Antecedents of success in IS offshoring projects - Proposal for an empirical research study

The paper presents a research model and a measurement instrument for a research-in-progress study on the antecedents of success in IS offshoring projects. In this empirical-confirmatory study, we intend to analyse the impact of the constructs “offshoring expertise”, “trust in offshore service provider”, “project suitability”, “knowledge transfer”, and “liaison quality” on offshore project success. Constructs and indicators are derived from an extensive literature review. We plan to formulate a structural equation model and to test it using partial least squares (PLS) as an analysis technique. Our research model addresses the paucity of research that quantitatively examines offshoring success

Antecedents of success in IS offshoring projects - Proposal for an empirical research study

The paper presents a research model and a measurement instrument for a research-in-progress study on the antecedents of success in IS offshoring projects. In this empirical-confirmatory study, we intendto analyse the impact of the constructs “offshoring expertise”, “trust in offshore service provider”, “project suitability”, “knowledge transfer”, and “liaison quality” on offshore project success. Constructs and indicators are derived from an extensive literature review. We plan to formulate astructural equation model and to test it using partial least squares (PLS) as an analysis technique. Our research model addresses the paucity of research that quantitatively examines offshoring success

Antecedents and drivers of IT-business strategic alignment: Empirical validation of a theoretical model

Aligning information technology (IT) strategy with business strategy has been one of the top concerns of practitioners and scholars for decades. Despite the documented positive effects of strategic alignment on organizational success, only a few organizations consider themselves in alignment. Although numerous studies exist about how to accomplish IT-business alignment, empirical studies based on strong theories have been rare in the literature. This study attempts to fulfill this gap by proposing and empirically validating a comprehensive strategic alignment model. Drawing on prior literature, we identified five antecedents of alignment; centralization, formalization, shared domain knowledge, successful IT history and relationship management. We further hypothesized that the effects of these antecedents are mediated by two drivers of alignment, which are conceptualized as the level of connection of IT and business planning and the level of communication between IT and business managers. Using survey data and structural equation modeling methodology, we show that both drivers had significant effects on alignment, and the effect of connection is about twice that of communications. Our findings also confirm the effects of all antecedents except centralization. Overall, the main contribution of this study is the development and empirical validation of a comprehensive strategic alignment model, providing a more ample prescriptive insight for managing IT-business strategic alignment

Investigating the Information Systems Heterarchy

This article assesses how one IS organization is changing in response to the increased globalization of software development and posits the emergence of a new form of multi-national enterprise (MNE)—the heterarchy. Data from two projects create new insights into the structures and behaviors of ISMNEs as they adapt to global systems development. The article identifies four primary dimensions of impact—cultural, economic, operational, and organizational—and suggests how such organizations are evolvin

Value co-creation characteristics and creativity-oriented customer citizenship behavior

