Rethinking IT Sourcing and Supplier Management for the Digital Age

In the new era of digital transformation, the role of IT sourcing is becoming more strategic. A recent global outsourcing survey showed 53% of respondents outsource elements of their IT function and that continued growth in outsourcing is expected for the foreseeable future. Due to dependency on external partners, there is an increase in both the potential opportunities and the risks involved. Organizations can benefit from integrating third party capabilities, and accommodating ‘outside in’ innovation that leverages the considerable knowledge base of supply partners and creates synergies among other business ecosystem participants. Despite these opportunities, sourcing organizations have many challenges to contend with, such as sustainable supply chain governance, end-to-end traceability, legal and regulatory global compliance, data privacy, and tolerance for risk in service level agreements and contracts. New outsourcing models such as cloudsourcing, microsourcing, crowdsourcing, impact sourcing and rural sourcing have evolved, and many of these new models require behavioural and managerial type shifts. In order to address these challenges, organizations and their suppliers need strong complementary capabilities to build successful relationships. Both contractual and relational governance are important, and organizations additionally need to maintain a strategy of agility and adaptability in order to mitigate the lock-in and dependency risks associated with outsourcing. This paper presents a review of pertinent literature, and discusses core learnings in relation to impacts on sourcing and supplier management in a digital business landscape. Based on an analysis of the literature and insights gained from engaging with industry and academic experts, the paper proposes a model that can be used to develop a capability to support effective sourcing and supplier management. This model provides a basis for further development in an industry/academia collaborative research project and aims to provide practical guidance to organizations in facing key challenges and optimizing the opportunities of IT sourcing and supplier management in the era of digital transformation

Sourcing and Supplier Management - A digital perspective

Digital transformation is increasingly critical to an organization’s competitiveness [1]. It affects many IT management activities and requires organizations to adapt their business models, rethink their strategy, and collaborate with the business ecosystem to provide more innovative products and services. The way that the organization manages and engages with its suppliers is becoming an increasingly important strategic driver in digital transformation initiatives

Rethinking IT Sourcing and Supplier Management for the Digital Age

In the new era of digital transformation, the role of IT sourcing is becoming more strategic. A recent global outsourcing survey showed 53% of respondents outsource elements of their IT function and that continued growth in outsourcing is expected for the foreseeable future. Due to dependency on external partners, there is an increase in both the potential opportunities and the risks involved. Organizations can benefit from integrating third party capabilities, and accommodating ‘outside in’ innovation that leverages the considerable knowledge base of supply partners and creates synergies among other business ecosystem participants. Despite these opportunities, sourcing organizations have many challenges to contend with, such as sustainable supply chain governance, end-to-end traceability, legal and regulatory global compliance, data privacy, and tolerance for risk in service level agreements and contracts. New outsourcing models such as cloudsourcing, microsourcing, crowdsourcing, impact sourcing and rural sourcing have evolved, and many of these new models require behavioural and managerial type shifts. In order to address these challenges, organizations and their suppliers need strong complementary capabilities to build successful relationships. Both contractual and relational governance are important, and organizations additionally need to maintain a strategy of agility and adaptability in order to mitigate the lock-in and dependency risks associated with outsourcing. This paper presents a review of pertinent literature, and discusses core learnings in relation to impacts on sourcing and supplier management in a digital business landscape. Based on an analysis of the literature and insights gained from engaging with industry and academic experts, the paper proposes a model that can be used to develop a capability to support effective sourcing and supplier management. This model provides a basis for further development in an industry/academia collaborative research project and aims to provide practical guidance to organizations in facing key challenges and optimizing the opportunities of IT sourcing and supplier management in the era of digital transformation

