Knowledge outsourcing: an alternative strategy for knowledge management

Purpose – In knowledge outsourcing, external knowledge providers, rather than in‐house experts, are contracted to provide services which result in the production of knowledge‐intensive assets for the organisation. The purpose of this paper is to present the notion of knowledge outsourcing as an alternative strategy for knowledge management. Design/methodology/approach – A case study research method is adopted to examine the knowledge outsourcing processes and activities at a for‐profit higher education enterprise that has been successful in using a knowledge outsourcing approach in the development of its online courseware. Findings – A general process model of knowledge outsourcing is developed from the case data. The paper also draws attention to three conditions under which knowledge outsourcing may be a suitable strategy for knowledge management. Additionally, two main areas of knowledge outsourcing risk, which are related to the quality of knowledge services and the effort required to manage the outsourcing relationship, have been identified. Research limitations/implications – Given that the study involves only a single case, the findings may likely be influenced by the peculiarities of the case, including the nature of the industry, availability of external experts and top management support. Going forward, a more refined theory for knowledge outsourcing can be developed through further empirical validation with more cases. Practical implications – The notion of knowledge outsourcing is introduced to managers who wish to exploit external sources rather than relying on internal capability for knowledge creation. Originality/value – This paper represents one of the earliest efforts to introduce the notion of knowledge outsourcing to the knowledge management community.