The article aims to propose a different approach to assessing smart cities which combines some commonly used indicators with several new ones in line with the concept of sustainability. The aspect of sustainable development as an essential driver for the smart city and the combination of indicators for sustainable and smart city concepts have been analysed fragmentarily so far. There are many different approaches to evaluate the indicators of city smartness; however, very little attention is paid to the analysis of the reciprocal importance of the indicators. Ten indicators representing a smart city were selected that would be keep in line all the three pillars of sustainability—environmental, social, and economic. An expert survey was conducted to assign the weights of indicators using the pairwise comparison approach. The results were processed by utilising the fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (AHP), which reduces the subjectivity in the experts’ answers. The presented approach differs from the ones commonly used and while it does not cover a wide range of usual indicators, it proposes some new ideas for further research. Some represent cities to attract young and intelligent citizens, others relate to comfortable and safe living conditions and the environmental situation. The results revealed that the most vital smartness indicators are foreign direct investments, pollutant emission, and the share of people registered as unemployed among the working-age population. These indicators cannot be easily identified as ones representing a smart city, but rather as indicators representing investment and environmental, sustainable aspects. Hence, finding a balance between the indicators related to sustainable and smart city is what highlights the need for further research.

Outsourcing, as a managerial phenomenon, is gaining importance and attention among both scientists and entrepreneurs. Despite an increasing outsourcing practice among business units, the nature of factors affecting growth of the use of outsourcing on service companies have not received adequate attention in the scientific literature. The aim of paper is to provide in-depth analysis of factor affecting the spread of outsourcing practice among service companies. A comprehensive review of the literature was conducted in the fields of services, to achieve a thorough understanding of the issues involved, and identify the crucial factors affecting the use outsourcing in service companies. Literature analysis shows that spread of outsourcing is affected by external and internal factors. Most important internal factors affecting growth of outsourcing use in service companies are strategic and economic factors.

The global pandemic has affected all sectors and disrupted not only supply chains but also had a particular impact on the range of services provided and the whole service sector. Outsourcing is used to adapt to business environment changes. However, in the scholarly literature, outsourcing of services is analysed as a complementary part of the manufacturing process—there is a lack of research on outsourcing in service companies. This article analyses the enablers of outsourcing in all service groups. The aim of the semi-structured interview was to determine not only the enablers, their significance in each WTO (World Trade Organisation) group of services but also the use of outsourcing in the provision of core and non-core services. The results of the empirical study revealed that outsourcing is increasingly used in the service sector; however, enablers vary depending on the provision of services, the nature of the service company’s activities, and the needs they meet, public or for-profit.

Purpose – the purpose of this article is to identify factors that influence the spread of outsourcing practice in service sec-tors, classified by WTO and investigate links between factors which lead service sector firms to adopt outsourcing and outsourcing relationship type. Research methodology – the authors conducted a comprehensive review of the literature in the service sector and out-sourcing practices researches to achieve a thorough understanding of the issues involved and identifying the problematic aspects and crucial factors groups affecting the outsourcing using in the service sector. The structured interview with general managers in each service sector group was held in order to explore the factors determining the outsourcing in separate service sector companies and revealed what relationship are used to maintain outsourcing arrangements. Collect-ed data were analysed using the statistical method. Findings – the range of factors that contribute to the expansion of outsourcing in the service sector is distinctive and sig-nificantly narrower than those identified in the scientific literature. The significance of factors that lead service sector firms to adopt outsourcing varies according to what kind of activities – core or non-core are outsourced. Outsourcing re-lationships are based on short- and long-term contracts preferred domestic outsourcing. Research limitations – although the main factors affecting the expansion of outsourcing in the service sector were re-vealed, the compatibility of expert opinions was weak. Therefore, more in-depth research could be carried out in each of the service sector groups and its sub-domains. Practical implications – the practical implication should explain how the results of the research could be used in practice. Originality/Value – while most studies of factors motivating outsourcing where based on manufacturing sector or sepa-rate service sector companies’ groups (hotels, hospitals, etc.), this is empirical study focusing at all service sector groups distinguished by WTO.