Sounds simple, but only in retrospect.

Josh Hyatt is a contributing editor of CFO.

War of the Words

Perhaps because the outsourcing industry has always been dominated by consultants — the folks who brought you "change agents" capable of "thinking outside the box" — outsourcing has inspired a buzzy and ever-expanding lexicon that is often clever but also confusing. Here's a guide to some common and not-so-common terms.

Farm-sourcing. A form of in-sourcing or reverse-outsourcing, terms that are used to describe companies that repatriate projects from foreign soil to low-cost regions of the United States. Such back-shoring may locate itself in depressed rural areas (rural-sourcing) or in suburbia (home-sourcing).

Doubt-sourcing. Characterizes the attitude of outsourcing critics who spoof providers as headset-headed drones and U.S. companies as exploiters of cheap labor.

Speedy-sourcing. Describes the practice of big companies hurrying to make deals with outsourcing providers, thereby globalizing their panic attacks.

Small-sourcing. A practice that refers to small companies outsourcing work to remote individuals or teams, often using online intermediaries such as oDesk.

Smart-sourcing. Refers to selecting third-party providers that can add value beyond lowering labor costs, such as innovation in noncore areas.

Right-shoring or blend-shoring. Finding the optimal mix between functions that are performed domestically and those that are moved to foreign countries.

Mid-sourcing. The practice of hiring a firm to serve as a liaison between a U.S.-based and an offshore firm, in essence outsourcing the management of the outsourced work so as to boost quality and improve communications.

Multi-sourcing (also multi-shoring). Dividing outsourced work among a carefully selected group of providers or countries; the opposite of mega-sourcing with one giant such as Accenture or Infosys.

Near-shoring. Bringing offshored work in closer proximity to the United States, by moving it from, say, Asia or India to Latin America. Saves wear-and-tear on management and shrinks transportation costs.

Over-and-out-sourcing. An as-yet (we think) uncoined variant that describes an executive so confused by all other plays on "sourcing" that he or she stops using it entirely — or outsources that jargon-spewing to someone who is contractually obligated to be 20% more relaxed.

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LinkedIn Company Connections:

• Bioimagene |
• American Business Process Outsourcing |
• The Midmarket Institute |
• Sitel |
• Global Equations |
• Gartner |
• AMR Research |
• Patni Computer Services |
• Rural Sourcing |
• Shop.com |