Do they read your research? An investigation of practitioners’ use of IT outsourcing and cloud sourcing research

Significant concerns have been raised in the Information Systems field about a research-practice gap and the limited impact of IS research on the practice world. We conducted interviews and a survey to shed light on the use of academic-generated knowledge by IT outsourcing (ITO) practitioners. We found academic research is the least used source of decision-making knowledge among ITO practitioners. Practitioners preferred to seek advice from their peers, IT vendors and consultants. The majority of practitioners were non-users of academic research. We found six factors that may influence the use of academic research by practitioners. Users of academic research perceived themselves as an audience for academic research and read research more frequently. Conversely, non users held perceptions about academic research that it was not timely, required too much time to read, was far from the real world and that it was not a commonly used knowledge source for practitioner

IT outsourcing decision factors in research and practice: a case study

The concurrent effect of various internal and external factors on IT Outsourcing (ITO) decision making has seldom been investigated in a single study. Furthermore, research on external factors is scarce and there is no comprehensive theory that can fully explain ITO decisions made in practice. This paper explains how key decision factors, both internal and external, influence ITO decision making in a large Australian University. We also tested the feasibility of a highly regarded descriptive model of ITO decisions as the basic foundation of an ITO decision theory. The model failed to fully explain ITO decisions in our case organisation. We draw researchers’ attention to the need for more exploration of external factors as well as clarification of contingency factors that may explain inconsistencies between ITO decision theories and practice, and call for more research for ‘practicable’ ITO decision aids. Implications for practice are also discussed in the paper

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

An investigation of decision support knowledge production, transfer and adoption for it outsourcing

Information Technology Outsourcing (ITO) is a widely-adopted strategy for IT governance. ITO decisions are very complicated and challenging for many organisations. During the past three decades of ITO research, numerous decision support artefacts (e.g. frameworks, models, tools) to support organisational ITO decisions have been described in academic publications. However, the scope, rigour, relevance and adoption of this research by industry practitioners had not been assessed. This study investigates the production, transfer and adoption of academic research-generated knowledge for ITO decision support through multiple perspectives of ITO researchers and practitioners (e.g. IT managers, IT consultants) to provide insights into the research problem. A mixed-methods research approach underpinned by the critical realism paradigm is employed in this study. The study comprised three phases. In Phase A, the scope of extant research for supporting ITO decisions is identified through a systematic literature review and critical assessment of the rigour and relevance of this body of research is conducted using a highly regarded research framework. One hundred and thirty three articles on IT outsourcing (including cloud sourcing) were identified as ITO decision support academic literature. These articles suggested a range of Multiple Criteria Decision Making (MCDM), optimisation and simulation methods to support different IT outsourcing decisions. The assessment of these articles raised concerns about the limited use of reference design theories, validation and naturalistic evaluation in ITO decision support academic literature. Recommendations to enhance the rigour and relevance of ITO decision support research are made in this thesis. Phase B involved interviewing and surveying academic researchers who published academic literature on ITO decision support artefacts. This phase reports researchers’ reflections on their ITO research experience and knowledge transfer activities undertaken by them. The findings indicate researchers’ motivations, knowledge transfer mechanisms, and communication/ interaction channels with industry may explain effective knowledge transfer. Impact-minded researchers were significantly more effective than publication-minded researchers in knowledge transfer. In Phase C, interviews and a survey of practitioners engaged in IT outsourcing shed light on use of academic-generated knowledge. Academic research was the least used source of decision-making knowledge among ITO practitioners. Practitioners preferred to seek advice from their peers, IT vendors and consultants to inform their ITO decision making. Two communities of users and non-users of academic research were identified in our sample of ITO practitioners, with non-users forming the majority. Six factors that may influence the use of academic research by practitioners were identified. Non-users of academic research held perceptions that academic research was not timely, required too much time to read, was far from the real world and that it was not a commonly-used knowledge source for practitioners. Also, non-users of academic research read academic research less frequently and did not perceive themselves as an audience for academic research. This study engaged two fields of research: ITO decision support and academic knowledge transfer/utilisation (including research-practice gap). ITO decision support research provide the specific context for a critical assessment of academic knowledge production, transfer and adoption. For ITO DSS, this study identified the scope, rigour and relevance of the field, and improvement opportunities. This study confirms that a research-practice gap exists in the ITO decision support field as previously suggested by some scholars. Also, this study made a significant contribution to the highly complex and contested field of research utilisation and the research-practice gap. The relationship between research and practice in terms of knowledge production, transfer and utilisation is modelled using social system theory. Multiple theories are applied through a retroductive (abductive) analysis to shed light on the root causes of the research-practice gap. This study suggests that the lack of adequate appreciation of research relevance in academic reward schemes and the academic publishing structure are the main root causes of the research-practice gap in the knowledge production side. Moreover, various institutional mechanisms exist in knowledge transfer and adoption domains that influence the knowledge adoption channels of practitioners. As a result, academic research does not become a priority source of ITO decision support knowledge for practitioners. This study suggests that to overcome the barriers to academic research adoption by practitioners, the effective structural coupling mechanism between the system of science (knowledge production domain) and organisation systems (knowledge consumption domain) needs to be identified and activated

IS/ICT Outsourcing Decision Project in a Large Public Organization: A Case Study

We describe and discuss an outsourcing decision project, in which a large public organisation decided to outsource its ICT and IS. Different phases and critical steps in the project are highlighted, and some critical issues are identified. First, it is clear that there were different definitions of “hosting” and these different definitions made it unclear what the project was about. The desired project outcome thus became unclear, which affected commitment during the project as well as commitment to the outcome of the project. It also led to the project plan having to be rescheduled and the project costs increased. Second, our analysis also shows that there were unclear descriptions of how hosting was currently made in the organisation. This resulted in several problems in the project, in particular, in making proposals from potential providers hard to evaluate. But, also some positive results, such as a clearer picture of what resources existed, was gained. The study suggests that, had there been, at the outset of the project, a clear understanding of (1) what the project was really about, (2) the project’s role in increasing control and decreasing costs, and (3) how the hosting was to be implemented, a lot of the difficulties could have been avoided