EMPIRICAL RESEARCHOF OUTSOURCING IN FOOD INDUSTRIES OF TEHRAN, IRAN

The aim of this article was to investigate the extent of outsourcing practices, motivations, risks and firms criteria for selecting providers in Iranian food industries mainly based on descriptiveanalysis.It was found that the majority of survived companies (about 70 percent) outsource at least one activity. The most common activities that outsourced, were food Production, logistic and distribution of commodities, information technology and maintenance of equipments.Thisresearch also showed that there is a relation between size of company and doing outsourcing.The most criteria for selecting candidates were high quality of services provided by firms, good reputation, mutual trust and technical advantages.The main reasons for outsourcing were costreduction, focus on core business activities, access to advanced technologies and capabilities, increase flexibility along with improving quality of services.The two main problems perceived by companies were losing control of the business and increasing dependence on suppliers

Keywords:

Outsourcing , Iran , Food industry , motivations and problems