack of partnership influence on outsourcing effectiveness among the Taiwanese firms in the study sample implies that outsourcing practices in this country are focused on short-term benefits. To make outsourcing more effective, it is essential to maintain long-term supplier relationships; cost alone cannot be viewed as the sole concern when selecting a supplier. A possible alternative option might entail collaboration among enterprises in the same industry or in related industries.
Another recommendation is for enterprises to take advantage of information and communications technologies to add flexibility to training content, to integrate teaching and learning resources, and to assist in the transformation of individual knowledge into organizational knowledge. In terms of knowledge management, it is important to overcome organizational and individual inertia as well as cultural barriers to create environments that encourage the sharing of knowledge and innovative ideas and instill a dual sense of mutual trust and commitment among employees. Finally, information technology tools can help enterprises utilize their wealth of experience and knowledge in a more efficient manner.