Do expectations match reality when firms consider the risks of offshoring?: A comparison of risk assessment by firms with and without offshoring experience

Abstract

The risk associated with offshoring is a recurrent theme in research. However, previous research has mainly given a static picture of offshoring risks even though the strategies of offshoring firms, including their views on risks, may change as they gain experience in the field. In this chapter we investigate the influence of organizational learning on firms perceptions of the risks in offshoring. We use survey data from firms in Scandinavia and compare the risk assessments of firms without offshoring experience with firms that engage in offshoring. The findings show that firms without offshoring experience particularly stress exogenous risks while firms with offshoring experience see the endogenous risks as important. We offer two different interpretations of these results.