Contextual Factors, Knowledge Processes and Performance in Global Sourcing of IT Services

Du, Rong; Ai, Shizhong; Abbott, Pamela; Zheng, Yingqin

doi:10.4018/978-1-4666-2142-8.ch004

Cited by 6 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 62 publications

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“…One more possible limitation of our study could be related to the fact that we did not specifically examine the role of the type of business that the born‐global firm is engaged in on their IT capability. It is likely that an IT outsourcing supplier might have greater IT capability compared with an export‐oriented manufacturer (Du et al. , 2011a).…”

Section: Discussion Of the Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Drivers and export performance impacts of IT capability in ‘born‐global’ firms: a cross‐national study

Zhang¹,

Sarker²,

Sarker³

2012

Information Systems Journal

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Past research focusing on large firms has argued that information technology (IT) capability enhances firm performance. However, these studies have seldom explored why firms develop IT capability, and have also left a void the understanding of the role of IT capability in Small-and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). This study attempts to fill that void by examining the effect of relevant environmental and firm-level factors on IT capability, and the effect of IT capability on the export performance of Chinese and US born-global firms, a special breed of export-focused SMEs. Results indicate that environmental factors such as information intensity, and firm-level factors such as international entrepreneurial orientation, prompt born-global firms to develop IT capability. Further, our results also strongly emphasise the positive role that IT capability plays on the performance of born-global firms. Finally, a comparative analysis of the Chinese and US born-global firms revealed a lack of a cross-cultural difference in the factors leading these firms to develop IT capability, therefore supporting the 'convergence' perspective in cross-cultural research.

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Section: Discussion Of the Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Drivers and export performance impacts of IT capability in ‘born‐global’ firms: a cross‐national study

Zhang¹,

Sarker²,

Sarker³

2012

Information Systems Journal

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“…In contrast, knowledge sharing is not a significant element in relationship dimension. According to Du et al (2011), knowledge sharing is a complex and incremental phenomenon, which should be related to social aspects such as culture and trust. In the cultural theory of "Collectivism", "Guanxi" is defined as a series of activities carried out by the parties concerned within their network and that it is all about the cultivation of long-term personal relationships (Ramasamy et al, 2006).…”

Section: Common Methods Biasmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Another explanation might be that the impact of knowledge sharing on performance is not an immediate one and it may have delayed effects (Du et al, 2011).…”

Section: Common Methods Biasmentioning

confidence: 99%

Relationship or contract? Exploring the key factor leading to IT outsourcing success in China

Chau

2015

Information Technology &Amp; People

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Purpose – Effective management of IT outsourcing continues to be a challenge to organizations today. Organizations in China suffer from even bigger problems than other regions of the world. The IT outsourcing market is in its infancy and the outsourcing practice is still at its initial stage. Regarding to the outsourcing management issues, the literature has explored the role of either the relationship or contract in governing IT outsourcing success. However, few efforts have been paid to investigate the effects of both relationship and contract on IT outsourcing success from a holistic view. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach – This study develops a conceptual model and empirically tests it through a cross-sectional survey conducted in five big cities of Mainland China. Findings – The data analysis results identified the dimensionalities of relationship, contract and IT outsourcing success and proved the causal relationships between these three constructs. Originality/value – This research re-emphasizes the importance of relationship in IT outsourcing success and the fundamental role of contract in developing a sound relationship. It also gives some implications on how to evaluate IT outsourcing success in China, an emerging market for IT outsourcing.

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“…A wealth of studies on ISD outsourcing has observed the relationship between the client and the outsourcing partner (Du et al, 2011;Alami et al, 2008;Fisher et al, 2008). These studies have mainly observed:…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Intra-organizational information asymmetry in offshore ISD outsourcing

Nuwangi

Sedera

Srivastava

et al. 2014

VINE

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Purpose -Contemporary offshore information system development (ISD) outsourcing is becoming even more complex. Outsourcing partner has begun "re-outsourcing" components of their projects to other outsourcing companies to minimize cost and gain efficiencies. This paper aims to explore intra-organizational information asymmetry of re-outsourced offshore ISD outsourcing projects. Design/methodology/approach -An online survey was conducted to get an overall view of information asymmetry between principal and agents (as per the agency theory). Findings -Statistical analysis showed that there are significant differences between the principal and agent on clarity of requirements, common domain knowledge and communication effectiveness constructs, implying an unbalanced relationship between the parties. Moreover, the authors' results showed that these three are significant measurement constructs of information asymmetry. Research limitations/implications -In this study the authors have only considered three main factors as common domain knowledge, clarity of requirements and communication effectiveness as three measurement constructs of information asymmetry. Therefore, researches are encouraged to test the proposed constructs further to increase its precision. Practical implications -The authors' analysis indicates significant differences in all three measurement constructs, implying the difficulties to ensure that the agent is performing according to the requirements of the principal. Using the agency theory as theoretical view, this study sheds light on the best contract governing methods which minimize information asymmetry between the multiple partners within ISD outsourcing organizations. Originality/value -Currently, to the best of the authors' knowledge, no study has undertaken research on intra-organizational information asymmetry in re-outsourced offshore ISD outsourcing projects.

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Contextual Factors, Knowledge Processes and Performance in Global Sourcing of IT Services

Cited by 6 publications

References 62 publications

Drivers and export performance impacts of IT capability in ‘born‐global’ firms: a cross‐national study

Drivers and export performance impacts of IT capability in ‘born‐global’ firms: a cross‐national study

Relationship or contract? Exploring the key factor leading to IT outsourcing success in China

Intra-organizational information asymmetry in offshore ISD outsourcing

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