A triangulated field study and questionnaire survey methodology was applied to investigate antecedents of outsourcing activity in Australian hotels. The field study involved the conduct of semistructured interviews with 15 managers in large hotels. Subsequent to this, a survey questionnaire was mailed to 356 general managers in Australian hotels with 100 or more rooms. The survey yielded a return of 111 completed questionnaires. The study represents an examination of transaction cost economics (TCE), a partial investigation of agency theory, and other organizational factors that may influence hotel outsourcing. The study’s findings provide some support for TCE and provide insight into other factors that appear to be affecting Australian hotels’ propensity to outsource.
Abernethy, M. A., & Brownell, P. (1999). The role of budgets in organizations facing strategic change: An exploratory study. Accounting, Organizations and Society, 24(3), 189-204.
2.
Abernethy, M. A., & Guthrie, C. H. (1994). An empirical assessment of the “fit” between strategy and management information system design. Accounting and Finance, 34(2), 49-66.
3.
Abernethy, M. A., & Stoelwinder, J. U. (1991). Budget use, task uncertainty, system goal orientation and subunit performance: A test of the “fit” hypothesis in not-for-profit hospitals. Accounting, Organizations and Society, 16(2), 105-120.
4.
Ansley, M. (2000). Virtual manufacturing at Cisco systems. CMA Management, 74(1), 31-35.
5.
Bradley, J. V. (1982). The insidious L-shaped distribution. Bulletin of the Psychonomic Society, 20(2), 85-88.
6.
Brownell, P. (1995). Research methods in management accounting. Melbourne: Coopers & Lybrand and Accounting Association of Australia and New Zealand.
7.
Bryman, A., & Cramer, D. (1990). Quantitative data analysis for social scientists. London: Routledge.
8.
Chenhall, R. H. (2003). Management control systems design within its organizational context: Findings from contingency-based research and directions for the future. Accounting, Organizations and Society, 28(2/3), 127-168.
9.
Chenhall, R. H., & Langfield-Smith, K. (1998). The relationship between strategic priorities, management techniques and management accounting: An empirical investigation using a systems approach. Accounting, Organizations and Society, 23(3), 243-264.
10.
Chenhall, R. H., & Morris, D. (1986). The impact of structure, environment, and interdependence on the perceived usefulness of management accounting systems. Accounting Review, 61(1), 16-35.
11.
Chenhall, R. H., & Morris, D. (1993). The role of post completion audits, managerial learning, environmental uncertainty and performance. Behavioral Research in Accounting, 5, 170-186.
12.
Chong, V. K., & Chong, K. M. (1997). Strategic choices, environmental uncertainty and SBU performance: A note on the intervening role of management accounting systems. Accounting and Business Research, 27(4), 268-276.
13.
Colbert, G. J., & Spicer, B. H. (1995). A multi-case investigation of a theory of the transfer pricing process. Accounting, Organizations and Society, 20(6), 423-456.
14.
DiRomualdo, A., & Gurbaxani, V. (1998). Strategic intent for IT outsourcing. MIT Sloan Management Review, 39(4), 67-80.
15.
Domberger, S. (1998). The contracting organization: A strategic guide to outsourcing. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
16.
Eisenhardt, K. M. (1989). Agency theory: An assessment and review. Academy of Management Review, 14(1), 57-74.
17.
Espino-Rodríguez, T. F., & Gil-Padilla, A. M. (2005). The relationship between leisure outsourcing and specificity: Performance and management perception in hotels in the Canary Islands. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Research, 29(3), 396-418.
18.
Espino-Rodríguez, T. F., & Padrón-Robaina, V. (2004). Outsourcing and its impact on operational objectives and performance: A study of hotels in the Canary Islands. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 23(3), 287-306.
19.
Espino-Rodríguez, T. F., & Padrón-Robaina, V. (2005). A resource-based view of outsourcing and its implications for organizational performance in the hotel sector. Tourism Management, 26(5), 707-721.
20.
Gambetta, D. G. (1988). Can we trust trust? In D. G. Gambetta (Ed.), Trust: Making and breaking cooperative relations (pp. 213-237). New York: Basil Blackwell.
21.
Gietzmann, M. B. (1996). Incomplete contracts and the make or buy decision: Governance design and attainable flexibility. Accounting, Organizations and Society, 21(6), 611-626.
22.
Gordon, L. A., & Narayanan, V. K. (1984). Management accounting systems, perceived environmental uncertainty and organizational structure: An empirical investigation. Accounting, Organizations and Society, 9(1), 33-47.
23.
Govindarajan, V. (1984). Appropriateness of accounting data in performance evaluation: An empirical examination of environmental uncertainty as an intervening variable. Accounting, Organizations and Society, 9(2), 125-135.
24.
Govindarajan, V., & Gupta, A. K. (1985). Linking control systems to business unit strategy: Impact on performance. Accounting, Organizations and Society, 10(1), 51-66.
25.
Guerrier, Y., & Lockwood, A. (1989). Core and peripheral employees in hotel operations. Personnel Review, 18(1), 9-15.
26.
Guilding, C. (2003). Hotel owner/operator structures: Implications for capital budgeting process. Management Accounting Research, 14(3), 179-199.
27.
Guilding, C., & McManus, L. (2002). The incidence, perceived merit and antecedents of customer accounting: An exploratory note. Accounting, Organizations and Society, 27(1/2), 45-59.
28.
Gul, F. A. (1991). The effects of management accounting systems and environmental uncertainty on small business managers’ performance. Accounting and Business Research, 22(85), 57-61.
29.
