A Content-Analytic Longitudinal Study of the Drivers for Information Technology and Systems Outsourcing

This research addresses the question, what are the key drivers for information technology and systems (ITS) outsourcing? ITS outsourcing drivers are examined in this research in light of several underlying organizational and economic theories in order to generate a comprehensive and enduring ITS outsourcing drivers taxonomy. A preliminary taxonomy has been developed using qualitative content analysis of 49 articles, which has been triangulated using an internal/external drivers model developed from systems-theoretic notions. Quantitative content analysis technique is being used to analyze outsourcing reports publicly available in the PR Newswire database published over the last 11 years to further develop the ITS outsourcing drivers taxonomy

A Conceptual Framework of Reverse Logistics Impact on Firm Performance

This study aims to examine the reverse logistics factors that impact upon firm performance. We review reverse logistics factors under three research streams: (a) resource-based view of the firm, including: Firm strategy, Operations management, and Customer loyalty (b) relational theory, including: Supply chain efficiency, Supply chain collaboration, and institutional theory, including: Government support and Cultural alignment. We measured firm performance with 5 measures: profitability, cost, innovativeness, perceived competitive advantage, and perceived customer satisfaction. We discuss implications for research, policy and practice

What drives contract design in strategic alliances? Taking stock and how to proceed

We collect and assess prior empirical evidence on contract design in alliances that has been published since Parkhe’s (1993) seminal study on inter-firm contracts. We elaborate on the effects of transaction-related factors, experience gained from prior relationships, and deliberate learning efforts on contracts. Our paper offers three contributions. First, we systematically review the existing literature on alliance contracts and summarize our findings. Second, while prior research has traditionally focused on contractual complexity, we place the content of contracts center stage and identify three contractual functions. While existing studies on contractual functions predominantly refer to safeguarding as a response to appropriation concerns, we also consider coordination and contingency adaptability as outcomes of adaptation concerns. Third, we disentangle the differential influences of previous experiences on distinct contractual functions and show that experience gained from prior relationships has different effects on safeguarding and contingency adaptability than on coordination. Overall, we add to the systematization of the current debate on alliance contract design and trace promising avenues for future research on the impact of transaction- and experience-related factors on the complexity and content of alliance contracts

Artificial intelligence in innovation research: A systematic review, conceptual framework, and future research directions

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is increasingly adopted by organizations to innovate, and this is ever more reflected in scholarly work. To illustrate, assess and map research at the intersection of AI and innovation, we performed a Systematic Literature Review (SLR) of published work indexed in the Clarivate Web of Science (WOS) and Elsevier Scopus databases (the final sample includes 1448 articles). A bibliometric analysis was deployed to map the focal field in terms of dominant topics and their evolution over time. By deploying keyword co-occurrences, and bibliographic coupling techniques, we generate insights on the literature at the intersection of AI and innovation research. We leverage the SLR findings to provide an updated synopsis of extant scientific work on the focal research area and to develop an interpretive framework which sheds light on the drivers and outcomes of AI adoption for innovation. We identify economic, technological, and social factors of AI adoption in firms willing to innovate. We also uncover firms' economic, competitive and organizational, and innovation factors as key outcomes of AI deployment. We conclude this paper by developing an agenda for future research

Use of Transaction Cost Economics Framework to Study Information Technology Sourcing: Over-Application or Under-Theorizing?

IS discipline has witnessed significant growth in research on IT in- and out-sourcing. Economic theories inform a large portion of this work. This paper examines the use of Transaction Cost Economics (TCE) as a theoretical lens to study IT sourcing decisions (internal vs. external). It reviews TCE’s major assumptions and assesses its key constructs: frequency, asset specificity, opportunism, and uncertainty, with regard to how they have been operationalized and what results have been obtained. This is done through a review of selected body of outsourcing literature. There is evidence of the impacts of production costs on outsourcing decisions, while findings with regard to transaction costs are inconclusive. In order to move the research agenda ahead we suggest examining the co-evolution of drivers for buyers and vendors to outsource, instead of just exploring cost determinants. We recommend that researchers take a longitudinal process perspective to improve our understanding of complex governance phenomena

Theory Informing Decision-Making on Outsourcing: A Review of Four ‘Five- Year’ Snapshots Spanning 47 Years

This study investigates how researchers use theory for decision-making on outsourcing through a longitudinal systematic literature review covering four five-year intervals spanning 1965–2011. Each of the 249 retrieved papers has been categorised based on theory used, nature of literature review, research method, type of industry investigated, organisational functions, performance criteria and level of decision making. Notwithstanding a surge in academic writings on outsourcing, our analysis of the four periods shows that few papers contribute to theory or provide further insight into outsourcing. The focus of most papers tends to be on the practitioner’s perspective with decision making shifting from mainly financial–economic and operational considerations to strategic, long-term and multidimensional criteria that are not necessarily linked to a particular theoretical stance. The findings also imply that a full account of theories, their application as well as systematic testing in the context of outsourcing decision making, is still needed for advancing such knowledge. However, the evidence also suggests that methods for decision making do not vary much between domains and functions, although there are some exceptions, such as R&D, logistics and public sector functions. This study also identifies a framework for future research into decision-making on outsourcing

Profiling a decade of information systems frontiers’ research

This article analyses the first ten years of research published in the Information Systems Frontiers (ISF) from 1999 to 2008. The analysis of the published material includes examining variables such as most productive authors, citation analysis, universities associated with the most publications, geographic diversity, authors’ backgrounds and research methods. The keyword analysis suggests that ISF research has evolved from establishing concepts and domain of information systems (IS), technology and management to contemporary issues such as outsourcing, web services and security. The analysis presented in this paper has identified intellectually significant studies that have contributed to the development and accumulation of intellectual wealth of ISF. The analysis has also identified authors published in other journals whose work largely shaped and guided the researchers published in ISF. This research has implications for researchers, journal editors, and research institutions