Argument by assertion seems to be on the increase.

Following my recent series on outsourcing, which argued against the popular non-core-competency theory (exercise core competencies in-house and outsource everything else), I received quite a few letters presenting the counterargument that you should outsource non-core competencies. Why? Because they aren’t your core competencies, that’s why!

It’s hard to come to grips with logic like that, let alone argue against it. But I’ll give it one more try. The more I try to figure out what “core competency” means, the more murky the whole thing becomes. I’m left with four outsourcing drivers – two positive, two negative:

• Outsource when the outsourcer can provide the equivalent function for lower cost (or just fire the manager who can’t deliver the function without margins at the same price an outsourcer can deliver it with margins).
• Outsource when the function being outsourced requires scarce high-value talent (for example, ad agencies).
• Avoid outsourcing when the cost of changing your mind, also known as the switching cost, is high, as it is with IT.
• Don’t outsource if your real goal is solving a personnel problem. If you’ve accumulated an inventory of unproductive employees over the years and are really outsourcing the unpleasant task of terminating them, there are far less drastic ways of handling this chore than outsourcing the function.

Nothing is quite this simple, of course, but I can at least understand these four decision factors. Why you’d want to increase the cost or risk of a function because it isn’t a “core competency” — a term whose definition is murky at best — continues to baffle me.

Not only that, but outsourcing doesn’t always solve the problem. Curt Sahakian of the Corporate Partnering Institute (www.corporate-partnering.com), which helps companies create partnership and outsourcing agreements, says many outsourcing deals are structured so badly it’s like drinking seawater when you’re adrift at sea. It isn’t a sustainable solution, and you end up thirstier than when you started.

Sahakian also offers this advice: Since your employers are going to buy their saltwater from someone, why not you? If outsourcing is inevitable, take charge of the situation and suggest a restructuring that turns your existing IT organization into an outsourcing provider, either as an independent or as a joint venture with one of the major outsourcing vendors.

When your choice is whether to be dinner or chef, chef is probably better.