SOCIAL PRESENCE, TRUST, AND SOCIAL COMMERCE PURCHASE INTENTION: AN EMPIRICAL RESEARCH

Lacking the presence of human and social elements is claimed one major weakness that is hindering the growth of e-commerce. The emergence of social commerce (SC) might help ameliorate this situation. Social commerce is a new evolution of e-commerce that combines the commercial and social activities by deploying social technologies into e-commerce sites. Social commerce reintroduces the social aspect of shopping to e-commerce, increasing the degree of social presences in online environment. Drawing upon the social presence theory, this study theorizes the nature of social aspect in online SC marketplace by proposing a set of three social presence variables. These variables are then hypothesized to have positive impacts on trusting beliefs which in turn result in online purchase behaviors. The research model is examined via data collected from a typical ecommerce site in China. Our findings suggest that social presence factors grounded in social technologies contribute significantly to the building of the trustworthy online exchanging relationships. In doing so, this paper confirms the positive role of social aspect in shaping online purchase behaviors, providing a theoretical evidence for the fusion of social and commercial activities. Finally, this paper introduces a new perspective of e-commerce and calls more attention to this new phenomenon

The Role of Uncertainty in Data Breach Response Processes - A Reactance Theory Perspective

Data breaches lead to inherent uncertainty among customers due to the compromise of information and its potential consequences for customers, e.g., identity theft or credit card misuse. Previous research has focused on outcome-based strategies to address these negative impacts. However, informed by reactance theory, we argue that customers feel a loss of control due to the induced uncertainty and that companies need to tackle these impacts. We test our hypotheses in two empirical studies. The results of Study 1 suggest that data breaches indeed lead to an increased perception of uncertainty among customers. Study 2 examines to what extent the establishment of control can mitigate the negative uncertainty effects. We highlight that by providing customers with control, companies can reduce the degree of uncertainty and increase satisfaction with the response. By conceptualizing choice as a catalyst for perceived control, we offer practitioners a novel strategy for responding to data breaches

Online freelancing and impact sourcing: Examining the inclusive development potential of online service work in the Philippines

Online freelancing and impact sourcing have in recent years emerged as new models for offshore service delivery. Both have the potential of spreading the gains of online service work. Based on empirical research in the Philippines, this article examines how both models integrate outlying areas and more marginalized workers in international networks of online service delivery. The different models of information and communication technologies (ICT)-enabled service delivery were observed to rely on the same pool of labor, thereby limiting the broader distribution of its gains. The article concludes that ICT4D research can benefit from an inclusive development lens when examining the beneficiaries and users of new (information) technologies and their longer-term prospects for income generation

Swift trust and commitment: the missing links for humanitarian supply chain coordination?

Coordination among actors in a humanitarian relief supply chain decides whether a relief operation can be or successful or not. In humanitarian supply chains, due to the urgency and importance of the situation combined with scarce resources, actors have to coordinate and trust each other in order to achieve joint goals. This paper investigated empirically the role of swift trust as mediating variable for achieving supply chain coordination. Based on commitment-trust theory we explore enablers of swift-trust and how swift trust translates into coordination through commitment. Based on a path analytic model we test data from the National Disaster Management Authority of India. Our study is the first testing commitment-trust theory (CTT) in the humanitarian context, highlighting the importance of swift trust and commitment for much thought after coordination. Furthermore, the study shows that information sharing and behavioral uncertainty reduction act as enablers for swift trust. The study findings offer practical guidance and suggest that swift trust is a missing link for the success of humanitarian supply chains

Towards understanding the process of tournament crowdsourcing:the value co-creation perspective

