ABSTRACT
The key dimensions of decision-making in outsourcing, rooted in the theories of the firm discussed in the theoretical background to this work, form an integrated outsourcing framework where they are associated with one or more research propositions (RPs) found in the literature. In order to answer the RQ, a multidimensional and integrated decision-making model with six interacting key dimensions that affect the choice of whether to outsource NPD activities or keep them in-house has been empirically validated. Technological discontinuity affects the technological domain, namely the process technology on which the NPD project impacts. The literature relating to outsourcing strategies has never considered this decision-making dimension relevant, if not in terms of a derived dimension: technological uncertainty. The decision-making dimension and associated RP have their theoretical roots in the TCET framework. The Boeing 787 Dreamliner represents a technological discontinuity in terms of both product and process.
