Search results

In recent years a large number of studies have appeared on information systems (IS)/information technology (IT) outsourcing related issues but scattered in a number of distantly related publishing outlets which may hamper the use of such published resources and repetition of research conducted by various researchers. The purpose of this paper is to conduct a systematic survey of the literature pertaining to research on IS/IT outsourcing.

The research aim was accomplished by extracting information on a number of relevant variables by conducting a review of 315 articles on IS/IT outsourcing published between 1992 and 2008.

The analysis is presented by listing and illustrating subject category, journals, year of publications and country, frequently published authors, productive institutions, the trend of collaborative nature (co‐author analysis) of research, the impact/influence of published research; topics/research issues and utilised methods, and the challenges and limitations of existing research.

Results of this research may have implications for both private and public sector organizations interested in outsourcing IS/IT services and applications, and various stakeholders of academic publishing (namely, researchers, journal editors, reviewers and universities) research on IS/IT outsourcing.

The primary value of this paper lies in extending the understanding of evolution and patterns of outsourcing research.

The aim of this paper is to establish how resource dependency theory (RDT) and transaction cost theory (TCT) can inform decisions to outsource ICT services by public university libraries in Kenya.

The study adopted a multiple case study strategy in four selected public universities libraries in Kenya. Purposive sampling was used to identify respondents and data collection was done using a semi-structured interview schedule.

The study highlights how RDT and TCT theoretical perspectives illuminate some of the reasons, and problems associated with Information and Communications Technology outsourcing in Libraries. The paper concludes with recommendations and the way forward.

The study was limited to the outsourcing of information technology services in four public university libraries in Kenya, namely, Kenyatta University (KU) in Kahawa, Nairobi; Moi University (MU) in Eldoret; University of Nairobi (UON) in Nairobi; and Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT) in Juja, Thika. This being a qualitative study (and taking into consideration the subjective views where bias could occur), the researchers ensured that the research was reliable by recording and taking notes during the interviews and by using peer-debriefing and professionals in the field to ascertain their views.

The paper provides practical insights into outsourcing of Information Technology (IT) services in Public University libraries and information centres in Kenya. This study is useful for university libraries, information professionals, information communication technology professionals and university management.

The implications of the study are that outsourcing needs to be guided by clear policies that are documented and communicated to all the stakeholders.

This research assesses IT outsourcing services in selected public academic libraries in Kenya.

The purpose of this article is to propose a theoretical model explaining information technology outsourcing performance in the public sector as well as a set of empirically testable propositions to improve the understanding of key determinants of success.

Based on Fountain ' s technology enactment framework, the authors integrated inter-organizational factors, such as trust, knowledge sharing, and quality of outsourcing interfaces, in the model and added organizational culture alignment between service providers and public administration to enhance Fountain ' s original framework.

The authors proposed 17 empirically testable propositions to establish the relationships between key variables in IT outsourcing projects in the public sector.

The proposed model provides guidance for future research aimed at advancing knowledge of IT outsourcing.

The contribution lies in the development of specific variables, such as trust, knowledge, and organizational culture, which are related to building an outsourcing relationship and are used as determinants of the quality of organizational interfaces between public bureaucracies and IT outsourcing providers.

Information security is an integral part of all outsourcing activities and it is important for both the outsourcing company and the vendor to reach agreement as regards what type and what level of information security will be provided by the vendor in relation to the outsourced activities. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the potential risks and information system (IS) security needs when outsourcing takes place and analyse the different security level in outsourcing agreements.

This paper is primarily based on a review of the literature. International security standards and best security practices are analysed and discussed. A multiple level security framework as an effective approach in outsourcing domain is addressed.

It is found that IS security risks can be effectively identified, monitored and evaluated by the concept of a layered security model that fits best in the complex outsourcing domain. There are three levels of security, first guidelines of technical security, second risk analysis and, third compliance and evaluation criteria, including managing information security.

The approach could be used to integrate IS security with service level agreements. Outsourcing vendors with security certifications, strong security adherence systems and optimal disaster recover plans will have a competitive edge in the industry.

Collaborations between public administrations and private sector represent a specific challenge to manage contractual and organizational relationships among partners with different goals, working cultures, norms, rules and processes. Therefore, the main research question of this paper is: What are the antecedents of effective collaboration in public-private IT outsourcing relations? Thus, the purpose of this paper is to identify the determinants of collaborative interface characteristics as scaffolding structures to manage public-private IT outsourcing relations effectively.

Two cases of public-private IT outsourcing relationships in Mexico were used to compare and contrast the main antecedents of collaborative interface characteristics. Case selection was based on the success in each case, as perceived by the collaborating members involved. A successful case and a less successful case of application development for the provision of public services from two state administrations in Mexico were chosen. Data gathering took place via face-to-face interviews.

The quality of the organizational interface depends on the interactions between exchange of knowledge and mutual trust, along with the commitment between partners. Trust, commitment and knowledge sharing interacted to enhance interface characteristics that have an impact on public and political values.

This paper used and extended an outsourcing technology enactment model to emphasize the quality of organizational interfaces as a main antecedent for the success of public-private IT outsourcing relations.

Effectively designing work practices and contracts implies the development of flexible contracts, objects and routines to adjust project requirements to fulfill better public-private goals. Such flexible contracts and practices are only possible in a trusting environment where participants shape their mutual understanding of the project.

The paper contributes to the literature on public-private IT outsourcing relationships by offering a theoretical framework on key antecedents and processes of success of these relationships.

