Factors affecting outsourcing decisions of maintenance services in Saudi Arabian universities

Abstract

PurposeThe objectives of this paper are to identify the critical factors that influence the decision to outsource maintenance services in public Saudi Arabian universities, and to investigate the relative importance of each of the identified factors based on the expressed opinions of the in‐house maintenance managers in the concerned maintenance departments in these universities.Design/methodology/approachThe authors conducted a comprehensive review of the literature in the fields of maintenance management and outsourcing practices to achieve a thorough understanding of the issues involved, and identifying the crucial factors affecting the outsourcing decision of maintenance services. A questionnaire survey was developed to assess each factor influencing the decision to outsource maintenance services in the public Saudi Arabian universities. The survey included 38 factors grouped in six major groups. The respondents who have opted to outsource several of their maintenance services to specialty contractors were asked to indicate their perceived level of importance for each of the identified factors. The level of importance of the factors and the groups were measured. The factor groups were ranked according to the obtained mean rating values.FindingsThe findings show that Saudi universities generally value the importance of the quality, management and strategic factors when making outsourcing decisions. The most important three factors influencing the decision to outsource maintenance services in the public Saudi Arabia universities were identified as “increase the speed of implementation”, “improve quality requirements” and “risk sharing with contractors”.Practical implicationsThe findings of the study provide practical value for facilities maintenance managers in institutions of higher education confronted with the decision of whether to outsource maintenance services in their campuses.Originality/valueThe paper is original in the sense that it identifies how in‐house maintenance managers rate the importance of the factors influencing outsourcing decisions.

A Lean Six Sigma program in higher education

“…Currently, there are 21 government universities, six private universities and 18 private colleges distributed across different regions of the Kingdom (Ministry of Higher Education, 2014). Moreover, the Ministry has established a program of scholarships for Saudi students to study abroad to bridge the shortage of places in the local universities (Assaf et al, 2011;Saleh, 1986). Therefore, according to the Ministry, Saudi Arabia ranks as one of the highest cost per student countries in higher education, and with this investment by the Saudi Arabian Government, the outcomes of higher education could be improved further (Alruwaili, 2013).…”

Outsourcing Best Practice - The Case of Large Construction Firms in Iran

“…Outsourcing is not only to reduce costs of production, but also firms decide to outsource for other reasons, such as enhancement in financial performance (Brown & Wilson, 2005;Lysons & Farrington, 2012). Outsourcing decreases costs of business operation by shifting the fixed cost to variable costs (Assaf & Al-Nehmi, 2011;Koh Ser Mui, 2003;Liu & Tyagi, 2016). Outsourcing practices offer more opportunities to find skills that are not available at the time to the organization (Hansen, Muller, & Pottenger, 2008;Slack, NrandonJoes, Johnston, & Betts, 2015), as well as an ecological talent establishment, via retrieving support from third party's organization (Koh Ser Mui, 2003).…”

“…Outsourcing practices offer more opportunities to find skills that are not available at the time to the organization (Hansen, Muller, & Pottenger, 2008;Slack, NrandonJoes, Johnston, & Betts, 2015), as well as an ecological talent establishment, via retrieving support from third party's organization (Koh Ser Mui, 2003). The firm can accomplish quality improvements (Quinn, 2000;Sepehri, 2013) or performance improvement by contracting to an outside organization and, it should be noticed as a potential improvement, to succeed a better and higher service level (Assaf & Al-Nehmi, 2011). Oshri, Kotlarsky, and Willcocks (2015) established 3 types of outsourcing: Total outsourcing is the shifting of more than eighty per cent of the firm's business functions or operations to a third party provider; Selective outsourcing refers to finding a chosen task to single/multiple outside provider, while management of twenty to eighty per cent of in-house business; and Transitional outsourcing is the provisionally outsourcing through a main shift for an organization, for instance; implementing a new technology.…”

“…Before making a decision to outsource any business functions, it is important for any organization to recognise their success elements and how to achieve an effective outsourcing to accomplish competitive advantages (Assaf & Al-Nehmi, 2011;Brown & Wilson, 2005;Valmohammadi, 2012a). It is necessary to define terms and conditions (Brown & Wilson, 2005;Koh Ser Mui, 2003) and perform a needs analysis before generating any outsourcing agreement (Koh Ser Mui, 2003;Slack et al, 2015).…”

“…It is necessary to define terms and conditions (Brown & Wilson, 2005;Koh Ser Mui, 2003) and perform a needs analysis before generating any outsourcing agreement (Koh Ser Mui, 2003;Slack et al, 2015). Suitable capacity management (Beaumont & Sohal, 2004) and outsourcing selection process is essential (Assaf & Al-Nehmi, 2011). Organization's objectives and goals are important elements of success (Seth, Goyal, & Kiran, 2015), and assessment of the organization strategic vision and business arrangement is required, with a suitable prediction (Brown & Wilson, 2005).…”