Outsourcing critics contend that shifting responsibility for performing value-chain activities to outside specialists :

A. has the disadvantage of raising fixed costs and reducing variable costs and makes it harder to develop distinctive competencies.

B. can hollow out a company's knowledge base and capabilities, leaving it at the mercy of outsider suppliers, and short of the resource strengths to be a master of its own destiny.

C. results in less organizational flexibility and leads to sometimes exorbitant costs in collaborating with outside suppliers and strategic partners.

D. slows down decision-making on key strategic issues because outside suppliers have to be consulted first.

E. lowers the morale of company employees, dampens a company's ability to implement best practices, and results in greater bureaucracy and slower decision-making.

B.can hollow out a company's knowledge base and capabilities, leaving it at the mercy of outsider suppliers, and short of the resource strengths to be a master of its own destiny.

Explanation: Outsourcing is simply defined as the transfer of a business function to an external service provider. While it can be extremely profitable to a company as it helps to heighten its strategic focus and thus allocate its full energies and resources on competently performing activities that are at the core of its strategy and for which it can create unique value, outsourcing critics however believe that shifting responsibility for performing value-chain activities to outside specialists can hollow out a company's knowledge base and capabilities. This they propose leaves the company at the mercy of outsider suppliers, and with inadequate resource to be able to achieve its missions and goals.

answer; (a) calling people who have not shown interest in the product and asking them to buy it;