Companies that successfully create and sustain value year after year are rare. Many try to, but a recent study of 2,000 companies over 10 years by our consulting firm, Bain & Company, found that only one in 10 achieved sustained, profitable growth. One activity that sets such winners apart: They often use capability sourcing in more innovative ways than their competitors.

Outsourcing and offshoring began as cost-cutting measures, but companies that create real sustained value routinely use them for far more strategic ends—to gain capabilities that they don't have in-house, or to strengthen capabilities they do have. We have found that 85% of those winners use capability-sourcing broadly and strategically for everything from developing world-class talent to bringing new products to market faster and enabling business model innovation. In other words, they've moved way beyond mere cost-cutting.

Based on our research and experience with clients, we've found that leading companies use capability-sourcing to build five strategic capabilities.

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