For the competitive advantage of service organization, it is important to improve the creative performance of human resources in the organization. For example, when employees perform creatively, in other words, if they generate novel and useful ideas, it will contribute to organizational competiveness. Therefore, there has been an increased focus in identifying its antecedents and consequences. Unfortunately, little is known about the creative performance of customers. According to service-centered dominant logic, customer is the value co-creator, it emphasizes co-opting customer involvement in the value creation process as an additional human resource. In addition, customers can be a valuable resource for service improvement efforts for firms. For instance, companies might benefit greatly from customer feedback and complaints regarding their offerings and can enhance their productivity in terms of quality and quantity. In this paper, the type of novel, creative-oriented customer behaviors highlighted in the preceding paragraph are referred to as creativity-oriented customer citizenship behaviors (CCBs). In the customer value co-creation context, creative-oriented CCBs refer to extra-role efforts by customers with regards the development of ideas about products, practices, services, and procedures that are novel and potentially useful to a firm. According to the intrinsic motivation perspective, the context in which customers create values, influences their intrinsic motivation, which in turn affects creativity-oriented CCBs. The intrinsic motivation perspective suggests that high intrinsic motivation is affected by information from both task characteristics (i.e., autonomy) and social characteristics (e.g., supplier support). Specifically, complex and challenging task characteristics such as high levels of variety, identity, significance, autonomy, and feedback are expected to increase customer intrinsic motivation. Under these conditions, customers should increase the likelihood of creativity-oriented CCBs. Therefore, customers are expected to be most creative when they experience a high level of intrinsic motivation. In contrast, complex and challenging task and social characteristics can have the opposite effect to customers. For example, in a high level of variety task, increased autonomy can lead to increased workload because they must take on related extra responsibilities and accountability. Increased workload, in turn, is expected to lead to decreased likelihood of creativity-oriented CCBs. Therefore, this study attempts to explore the impact of task characteristics and social characteristics on creativity-oriented CCBs. Furthermore, a substantial body of research has examined the possibility that creativity is affected by personal characteristics. As such, in addition to the relevant task and social characteristics, the moderating influence of several trait variables is also considered. This article makes several contributions. First, this study investigates the trade-off effect of the customer value co-creation related task and social characteristics by examining the underlying opposing mechanism of motivation and work overload. Second, this research provides a deeper understanding of contingency factors that systematically strengthen the relationships under consideration. Third, this study may indicate that companies seek to promote the creativity of their industrial customers and should design the tasks and social characteristics of their industrial customers in a way that maximizes their creativity. But, companies should be aware of the negative impact of specific tasks and social characteristics that may minimize the creativity of industrial customers

Ethics and taxation : a cross-national comparison of UK and Turkish firms

This paper investigates responses to tax related ethical issues facing busines

Development and validation of a conceptual framework for IT offshoring engagement success

“A thesis submitted to the University of Bedfordshire, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy”.The study presented in this thesis investigates Offshore Information Technology Outsourcing (IT offshoring) relationships from clients’ perspective. With more client companies outsourcing their IT operations offshore, issues associated with the establishment and management of IT offshoring relationships have become very important. With the growing volume of offshore outsourcing, the numbers of failures are also increasing. Therefore, both clients (service receivers) and suppliers (service providers) face increasing pressure to meet with the objectives of IT offshoring initiatives. Improving the quality of the relationship between client and supplier has frequently been suggested in the literature as probable solution area, however not much literature and empirical evidence is available in this respect. The aim of the study is to make a theoretical and practical contribution by studying the interplay between the critical factors influencing the relationship intensity level of the exchange partners and suggest measures that can potentially increase the success rate in IT offshoring engagements. The objectives of this study are: 1. To identify the relevant critical factors and explore its causes and effects (antecedents and consequences) on the relationship intensity significance level. 2. To develop an integrated conceptual framework combining the hypothetical relationship among these identified critical factors. 3. To empirically validate the conceptual framework. To accomplish the first objective and building the theoretical platform for the second objective, three research questions are identified and answered through empirical study backed by literature evidence. The second objective is addressed through an integrative conceptual framework by analysing the related studies across other disciplines, gaps in the existing theories and models in the outsourcing literature. Coupled with literature gap analysis, the researcher adopted some of the relevant features from across various disciplines of management and social sciences that are relevant to this study. After that, the third objective, the research hypotheses are validated with empirical examination conducted in Europe. Seven research hypotheses are developed based on literature analysis on the relationship of the key constructs in the conceptual framework. This study is explanatory and deductive in nature. It is underpinned mainly by a quantitative research design with structured questionnaire surveys conducted with stratified sampling of 136 client organisations in Europe. Individual client firm is the unit of analysis for this study. Data analysis was conducted using partial least squares (PLS) structural equation modelling techniques. In this research, empirical support was found for most of the research hypotheses and conclusions of the study is derived. An investigation into trust as a concept is used to denote relationship intensity, as the central construct of the framework. The validated conceptual framework and tested hypothesis results are the main contributions of this study. The results of this study will also be useful in terms of adopting the conceptual framework linked with hypotheses as a point of reference to begin with, in order to accomplish a healthy exchange relationship. However, a further deep dive and fine tuning the sub-units/composition characteristics of each critical factor may be needed for individual outsourcing initiative(s). This study is particularly relevant to the client-supplier firms already engaged in a relationship but can also be useful to those clients who are planning to begin their journey in IT offshoring in the near future, as a preparatory platform

