The Conference Board and Duke University Team for a Unique, Global Offshoring Research Project

The Conference Board, the global research and business membership organization, announced today that it has entered into a collaboration agreement with Duke Universityís Fuqua School of Business CIBER Offshoring Research Network to co-produce its annual offshoring research survey, now in its fourth year.

The Offshoring Research Networkís annual survey is the only international academic-based longitudinal panel study tracking the offshoring strategies and experiences of U.S. and EU corporations. This year, it will also include responses from companies in Korea, Singapore and Japan. The survey tracks firm level data from decision makers and managers of companies, including Fortune 500 companies, in many industries, functions, regions, and offshoring model categories, as well as firms in various stages of offshoring, including planning.

ìThe independence of The Conference Board and its practice of continual interaction with business executives to validate research findings make The Conference Board a rare and valuable partner for Duke, which puts a premium on high-quality research,î says Dr. Arie Lewin, Professor of Strategy and Sociology at Duke Universityís Fuqua School of Business.

ìBeing able to draw on the longest-running and most-recognized annual research survey on offshoring is a rare opportunity and we are very pleased it has come our way,î says Ton Heijmen, Senior Advisor to The Conference Board on Offshoring and Outsourcing. ìWe believe this is a perfect extension of the research program on offshoring that we have been conducting at The Conference Board.î

In conjunction with this new collaboration with Duke, The Conference Board will initiate a Research Working Group on Global Strategic Sourcing, partly based on this unique research. It will explore the survey results and related case studies of offshoring successes and failures. The group will aim to identify new drivers, criteria, and processes for achieving value-added offshoring implementations (including multi-sourcing), and provide a computer-based set of improved strategic frameworks, tactical applications, tools, and techniques. The Conference Board is currently accepting applications for participating in this Research Working Group.