In the contemporary business environment, firms are increasingly moving from creating business value internally to co-creating business value with external stakeholders. Value cocreation refers to the process where a focal firm involves external stakeholders in its previously in-house performed business processes and interacts intensively with each other to create a stream of value. Tournament crowdsourcing, as an application of crowdsourcing, has become an emerging approach for firms to engage with external crowds in pursuit of business value. In the existing Information Systems literature, scholars’ understanding of valueco-creation and crowdsourcing is still at an explorative stage. The process of value co-creation and crowdsourcing have not been extensively studied. In this research, we adopt an interpretive approach and employ multiple-case designs to investigate the process of tournament crowdsourcing through the lens of value co-creation. The findings of this research contribute to the literature on crowdsourcing by 1) introducing the process framework which examines value-generating phases and value propositions from both the perspective of the focal entity and the crowd, 2) revealing the dynamic involvement of the crowd, the process from value creation to value co-creation, and the dynamic value stream, 3) identifying the combined usage of multiple systems and mechanisms for tournament crowdsourcing by contemporary platforms, and potential conflicts related to the governance of the platform,and 4) identifying phases and associated activities relevant to finding the right crowd members from the perspective of the focal entity during the process of tournament crowdsourcing. The findings of this research also contribute to the literature on value cocreation by 1) introducing a thorough definition of value co-creation, 2) conceptually and empirically enriching the most salient components in value co-creation, and 3) bringing in new insights into the value co-creation phenomenon by examining the context of tournament crowdsourcing. In practical terms, the findings of this research may inspire practitioners of generating better understanding about their roles in facilitating value co-creation, the strategic usage of systems and mechanisms, being aware of potential conflicts and finding the right crowd members when conducting tournament crowdsourcing initiatives

The Process of Building Patient Trust in Health Information Exchange (HIE): The Impacts of Perceived Benefits, Perceived Transparency of Privacy Policy, and Familiarity

Exchange technologies such as health information exchanges (HIE) currently lack acceptance theories that consider not only cognitive beliefs that result in adoption behavior but also emotional factors that may influence adoption intention. Based on the theory of reasoned action (TRA), the technology-adoption literature, and the trust literature, I theoretically explain and empirically test the impact that perceived benefits, perceived transparency of privacy policy, and familiarity have on cognitive trust and emotional trust in HIE. Moreover, I analyze the effect that cognitive trust and emotional trust have on individuals’ intention to opt into HIE and their willingness to disclose health information. I conducted an online survey using data from individuals who knew about HIE through experiences with providers that participated in a regional consumer-mediated HIE network. In my SEM analysis, I found empirical support for the proposed model. My findings indicate that, when patients know more about HIE benefits, HIE sharing procedures, and privacy guidelines, they feel more in control, more assured, and less at risk. The results also show that patient trust in HIE may take the forms of intentions to opt in to HIE and patients’ willingness to disclose personal health information that providers exchange through the HIE. I discuss the implications my results have for both academics and practitioners

A Systematic Literature Review on IT Outsourcing Decision and Future Research Directions

During the recent decades, some academic research on the subject of information technology outsourcing (ITO) decision has appeared in different outlets, which may impede the use of such resources and as a result, repetition of research by various researchers is very likely. The purpose of this paper is then to conduct a systematic literature review (SLR) pertaining to research on ITO decision. Then, this review intends to 1) classify ITO decision literature, 2) provide a list of factors affecting ITO decision, and 3) identify ITO strategies. To this end, 91 ITO articles published between 2000 and 2018 in 51 unique journals were reviewed. The results yielded three kinds of descriptive, relational, and comparative ITO decision studies. The determinants of ITO decisions are classified into technological, organizational, environmental and user adoption factors. Furthermore, the trend of studied ITO strategies in the reviewed literature is analyzed, and future sourcing varietals are proposed. Finally, some insights and future research directions are proposed based on the review results.During the recent decades, some academic research on the subject of information technology outsourcing (ITO) decision has appeared in different outlets, which may impede the use of such resources and as a result, repetition of research by various researchers is very likely. The purpose of this paper is then to conduct a systematic literature review (SLR) pertaining to research on ITO decision. Then, this review intends to 1) classify ITO decision literature, 2) provide a list of factors affecting ITO decision, and 3) identify ITO strategies. To this end, 91 ITO articles published between 2000 and 2018 in 51 unique journals were reviewed. The results yielded three kinds of descriptive, relational, and comparative ITO decision studies. The determinants of ITO decisions are classified into technological, organizational, environmental and user adoption factors. Furthermore, the trend of studied ITO strategies in the reviewed literature is analyzed, and future sourcing varietals are proposed. Finally, some insights and future research directions are proposed based on the review results