Document Type : Original Article
Authors
1
Department of International Trade, Faculty of Commerce and Trade, College of Management, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran.
2
Department of Management, Faculty of Literature and Humanities, Shahrekord University, Shahrekord, Iran.
3
Department of Public Administration, Noor Hedayat Shahrekord Institute of Higher Education, Shahrekord, Iran.
Abstract
The refusal to outsource in social businesses over recent decades has led to an expansion of the government’s size and a reduction of competitive space for the private sector, hindering the development of the non-governmental sector and the establishment of social justice. This research aims to identify and rank the challenges of outsourcing in governmental social businesses. The present study is applied and uses a mixed-methods approach (qualitative–quantitative). The statistical population consists of experts, practitioners in social businesses, and university professors; through purposive sampling, 12 individuals were selected as the sample, and questionnaires were distributed among them. Data collection tools included a researcher-made questionnaire based on theoretical foundations for the Delphi phase and a pairwise comparison questionnaire for the ranking phase. The questionnaire was designed in pairs according to the final validated indicators in the Delphi phase and was provided to the experts. The questionnaires’ validity was confirmed by professors and experts, and the inconsistency rate was calculated. Ultimately, the researcher identified 5 main criteria and 33 sub-criteria as outsourcing challenges; through three rounds of the Delphi technique, consensus was reached on 5 main criteria and 25 sub-criteria. The results show that outsourcing challenges in governmental social businesses fall into five main categories: legal, cultural–cognitive, financial, structural–organizational, and executive–managerial. According to normalized weights, the primary barriers are ineffective laws and lack of contractual transparency. Subsequently, lack of trust and organizational knowledge, weaknesses in payment systems, absence of a native outsourcing model, and lack of managerial support were identified as key challenges. The findings are consistent with previous studies and indicate that improving outsourcing requires legal reforms, strengthening organizational culture, sustainable financing, designing supervisory structures, and enhancing managerial capacity. Practical recommendations emphasize facilitating regulations, staff training, and establishing independent supervisory institutions.
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