1 Proposed Working Title
Challenges and opportunities in Accounting and business process outsourcing and offshoring for UK SMEs
2 Objectives
Understand how challenges and opportunities of outsourcing and offshoring for SMEs differ from multinational companies
Understand the concerns of a small business when outsourcing and see if these have changed considering economic conditions in the UK.
Access the impact of technology and automation of accounting and business processes on SMEs and SigmaTen
Assess if the operating and business model of SigmaTen is suitable to address current and future needs of SMEs.
3 Background Information
Last year, I set-up SigmaTen, an accounting and business process outsourcing firm. I spent 13 years in industry working for large multinational companies at various accounting and finance roles. I have seen and been involved in dealing with outsourcing and how these have benefited the organisations bottom line. The business I set-up aims to provide these benefits to SMEs. My dissertation on this topic will help me consider the challenges and opportunities outsourcing and offshoring for SMEs, which will in turn help us communicate effectively to our potential customers and improve the service quality to existing customers.
4 Proposed Methodology
The first stage of this project will involve an in-depth literature review of outsourcing and offshoring in the context of SMEs. Aim of this stage would be to understand the challenges and opportunities of outsourcing and offshoring for SMEs and how these compare and contract with multinational organisations.
The second stage of the project would include primary research. Based on the knowledge gathered from the first stage and my business experience, a questionnaire would be drafted to validate the findings of the research and hopefully draw additional conclusions on the subject. Focus on the survey would include current economic uncertainty in the UK, fall in Sterling and ongoing impact of technology and automation in the services industry.
The final stage of the project will critically analyse the theory, considering the primary research and draw final conclusions on the subject.
5 Availability of Information/Literature
Carmel, E. and Nicholson, B., 2005. Small firms and offshore software outsourcing: high transaction costs and their mitigation. Journal of Global Information Management (JGIM), 13(3), pp.33-54.
Di Gregorio, D., Musteen, M. and Thomas, D.E., 2009. Offshore outsourcing as a source of international competitiveness for SMEs. Journal of International Business Studies, 40(6), pp.969-988.
Outsourcing, B.P.O., 2005. Untapped Opportunities for SMEs. In United Nations Conference on Trade and Development. UNCTAD Paper.
Any data required for the dissertation would be available and provided by SigmaTen.