What is the term for hiring an external firm to handle specific tasks, such as design and production?

The term for hiring an external firm to handle specific tasks, such as design and production, is outsourcing. This practice involves transferring certain business functions or processes to third-party service providers, allowing organizations to focus on their core competencies while leveraging specialized expertise and potentially reducing costs.

Outsourcing is commonly used for activities that are not central to a business's primary operations, enabling companies to access resources and skills that they may not have in-house. This approach can lead to increased efficiency and flexibility, as external firms often bring advanced technologies and knowledge that can enhance the quality and speed of the services provided.

While other terms may relate to delegation or contracting, they do not fully encapsulate the idea of utilizing external resources for specific business functions in the same way that outsourcing does. In-sourcing refers to bringing services or tasks back in-house, while contracting generally implies a formal agreement but doesn’t specifically denote the practice of entrusting tasks to external firms as outsourcing does.