A managerial decision tool for R&D outsourcing and partner selection in high-technology industries

Deciding which tasks and projects are best performed in-house and which should be outsourced to external suppliers are, alongside the supplier selection process, among the key challenges for R&D managers operating in high-technology firms. This study presents a decision tool for evaluating whether to pursue R&D tasks in-house or to outsource them. The tool also helps R&D managers to evaluate which of the supplier candidates would be best suited to undertake the task to be outsourced. The tool is based on four views of evaluation that have both managerial and theoretical roots: identity, dependence, efficiency, and competence. The tool has been developed in a qualitative multiple case study based on R&D supplier relationships and has been empirically tested in an R&D organization.