The paper aims at identifying the profile of the outsourcing firm as a four-fold unit of analysis: i.e. as an organizational, production, industrial and innovation unit. Theoretical correlations between outsourcing decisions and outsourcing variables are formulated and then tested with respect to a representative cross-sectional sample of firms of a local manufacturing system in Emilia Romagna (Reggio Emilia). The main result of the paper is that outsourcing decisions are affected by the particular organizational and industrial relations patterns of the context firms operate in. The general profile of the Reggio Emilia outsourcing firm is strategic rather than operative. In particular, tapping-into the provider's resources and competences to eventually promote technological innovation seems more relevant than searching for lower costs by contracting out.