Managing IT offshoring projects: an IT governance approach

IT offshoring is often carried out by different stakeholders with different working practices in complex and highly politicized settings, creating team boundaries between the stakeholders. Therefore, IT offshoring requires significant governance and coordination across the different teams. The information technology (IT) governance literature suggest that organizations apply IT governance mechanisms to oversee and coordinate IT-related activities to ensure the attainment of business objectives. Thus, on the basis of IT governance theory, this study seeks to better understand the nature of IT governance mechanisms and how they could be effective in bridging boundaries created during IT offshoring projects. These insights would contribute to the existing IT offshoring and IT governance literature, and help organizations have better understanding on how to manage the different boundaries that may arise during IT offshoring projects in order to achieve favourable offshoring outcomes

Global Operations and Supply Chain Configurations: Reshoring Dynamics in Europe

In recent years, the growing tensions in trade and investment between major developed countries (e.g., US) and leading developing countries (e.g., China), the thinning of location advantages in some low-cost countries, and the growing awareness of the \u201ctotal cost\u201d of offshoring have driven many companies to re-think the location of their international value chains. Previously offshored operations have been relocated to countries closer to the companies\u2019 headquarters or even to the domestic context. This phenomenon is referred to as \u201creshoring\u201d. Extant literature on reshoring has provided rich insights into why companies reshore by identifying an array of motivations. It has also enlightened us that reshoring is complex and dynamic. Despite the fact that the dialogue has shifted gradually from why aspect towards a wider scope involving how companies reshore and what the outcomes are, the nuanced understanding of reshoring dynamics is still lacking. Prior studies fall far short in addressing questions concerning reshoring trends and features, the determinants of key strategic decisions, country effects, and reshoring impact. The purpose of this thesis is to probe the dynamics of reshoring with a particular focus on reshoring or repatriation of manufacturing production in Europe. More in detail, we have set five objectives: (1) provide a systematic understanding of the reshoring literature, (2) analyse the dynamics and evolution of reshoring in Europe, (3) investigate the determinants of reshoring entry modes, (4) compare reshoring practices and analyse how the home country matters, and (5) articulate frontier issues and propose future research directions. This thesis is based on the large-scale data of reshoring projects recorded in the European Reshoring Monitor (ERM) database whose goal is to identify, analyse and summarise evidence on the reshoring of manufacturing and other value-chain activities to the EU. ERM project, as part of a multi-annual research (2015-18) project on the \u201cFuture of Manufacturing in Europe\u201d, is based on a collaboration between Eurofound and a consortium of Italian universities with an active interest in tracking reshoring activities. The lead university in the consortium is the University of Udine. The writer of this thesis has been deeply involved in this project since its inception and has undertaken database creation and management tasks. In general, the key empirical findings reflect the dynamism and evolutionary trajectories of reshoring practices and the complexity of reshoring countries that themselves differ in terms of institutional environment, industrial conditions, and culture. These empirical findings, together with future research directions proposed, have many theoretical and practical implications

Critical Issues of IT Outsourcing Vendors in India

Global outsourcing of IT and IT-enabled services (ITES) has now become an accepted corporate strategy of a vast majority of firms around the world. The functions being offshored have increased in scope and magnitude and have climbed the value chain ladder. However, the literature has overwhelmingly focused on client-centric issues to the neglect of vendor concerns. There is a rich tradition of ranking critical issues confronting Information Systems executives, and some studies have even explored critical issues of outsourcing clients. These rankings have significant implications for both researchers and practitioners. Our study focuses on the nascent area of IT outsourcing vendors. We examine the issues from the standpoint of IT outsourcing vendors in India, currently the primary destination for IT offshoring. The results suggest that for the Indian vendors, the most critical issues are not related to cultural, language, and time-zone differences as suggested in many writings. Rather, the most critical concerns are issues dealing with work arrangements and relationships with the client, and issues related to the client’s organizational readiness for offshoring. Clearly the understanding of such issues is important to the vendors, but also to the clients in order to maintain an effective dyadic relationship