For two days, from June 28-29, scholars from around the world gathered at SolBridge for the 10th Annual International Smart Sourcing Conference.

With the theme of “Global Sourcing of Services: Bridging the Worldwide Economic Divide” delegates to this conference represented a diverse group of scholars, vendors, clients, government officials, and media. During the two-day conference, the papers presented covered a wide range of areas related to smart sourcing, including, but not limited to health care and print media outsourcing to the financial risks involved with outsourcing and other related problems with outsourcing and smart sourcing.

In his keynote address, “Global Sourcing Issues and Challenges that Lie Ahead” to the delegates and attendees, Dr. Varun Grover, Distinguished Professor of Information Systems at Clemson University, gave a brief overview of outsourcing—its origins (it started back in the 1960s focusing on internal development) and where it is at today. During his address and presentation, he examined the three worlds of outsourcing, the world of research, practice, and media and politics and how all three are interconnected. He also discussed business cases that epitomize some of the contemporary issues in outsourcing as well as some of the research being conducted in outsourcing and directions for mitigating these issues.

“What we are really looking at is the co-creation of value,” Grover said. “Therefore, this conference is ahead of the game.”

In addition to the papers presented at the conference, two panel discussions were held: Global Sourcing Opportunities and Challenges in Mexico and Global Sourcing Opportunities and Challenges in South Korea.