Exploring the Role of Team based Reward in the performance of Outsourced ISD projects: A Social Interdependence Perspective

Vendor project teams can greatly facilitate the successful implementation of client ISD projects. We examined the effects of team performance based reward structure on ISD project performance. A total of 194 responses were solicited, obtained, and analyzed. The results indicated that reward based on team performance can enhance the level of task cohesion which in turn facilitates increased information utilization. Both task cohesion and information utilization improve project performance. Directions for management practice and future research are discussed

Model of Critical Factors for Outsourcing Agile Development

Companies are beginning to combine outsourcing with Agile software engineering techniques with the goal of receiving the benefits of both – faster time to market, greater quality, and smaller costs. Since Agile was originally developed to work principally with small collocated teams, scalability of Agile to the enterprise, and simultaneous use of Agile and outsourcing are questions concerning applicability of Agile techniques to global business environments. This paper first summarizes current experience studies and research in Agile, enterprise Agile and Agile outsourcing, to identify factors likely to affect success on Agile projects. It then extends a model originally developed by Chow and Cao (2007) to account for these factors. Finally it outlines an experiment whose goal is to determine which of these factors drives successful projects that use both Agile and outsourcing

Identity ambiguity and the promises and practices of hybrid e-HRM project teams

The role of IS project team identity work in the enactment of day-to-day relationships with their internal clients is under-researched. We address this gap by examining the identity work undertaken by an electronic human resource management (e-HRM) 'hybrid' project team engaged in an enterprise-wide IS implementation for their multi-national organisation. Utilising social identity theory, we identify three distinctive, interrelated dimensions of project team identity work (project team management, team 'value propositions' (promises) and the team's 'knowledge practice'). We reveal how dissonance between two perspectives of e-HRM project identity work (clients' expected norms of project team's service and project team's expected norms of themselves) results in identity ambiguity. Our research contributions are to identity studies in the IS project management, HR and hybrid literatures and to managerial practice by challenging the assumption that hybrid experts are the panacea for problems associated with IS projects

A framework of leadership cultural dimensions in outsourced projects

Outsourced projects are implemented often in environments that are impacted by factors that are internal and external to a firm. One key factor that impacts the success of outsourced projects is corporate culture. This paper explores how corporate culture impacts outsourced projects and what factors of corporate culture influence outsourced projects. We formulate a framework of key cultural dimensions in outsourced projects to help business and Information Technology leaders understand and mitigate cultural issues in outsourced projects

Contextual factors, knowledge processes and performance in global sourcing of IT services: An investigation in China

Copyright @ 2011, IGI Global. Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written permission of IGI Global is prohibited. Reuse of this article has been approved by the publisher.In this paper, the authors explore the influences of two major contextual factors—supplier team members’ cultural understanding and trust relationship—on knowledge processes and performance in global sourcing of IT services. The authors discuss a joint investigation conducted by a cross-cultural research team in China. Cultural understanding is measured by individualism with guanxi and mianzi, two Chinese cultural concepts, and trust relationship is measured by adjusting trust, a notion reflecting the uniqueness of the Chinese people. Knowledge processes are characterized by knowledge sharing. Performance is measured by the outcomes of global sourcing, which is represented by product success and personal satisfaction. Data are collected in 13 companies in Xi’an Software Park, with 200 structured questionnaires distributed to knowledge workers. The results of quantitative data analysis indicate that cultural understanding influences trust relationship greatly, as well as knowledge sharing and performance in global sourcing of IT services. Trust relationship significantly impacts knowledge sharing, whereas trust relationship and knowledge sharing have no impact on performance. This study suggests that special aspects of the Chinese context have significant direct impacts on knowledge processes while no direct and immediate impacts on performance in global sourcing of IT services.National Natural Science Foundation of China, Program for Humanity and Social Science Research, Program for New Century Excellent Talents in University in China and Brunel University's Research Development Fund

An Evolutionary Perspective on Control in IS Development Projects

Projects in the field of Information Systems Development (ISD) are particularly prone to failure because they are complex in many respects. To increase success of ISD projects, researchers and practitioners usually recommend the implementation of control. The traditional view on control involves two parties: a controller executing control and one or more controllees being controlled. To better understand why control effectiveness has not significantly improved over the last decades, this paper gives a chronological overview of existing literature on ISD project control. We find that so far, research has been strongly focusing on controller related aspects such as the creation of control portfolios. This, however, neglects that the effectiveness of control is highly dependent on the controllees’ perception and willingness to actively commit to implemented controls. We argue that a more holistic understanding of the controllee perspective on control is needed and discuss implications for theory and practic

On Becoming a Strategic Partner: The Role of Human Resources in Gaining Competitive Advantage

Although managers cite human resources as a firm\u27s most important asset, many organizational decisions do not reflect this belief. This paper uses the VRIO (value, rareness, imitability, and organization) framework to examine the role that the Human Resource (HR) function plays in developing a sustainable competitive advantage. We discuss why some popularly cited sources of sustainable competitive advantage are not, and what aspects of a firm\u27s human resources can provide a source of sustainable competitive advantage. We also examine the role of the HR executive as a strategic partner in developing and maintaining competitive advantage within the firm

Managing human resource management tensions in project‐based organisations: Evidence from Bangalore

We examine human resource management (HRM) in a large Bangalore project-based software company. Diverse adaptations of organisation-level HRM exist in projects, generating heterogeneous HRM practices across the organisation, resulting in management–employee tensions. Paradoxes are managed through a comprehensive, detailed and complementary set of structural and relational coping mechanisms, designed to promote employee commitment. These mechanisms were only partially successful, largely because of ongoing client interventions in project management. The motivations for and directions of client interventions are closely linked to the type of work undertaken in projects. Service market imperatives limit managers' scope to negotiate such interventions

Managing human resource management tensions in project-based organisations: evidence from Bangalore

The article analyses the methods used by a large Indian software company to manage HRM tensions with arising from its activities as a project based organisation. These measures are found to be only partially successful