Internal vs. External IT Capabilities: When to Hire Consultants?

External IT consultants are specialists who bring in skills that may be lacking within a firm. However, a lack of firm specific knowledge, low legitimacy, and a host of other factors may limit the effectiveness of IT consultants. From a resource-based perspective, consultants can represent a rich source of short term, valuable capabilities. These capabilities, however, may be at odds with exiting internal capabilities. Institutional theory suggests that external consultants may not share the same norms and beliefs held by the internal staff and consequently their efforts will be ineffective in achieving organizational goals. The paper explores this tension using survey data to track the benefits accruing from the use of internal and external IT capabilities in the adoption of Internet business solutions. The results show that firms see tangible benefits from using external IT consultants but that these benefits are moderated by the level of existing internal IT capabilities

A Study of the Talent Training Project Management for Semiconductor Industry in Taiwan: The Application of a Hybrid Data Envelopment Analysis Approach

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the training institution performance and to improve the management of the Manpower Training Project (MTP) administered by the Semiconductor Institute in Taiwan. Much literature assesses the efficiency of an internal training program initiated by a firm, but only little literature studies the efficiency of an external training program led by government. In the study, a hybrid solution of ICA-DEA and ICA-MPI is developed for measuring the efficiency and the productivity growth of each training institution over the period. The technical efficiency change, the technological change, pure technical efficiency change, scale efficiency change, and the total factor productivity change were evaluated according to five inputs and two outputs. According to the results of the study, the training institutions can be classified by their efficiency successfully and the guidelines for the optimal level of input resources can be obtained for each inefficient training institution. The Semiconductor Institute in Taiwan can allocate budget more appropriately and establish withdrawal mechanisms for inefficient training institutions