This paper aims to explain how small- and medium-sized firms (SMEs) create information technology (IT) business value through blended IT outsourcing (ITO). The explanatory framework it proposes enables SMEs to replicate IT capability outcomes (i.e. enhance their economic, strategic and technological competences, namely, ITO success) by endorsing an ITO strategy catalyzed by IT vendor integration.

This study uses covariance-based structural equation modeling to test the proposed research model. Data are collected from 251 knowledge-intensive business SMEs located in Science and Technology Parks in Spain.

The results demonstrate empirically that SMEs can replicate IT capability benefits (i.e. enhance their non-IT competences) through blended ITO in which IT, conceptualized as a transversal supporting activity, is outsourced to an IT vendor while the value creation process remains with the buyer. The integration (i.e. process integration and information sharing) of an IT-proficient vendor catalyzes ITO success. More specifically, the results show that, although process integration is not directly related to competence enhancement, fosters information sharing, which directly facilitates ITO success. The results also show that IT vendor proficiency accounts for ex ante trust.

Managers should think of transformational ITO as a strategy to enhance firm competences. For blended ITO strategies to succeed, managers must have a comprehensive understanding of the business they run, as it is important to create conditions that foster inter-firm information sharing. To achieve these conditions, managers should take special care in selecting boundary spanners, who are the pivotal links in competence enhancement.

While most research focuses on ongoing trust (i.e. trust develops as ITO evolves), this study focuses on initial (i.e. ex ante) trust and analyzes IT vendor proficiency (expert, experienced and reputed) to examine trust as an antecedent of ITO. This study also draws on previous conceptualizations of vendor integration to develop and analyze a two-step integration model to explain how IT vendor integration (i.e. process integration and information sharing) catalyzes enhancement of the buyer’s non-IT competences. This study focuses on SMEs, which are often neglected in ITO studies.

In their search for optimum performance and cost‐efficiency many organizations have been critically examining the value of the seemingly ever increasing cost of, and dependence on, technology. In the course of examining possible alternative, and potentially more efficient, approaches to technology management, the concept of outsourcing has become widely discussed. In this context it has attracted high levels of interest among both industry and Government. In spite of this high level of interest and increasing willingness to consider outsourcing, a great deal of uncertainty exists among potential users regarding both the meaning and implications of entering into outsourcing arrangements. Intends critically to examine the concept, implementation and management issues related to outsourcing information technology services.

This paper aims to investigate the effects of vendor – client relationship on organizational success in the hospitality industry. The relationship between vendors and clients regarding information technology outsourcing does not always go in harmony. In the viewpoint of hospitality practitioners, information technology (IT) providers do not necessarily abide by the given promises stated on contracts, all the time. The service flows, which are mostly generated by the lack of quality relationship between vendors and clients directly affect hotels’ organizational performance.

Data were collected by an online survey and analyzed using multivariable statistics (path analysis) to determine the effects of service quality and relationship quality on outsourcing success, and its effect on organizational performance. Data from 102 valid responses received from ten different countries, representing 230 hotels in total were analyzed.

Service quality and relationship quality, which are two dimensions of outsourcing relationships, were found to be positively related to outsourcing success (r = 0.60 and 0.70, p < 0.01, respectively) and intangible organizational performance (r = 0.20, p < 0.05; 0.26 and 0.27, p < 0.01, respectively).

The research was designed to investigate the IT outsourcing service receiver’s (client) perspective. The IT service provider’s (vendor) perspective is disregarded. Disturbance results are very high (i.e. more than 0.95). This may well be the case that certain facets of the outsourcing success construct are not adequately represented by the chosen indicators. Research results may reveal an idea about the research subject, in general, but may not be generalized to the whole industry due to its sampling size. Finally, the survey was conducted online, and all online research restrictions were applicable to this research such as receiving very limited response rates.

The results of this research provide important information for practitioners in the hospitality industry and IT service providers. Relationship quality between vendor and client was observed to be the most determinant factor in IT outsourcing success.

The proposed model may well serve as a framework for further examining mediating and possible moderating variables.

There is limited research in the previous literature investigating the relationship between information technology vendor and client, in terms of service quality and relationship quality in hospitality industry. This paper may serve to fill in this gap.

A multitude of factors influence the information technology outsourcing (ITO) decision. Organizations must systematically evaluate these factors prior to making the ITO decision. The purpose of this paper is to provide an in-depth analysis toward understanding the critical factors in affecting ITO decision in the context of e-banking services.

The effect of technological, organizational, and environmental attributes on e-banking services outsourcing decision were investigated in this paper. The study was carried out using the quantitative research methodology based on a survey of 23 banks. The partial least squares technique was utilized as the method of data analysis.

The results of the data analysis illustrated that nine out of 11 assumed factors (i.e. perceived complexity, perceived cost, service observability to the client, cultural fit between client and supplier, perceived loss of organizational knowledge, prior outsourcing experience, external pressure, market volatility, and suppliers’ power) influence the outsourcing decision of e-banking services. The findings also confirmed that the nature of the service and client IT capabilities did not exert any influence on the outsourcing decision.

The study is among the first kind of ITO decision research which empirically investigates the effect of service observability, cultural fit, perceived loss of organizational knowledge, external pressure, market volatility, and suppliers’ power amongst other factors on the ITO decision. The findings from this study provide insights for the banks and service providers to better understand the factors affecting the outsourcing decisions of e-banking services in contexts of less developed countries. Implications based on a specific situation of the Iranian banking sector is also proposed.

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.

An online survey was conducted to get an overall view of information asymmetry between principal and agents (as per the agency theory).

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.

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.

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.

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.