In the shadow of offshoring: exploring providers’ expectations

Purpose – Although the literature on offshoring is vast, very scarce research has been undertaken to understand the providers’ perspective of offshoring. The purpose of this paper is to fill this gap, aiming to assess the expectations of providers when they started working with foreign firms and compare those expectations with their perceptions of reality. Design/methodology/approach – The authors conducted exploratory research based on grounded theory. A purposive theoretical sampling technique was used to select seven Portuguese offshoring providers. Data collected were then coded and analysed. Findings – In total, three broad categories of expectations and perceptions emerged: business‐, firm‐ and client‐related. “Creation of business” and “Acquisition of skills” were the most referred categories, both as expectations and as perceptions of reality, stated by all the interviewees. However, several expectations do not match the providers’ perceptions, and some perceptions were not part of the providers’ initial expectations. Research limitations/implications – This study is exploratory and conditioned by a small national sample. Also, it does not explain the relationships between expectations and perceptions of reality, an issue that should be addressed in future research. Practical implications – The practical and social implications of the paper's findings are wide: offshoring providers bring business and promote the acquisition of skills in the economy, so managers and governments should stimulate this business model. Originality/value – The paper's findings contribute to the offshoring literature, focusing on the still unnoticed dimension of the providers. Through the addition of categories of expectations to the few already found in the literature, and their comparison to the providers’ perceptions of reality, the authors have conferred extra originality and value to the research.