Skip to main content

Offshoring Versus Reshoring? Rather, Shouldn’t It Be Rightshoring?

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Reshoring of Manufacturing

Abstract

In the latest years location strategies of firms are gaining growing attention due to the recent rise of reshoring announcements, which cannot be considered just an outcome of new political platforms based on protectionism. Most of them aim at coping with problems determined by unsuccessful offshoring decisions. But, when considering how to implement a relocation choice, namely in terms of geographical destination and in terms of governance of the new manufacturing footprint, several concerns rise and a wide array of relevant factors can be identified, which can drive the effectiveness of a reshoring project. In this setting, offshoring and reshoring can be seen as possible outcomes of a “rightshoring” approach, regarded as the decision making process that leads towards sound location decisions. This paper proposes and empirically tests a theoretical framework according to which factors that should be considered in the location decision making process are the following: (1) strategic alignment; (2) business environment’s factors; (3) firm’s specific factors; (4) contingency factors. The preliminary evidence stemming out from the case-studies supports our framework.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 89.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 119.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Arlbjørn JS, Mikkelsen OS (2014) Backshoring manufacturing: notes on an important but under-researched theme. J Purchasing Supply Manag 20(1):60–62

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bailey D, De Propris L (2014) Manufacturing reshoring and its limits: the UK automotive case. Camb J Reg Econ Soc, rsu019

    Google Scholar 

  • Bals L, Kirchoff JF, Foerstl K (2016) Exploring the reshoring and insourcing decision making process: toward an agenda for future research. Oper Manag Res 9(3–4):102–116

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Belvedere V (2015) La misura delle prestazioni produttive e logistiche nelle aziende industriali. EGEA, Milano

    Google Scholar 

  • Belvedere V, Gallmann F (2014) The alignment among competitive strategy, operations improvement priorities and manufacturing and logistics performance measurement systems. Evidence from a case-based study. In: Models and methods in economics and management science, Springer International Publishing, pp 221–241

    Google Scholar 

  • Belvedere V, Grando A (2017) Sustainable Operations and Supply Chain Management, Wiley

    Google Scholar 

  • Booth T (2014) Here, there and everywhere. The Economist Newspaper, 19 Jan 2013. Web. 22 Dec 2014

    Google Scholar 

  • Canham S, Hamilton RT (2013) SME internationalisation: offshoring, “backshoring”, or staying at home in New Zealand. Strateg Outsourcing: Int J 6(3):277–291

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dixon JR, Nanni AJ Jr, Vollmann TE (1990) The new performance challenge. Measuring operations for world-class competition, Business One Irwin, Homewood, Illinois, U.S.A

    Google Scholar 

  • Eisenhardt KM (1989) Building theories from case study research. Acad Manag Rev 14(4):532–550

    Google Scholar 

  • Elkington J (1997) Cannibals with forks: the triple bottom line of 21st century business. Capstone Publishing Ltd, Oxford

    Google Scholar 

  • Ellram LM (2013) Offshoring, reshoring and the manufacturing location decision. J Supply Chain Manag 49(2):3–5

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ellram LM, Tate WL, Petersen KJ (2013) Offshoring and reshoring: an update on the manufacturing location decision. J Supply Chain Manag 49(2):14–22

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ferdows K (1997) Making the most of foreign factories. Harvard Bus Rev 75:73–91

    Google Scholar 

  • Feldmann A, Olhager J (2013) Plant roles: site competence bundles and their relationships with site locationfactors and performance. Int J Oper Prod Manag 33(6):722–744

    Google Scholar 

  • Fratocchi L, Ancarani A, Barbieri P, Di Mauro C, Nassimbeni G, Sartor M, Zanoni A (2016) Motivations of manufacturing reshoring: an interpretative framework. Int J Phys Distrib Logistics Manag 46(2):98–127

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fratocchi L, Ancarani A, Barbieri P, Di Mauro C, Nassimbeni G, Sartor M, Vignoli M, Zanoni A (2015) Manufacturing back-reshoring as a nonlinear internationalization process. In: The future of global organizing, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, pp 365–403