Gul, F. A., & Chia, Y. M. (1994). The effects of management accounting systems, perceived environmental uncertainty and decentralization on managerial performance: A test of three-way interaction. Accounting, Organizations and Society, 19(4/5), 413-426.
30.
Hemmington, N., & King, C. (2000). Key dimensions of outsourcing hotel food and beverage services. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 12(4), 256-261.
31.
Hoque, Z. (2004). A contingency model of the association between strategy, environmental uncertainty and performance measurement: Impact on organizational performance. International Business Review, 13(4), 485-502.
32.
John, G., & Weitz, B. A. (1988). Forward integration into distribution: An empirical test of transaction cost analysis. Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization, 4(2), 337-355.
33.
Kakabadse, N., & Kakabadse, A. (2000). Outsourcing: A paradigm shift. Journal of Management Development, 19(8), 668-669.
34.
Khandwalla, P. N. (1972). The effect of different types of competition on the use of management controls. Journal of Accounting Research, 10(2), 275-285.
35.
Kren, L., & Kerr, J. L. (1993). The effect of behaviour monitoring and uncertainty on the use of performance-contingent compensation. Accounting and Business Research, 23(90), 159-167.
36.
Lam, T., & Han, M. X. J. (2005). A study of outsourcing strategy: A case involving the hotel industry in Shanghai, China. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 24(1), 41-56.
37.
Lamminmaki, D. (2005). Why do hotels outsource? An investigation using asset specificity. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 17(6), 516-528.
38.
Langfield-Smith, K. (1997). Management control systems and strategy: A critical review. Accounting, Organizations and Society, 22(2), 207-232.
39.
Langfield-Smith, K., & Smith, D. (2003). Management control systems and trust in outsourcing relationships. Management Accounting Research, 14(3), 281-307.
40.
Lohtia, R., Brooks, C. M., & Krapfel, R. E. (1994). What constitutes a transaction-specific asset?: An examination of the dimensions and types. Journal of Business Research, 30(3), 261-270.
41.
Masten, S. E., Meehan, J. W., Jr., & Snyder, E. A. (1991). The costs of organization. Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization, 7(1), 1-25.
42.
Miles, R. E., & Snow, C. C. (1978). Organizational strategy, structure, and process. New York: McGraw-Hill.
43.
Milgrom, P., & Roberts, J. (1992). Economics, organization, and management. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
44.
Monteverde, K., & Teece, D. J. (1982). Supplier switching costs and vertical integration in the automobile industry. Bell Journal of Economics, 13(1), 206-213.
45.
Nickerson, J. A., Hamilton, B. H., & Wada, T. (2001). Market position, resource profile, and governance: Linking Porter and Williamson in the context of international courier and small package services in Japan. Strategic Management Journal, 22(3), 251-273.
46.
Palay, T. M. (1984). Comparative institutional economics: The governance of rail freight contracting. Journal of Legal Studies, 13(2), 265-287.
47.
Park, H. Y., Reddy, C. S., & Sarkar, S. (2000). Make or buy strategy of firms in the U.S. Multinational Business Review, 8(2), 89-97.
48.
Quinn, J. B., & Hilmer, F. G. (1994). Strategic outsourcing. Sloan Management Review, 35(4), 43-55.
49.
Sako, M. (1992). Prices, quality, and trust: Inter-firm relations in Britain and Japan. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
50.
Shank, J. K., & Govindarajan, V. (1988). Making strategy explicit in cost analysis: A case study. Sloan Management Review, 29(3), 19-29.
51.
Simons, R. (1987). Accounting control systems and business strategy: An empirical analysis. Accounting, Organizations and Society, 12(4), 357-374.
52.
Snow, C. C., & Hambrick, D. C. (1980). Measuring organizational strategies: Some theoretical and methodological problems. Academy of Management Review, 5(4), 527-538.
53.
Spicer, B. H. (1992). The resurgence of cost and management accounting: A review of some recent developments in practice, theories and case research methods. Management Accounting Research, 3(1), 1-37.
54.
Tabachnick, B. G., & Fidell, L. S. (1996). Using multivariate statistics (3rd ed.). New York: HarperCollins College.
55.
Tymon, W. G., Jr., Stout, D. E., & Shaw, K. N. (1998). Critical analysis and recommendations regarding the role of perceived environmental uncertainty in behaviour accounting research. Behavioral Research in Accounting, 10, 23-46.
56.
van der Meer-Kooistra, J., & Vosselman, E. G. J. (2000). Management control of interfirm transactional relationships: The case of industrial renovation and maintenance. Accounting, Organizations and Society, 25(1), 51-77.
57.
Vosselman, E. G. J. (2002). Towards horizontal archetypes of management control: A transaction cost economics perspective. Management Accounting Research, 13(1), 131-148.
58.
Walker, G., & Weber, D. (1984). A transaction cost approach to make-or-buy decisions. Administrative Science Quarterly, 29(3), 373-391.
59.
Widener, S. K., & Selto, F. H. (1998, June). Management control systems and boundaries of the firm: Why do firms outsource internal auditing activities? [Working paper]. Boulder: University of Colorado.
60.
Widener, S. K., & Selto, F. H. (1999). Management control systems and boundaries of the firm: Why do firms outsource internal auditing activities?Journal of Management Accounting Research, 11, 45-73.
61.
Williamson, O. E. (1979). Transaction-cost economics: The governance of contractual relations. Journal of Law and Economics, 22(2), 233-261.
62.
Williamson, O. E. (1985). The economic institutions of capitalism: Firms, markets, relational contracting. New York: Free Press.
63.
Williamson, O. E. (1996). The mechanisms of governance. New York: Oxford University Press.
