Towards a Conceptualisation of Trust in IS Outsourcing

Despite the implicit recognition of trust in IS outsourcing, comparatively few research could be found in this area. While addressing the nature of trust in IS outsourcing, we found surprisingly many aspects on the concept of trust which have not been captured in the mainstream research on IS outsourcing. This paper presents an interdisciplinary view on trust and attempts to call for a greater understanding and focus on the role and impact of trust in an outsourcing context. It is argued that trust does play a significant role in many aspects of IS outsourcing and potentially could be one of the key elements that contributes to the success of an outsourcing activity. The paper suggests a multidimensional approach to the exploration of trust in outsourcing relationships with a greater focus on multi-faceted aspects of trust as well as the mediating factors that influence the success and/or failure of IS outsourcing activities

Trust and the Decision to Outsource: Affective Responses and Cognitive Processes

Many of the various forms of cooperative strategy that firms are pursuing in today's economy entail the placing of important business functions in the hands of a partner. This paper examines the role of trust in the decision by a producer to place the marketing function in the hands of another entity, namely a cooperative. Although others have studied the effect of what may be termed general trust on inter-organizational relationships, few have examined the antecedents of that trust. We propose a model in which affective responses and cognitive processes are precursors to a sense of general trust, which, in turn, influences the outsourcing decision. These affective responses and cognitive processes have both direct and indirect (mediated) effects on the decision to place an important function in the hands of another entity. Perceptions of partner expertise in the business function at hand and the perceived need for the focal firm to maintain control over that function are also considered in the model. The model is tested in a somewhat novel context: the decision of cotton producers to outsource the marketing of their cotton fiber. Using survey data gathered from the actual decision-maker, and structural equations modeling, we find that the inclusion of affective responses and cognitive processes in our model produces a richer explanation of the outsourcing decision. The differences between the effects of affective responses and cognitive processes have potentially important implications for managers engaged in cooperative strategies and for the scholars who study them.Agribusiness,

Emotions in business-to-business service relationships

Emotion in business-to-business service relationships regarding cargo services is explored. The service relationship is characterised by mutual trust and cooperation. Contact is mainly via telephone or e-mail with some face-to-face interactions and participants providing a complex, multi-skilled seamless service. Experience rather than training plays a vital role with long-term service relationships built up and maintained. Emotional sensitivity is acquired partly by experience and a repeat customer base but mainly through a genuine desire to help and get to know others. In contrast to the view of emotional labour bringing managerial control or adverse affects to service staff, the emotion engendered by this work is authentic expression bringing personal satisfaction

Network e-Volution

Modern society is a network society permeated by information technology (IT). As a result of innovations in IT, enormous amounts of information can be communicated to a larger number of recipients faster than ever before. The evolution of networks is heavily influenced by the extensive use of IT, which has enabled co-evolving advanced quantitative and qualitative forms of networking. Although several networks have been formed with the aim to reduce or deal with uncertainty through faster and broader access to information, it is in fact IT that has created new kinds of uncertainty. For instance, although digital information integration in supply chains has made production planning more robust, it has at the same time intensified mutual dependencies, thereby actually increasing the level of uncertainty. The aim of this working paper is to investigate the aspects of evolving networks and uncertainty in networks at the cutting edges of different types of networks and from the perspective of different layers defining these networks

Australian Lamb Supply Chain: A Conceptual Framework

In the last decade, supply chain management has played an important role to lead agribusiness today to succeed in their business goals, to gain competitive advantages, and to improve business performance. As the result of that, there has been extensive studying in a popular topic of strategic supply chain management in order to improve business performance as well as along supply chain performance under the real situation. This is because in current business world, supply chain practices are crucial to influence many agribusinesses to continuously adapt proper supply chain management in their nature of business. This paper will propose a conceptual framework of supply chain practices and supply chain performance indicators of the Australian Lamb Industry.Lamb Supply Chain, Supply Chain Management, Livestock Production/Industries,

Building Trust Through Social Networking

Usage of social networking sites requires continuous trusting actions through the sharing of personal information. According to Social Cognitive Theory, such behavior and resulting experiences should have an impact on the beliefs that led to the behavior, namely trust. In this study, a model of how this process takes place and the results of a survey suggest that increasing usage of social networking sites increases disposition to trust, mediated by optimism, innovativeness, and trust in the social networking site. Implications of these findings are discussed