    Google Scholar 

  • Fratocchi L, Di Mauro C, Barbieri P, Nassimbeni G, Zanoni A (2014) When manufacturing moves back: concepts and questions. J Purchasing Supply Manag 20(1):54–59

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gauthier C (2005) Measuring corporate social and environmental performance: the extended lifecycle assessment. J Bus Ethics 59(1–2):199–206

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grando A, Tapiero CS, Belvedere V (2007) Operational performances in manufacturing and service industries: conceptual framework and research agenda. Int J Bus Perform Manag 9(2):110–126

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gray JV, Skowronski K, Esenduran G, Johnny Rungtusanatham M (2013) The reshoring phenomenon: what supply chain academics ought to know and should do. J Supply Chain Manag 49(2):27–33

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gylling M, Heikkilä J, Jussila K, Saarinen M (2015) Making decisions on offshore outsourcing and backshoring: a case study in the bicycle industry. Int J Prod Econ 162:92–100

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Joubioux C, Vanpoucke E (2016) Towards right-shoring: a framework for off-and re-shoring decision making. Oper Manag Res 9(3–4):117–132

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kinkel S, Maloca S (2009) Drivers and antecedents of manufacturing offshoring and backshoring—a German perspective. J Purchasing Supply Manag 15(3):154–165

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Leong GK, Snyder DL, Ward PT (1990) Research in the process and content of manufacturing strategy. OMEGA Int J Manag Sci 18(2):109–122

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McCutcheon DM, Meredith JR (1993) Conducting case study research in operations management. J Oper Manag 11(3):239–256

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McIvor R (2013) Understanding the manufacturing location decision: the case for the transaction cost and capability perspectives. J Supply Chain Manag 49(2):23–26

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Meredith J (1998) Building operations management theory through case and field research. J Oper Manag 16(4):441–454

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Neely A, Gregory M, Platts K (1995) Performance measurement system design. A literature review and a research agenda. Int J Oper Prod Manag 15(4):80–116

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Neely A (2005) The evolution of performance measurement research: developments in the last decade and a research agenda for the next. Int J Oper Prod Manag 25(12):1264–1277

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pearce JA (2014) Why domestic outsourcing is leading America’s reemergence in global manufacturing. Bus Horiz 57(1):27–36

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Skinner W (1969) Manufacturing—missing link in corporate strategy. Harvard Business Review, May–June, 136–145

    Google Scholar 

  • Skinner W (1974) The focused factory. Harvard Business Review, May–June, 113–121

    Google Scholar 

  • Stentoft J, Mikkelsen OS, Johnsen TE (2015) Going local: a trend towards insourcing of production? Supply Chain Forum: Int J 16(1):2–13

    Google Scholar 

  • Stentoft J, Olhager J, Heikkilä J, Thoms L (2016) Manufacturing backshoring: a systematic literature review. Oper Manag Res 9(3–4):53–61

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tate WL (2014) Offshoring and reshoring: US insights and research challenges. J Purchasing Supply Manag 20(1):66–68

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tate WL, Bals L (2017) Outsourcing/offshoring insights: going beyond reshoring to rightshoring. Int J Phys Distrib Logistics Manag 47(2/3):106–113

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tate WL, Ellram LM, Schoenherr T, Petersen KJ (2014) Global competitive conditions driving the manufacturing location decision. Bus Horiz 57(3):381–390

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vereecke A, Van Dierdonck R (2002) The strategic role of the plant: testing Ferdows’s model. Int J Oper Prod Manag 22(5):492–514

    Google Scholar 

  • Voss C, Tsikriktsis N, Frohlich M (2002) Case research in operations management. Int J Oper Prod Manag 22(2):195

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wisner JD, Fawcett SE (1991) Link firm strategy to operating decisions through performance measurement. Prod Inventory Manag J 32(3):5–11

    Google Scholar 

  • Yin RK (2003) Applications of case study research—second edition, Sage publications, U.S.A

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Alessandro Baroncelli .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2017 Springer International Publishing AG

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Baroncelli, A., Belvedere, V., Serio, L. (2017). Offshoring Versus Reshoring? Rather, Shouldn’t It Be Rightshoring?. In: Vecchi, A. (eds) Reshoring of Manufacturing. Measuring Operations Performance. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-58883-4_2

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics