The transfer of some of what are traditional internal activities and resources of a firm to outside vendors is __________.

The transfer of traditional internal activities and resources of a firm to outside vendors is known as outsourcing. This concept involves delegating specific business functions or processes to external service providers who can perform them more efficiently or at a lower cost than the company could internally. It allows firms to focus more on their core competencies while leveraging the expertise and resources of specialized external providers.

Outsourcing is commonly used for various functions such as customer service, IT services, manufacturing, and more. By outsourcing, companies can also reduce operational costs and enhance flexibility, as they can easily adjust the level of outsourced services based on fluctuating demand.

In contrast, insourcing refers to bringing processes or services back in-house that were previously outsourced, which does not align with the question's focus on transferring activities to external vendors. Offshoring specifically involves moving business processes to another country rather than simply transferring to external vendors, and automation is the use of technology to perform tasks without human intervention, which does not involve external resources. These distinctions highlight why outsourcing is the appropriate choice in this context.