Identify Strategic Reference Points for Outsourcing Human Resource Subsystems in the Domestic Air Transportation Industry: A Case Study of “Homa” Airlines

Background & Purpose: Outsourcing of human resources with the aim of strengthening competitive advantage is one of the important approaches of organizations to maintain survival. However, domestic airlines, such as "Homa" Company, have not welcomed this approach. The purpose of this research is to identify the strategic reference points of human resources outsourcing in order to strengthen the competitive advantage of “Homa” Company.Methodology: The current research is of a mixed type and was conducted in two qualitative and quantitative stages. The qualitative stage was conducted by thematic analysis and data was collected through semi-structured interviews and theoretical saturation method. In the quantitative stage, data were collected through a researcher-made questionnaire.Findings: In the qualitative phase, the strategic reference points of human resources sub-system outsourcing were determined. The research findings in the quantitative phase indicated that increasing the quality of services has the most importance in the outsourcing of human resource subsystems, and the executive managers of the outsourcing process of “Homa” Company should emphasize this factor more in their plans.Conclusion: The research findings enable “Homa” Company to evaluate the results of human resources outsourcing based on strategic reference points and if necessary, take corrective action and guarantee the success of outsourcing. Besides, the results of the research will help to focus on the strategic activities of “Homa” human resources. In addition, these results can be used for other domestic airlines.