Sourcing

Look up sourcing in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

In business, the term word sourcing refers to a number of procurement practices, aimed at finding, evaluating and engaging suppliers for acquiring goods and services:

• Outsourcing, the process of contracting a business function to someone else
• Insourcing, a process of contracting a business function to someone else to be completed in-house
• Global sourcing, a procurement strategy aimed at exploiting global efficiencies in production
• Strategic sourcing, a component of supply chain management, for improving and re-evaluating purchasing activities
• Vested outsourcing, a hybrid business model in which a company and service provider in an outsourcing or business relationship focus on shared values and goals to create an arrangement that is mutually beneficial to each
• Sourcing Business Model, based on University of Tennessee (UT) research, a systems-based approach to structuring supplier relationships. There are seven sourcing business models that range from transactional to investment-based. The seven models are Basic Provider, Approved Provider, Preferred Provider, Performance-Based/Managed Services Model, Vested Business Model, Shared Services Model, and Equity Partnership Model
• Sourcing (personnel), the practice of recruiting talent using strategic search techniques
• Co-sourcing, a type of auditing service
• Low-cost country sourcing, a procurement strategy for acquiring materials from countries with lower labour and production costs in order to cut operating expenses
• Corporate sourcing, a supply chain, purchasing/procurement, and inventory function
• Second-tier sourcing, a practice of rewarding suppliers for attempting to achieve minority-owned business spending goals of their customer
• Netsourcing, a practice of utilizing an established group of businesses, individuals, or hardware & software applications to streamline or initiate procurement practices by tapping in to and working through a third party provider
• Inverted Sourcing, a price volatility reduction strategy usually conducted by procurement or supply-chain person by which the value of an organization's waste-stream is maximized by actively seeking out the highest price possible from a range of potential buyers exploiting price trends and other market factors
• Remote Insourcing, a practice of contracting a third party vendor to complete a business function by creating collaborative units between in-house and third party staff
• Multisourcing, a strategy that treats a given function, such as IT, as a portfolio of activities, some of which should be outsourced and others of which should be performed by internal staff.
• Crowdsourcing, using an undefined, generally large group of people or community in the form of an open call to perform a task

In journalism, it can also refer to:

• Journalism sourcing, the practice of identifying a person or publication that gives information
• Single sourcing, the reuse of content in publishing

In computing, it can refer to:

• Open-sourcing, the act of releasing previously proprietary software under an open source/free software license
• Power sourcing equipment, network devices that will provide power in a Power over Ethernet (PoE) setup

In electronics, it can refer to:

• Sinking and Sourcing (electronic circuits, output current capability)