From Offshoring to Backshoring: The path of two Danish companies and implications in the next era of Chinese manufacturing

The purpose of this paper is to examine the evolution of offshoring over time. The paper employs qualitative methodology and on the basis of two case studies of Danish companies, it develops a framework conceptualizing the stages of offshoring and highlights the factors driving the transition between these stages. The framework challenges the linear nature of offshoring and proposes the existence of ‘the pendulum effect’. The pendulum effect suggests that the modes of offshoring (i.e. captive and non-captive) and geographies of offshoring (i.e. home and abroad) are not static; rather, they change in the course of the life cycle of offshored tasks. The findings of the paper advance our understanding about how and why geography and mode of offshored tasks may change over time. The main emphasis is given to the concepts of backshoring and repatriation of activities that increasingly attract attention of academia and practitioners. The paper discusses the possible implications of offshoring in the next era of Chinese manufacturing and closes with limitations and possible future extensions of the study.