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1 – 10 of over 5000The purpose of this paper is to enhance our understanding of managerial decision‐making process regarding offshore sourcing of information technology (IT) projects. The study…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to enhance our understanding of managerial decision‐making process regarding offshore sourcing of information technology (IT) projects. The study explored the relationship between transaction cost economics and maturity levels of a firm's offshore sourcing activities. Transactions costs theory and firms' offshore sourcing maturity levels provided the framework for studying the decision process.
Design/methodology/approach
The present study is a qualitative empirical investigation of the underlying decision process to offshore IT projects. The study is based on interviews of executives in fifteen large to medium size companies.
Findings
The data suggest that transaction cost mitigation approaches used by a firm vary based on the size of the company as well as the maturity level of the firm's offshore sourcing activities.
Research limitations/implications
The present study is based on interviews of IT executives in fifteen firms. Case studies and confirmatory studies can provide further insights.
Practical implications
Offshore sourcing maturity can influence cost mitigation tactics used by managers.
Originality/value
This is the first study to explore the relationship between transactions cost economics and offshore sourcing maturity of a firm. Future studies can extend the findings to deepen our knowledge of offshore sourcing challenges.
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– The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of knowledge sharing on innovativeness in offshore outsourced software development firms.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of knowledge sharing on innovativeness in offshore outsourced software development firms.
Design/methodology/approach
For the study, a survey methodology was used, and 408 respondents attached to offshore outsourced software development firms in Sri Lanka responded. The hypothesized relationships were examined by structural equation modelling.
Findings
The analysis yielded a two-component factor structure for knowledge sharing, which were termed as knowledge sharing practices and knowledge availability. It was found that both knowledge sharing practices and knowledge availability significantly positively predict innovativeness. The study provided empirical data to support the contention that organizations should be able to timely deliver knowledge to the right user to enhance innovativeness.
Practical implications
The findings suggest the importance of creating an environment conducive for software developers to share information, insight, lessons learned and effective practices. Further, organizations have to establish a mechanisms to capture and capitalise knowledge residing in employees.
Originality/value
In the knowledge-intensive offshore business sectors such as software development, economic value is found more in intangibles and less in tangibles. The sharing of knowledge leads to the dissemination of innovative ideas, which could improve work processes and develop new business opportunities. Therefore, it is important to conduct research that would lead to better understand drivers that enhance the innovativeness of service offerings of firms located in developing countries when competing internationally in offshore outsourced software development.
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Erran Carmel, Jason Dedrick and Kenneth L. Kraemer
We treat offshoring as a managerial innovation. Should it still be considered an innovation? The purpose of this paper is to use innovation theory, especially, Rogers' diffusion…
Abstract
Purpose
We treat offshoring as a managerial innovation. Should it still be considered an innovation? The purpose of this paper is to use innovation theory, especially, Rogers' diffusion of innovation theory (DOI) to examine this question.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper examines the case of electronic data systems (EDS), a very large Information Technology Professional Services (ITPS) company, using a case study approach based on interviews, internal documents and secondary sources.
Findings
At EDS it was found that offshoring has been fully assimilated within just a few years. During the early 2000s, EDS faced the challenge of a large‐scale shift in the competitive landscape and moved a large share of its global operations to offshore locations. The paper shows how this innovation has been diffused within the firm through the creation of an assessment and migration organization that has institutionalized and routinized the process of offshoring. At EDS, each client project goes through a centralized offshoring assessment process to determine where best to send the work and how to perform the knowledge transfer quickly and effectively. Observations are made about the speed of diffusion: about 7‐10 years in this case, from initial innovation agenda setting to its routinization.
Research limitations/implications
This paper filled a gap in studying managerial innovation; made some estimates of the speed of diffusion; and applied the hypothesized stages of innovation diffusion to the context of offshore software services. The limitation is that this is a case study and therefore generalization may be qualified.
Originality/value
This paper is among the first that studies offshoring (as opposed to outsourcing) in terms of DOI theory.
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Vathsala Wickramasinghe and Mayura Jayaweera
The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of career plateau (hierarchical plateau and job content plateau) and supervisory career support on career satisfaction.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of career plateau (hierarchical plateau and job content plateau) and supervisory career support on career satisfaction.
Design/methodology/approach
A random sample of 119 IT professionals employed full‐time in offshore outsourced IT firms in Sri Lanka responded. Multiple regression was used for the data analysis.
Findings
Supervisory career support significantly predicts career satisfaction. However, hierarchical plateau and job content plateau do not significantly predict career satisfaction.
Originality/value
Although IT employees attached to the offshore IT firms may be identified as a unique population worthy of empirical investigation, details on how they actually manage their careers remain obscure. The findings of the study provide interesting implications for individuals' career satisfaction and will be a source of general guidance in stimulating future research in this area.
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Anuradha Mathrani and Sanjay Mathrani
The paper aims to capture the nuances of two client–supplier relationships to offer new insights on the influences of transactional, knowledge and social elements in outsourcing…
Abstract
Purpose
The paper aims to capture the nuances of two client–supplier relationships to offer new insights on the influences of transactional, knowledge and social elements in outsourcing partnerships.
Design/methodology/approach
The study has used descriptive case studies with narrative storylines. Interviews were conducted with three relationship managers (boundary gatekeepers) to understand preferred governance practices between clients and suppliers in diverse economic markets.
Findings
Experiences of three real-life cases engaged in offshore outsourcing have helped to identify the market, operational knowledge and social influences in a relational exchange. Findings reveal that offshore partnerships are first constituted with service-level agreements, which set control measures and layout business expectations from both partners. Boundary gatekeepers bring further accountability across firms by designing social networks for capturing and sharing of knowledge, thereby reducing each partner’s perception of risk. As firms evaluate transactional, knowledge and social elements for building a futuristic relational exchange, more disaggregated and dispersed enterprises evolve as new opportunities are explored in foreign markets.
Research limitations/implications
The retrospective nature of the client–supplier partnership is a limitation in this research study. However, retrospection adds to experience, and to practice perspectives made in hindsight, and therefore has a positive influence in this study.
Originality/value
This paper shares real-world experiences that can be used by scholars and practitioners to better understand how relational governance practices operate in a global socio-economic setting.
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The purpose of this paper is to explore the views of top corporate financial executives on the success of implementation of systems outsourcing and offshore outsourcing, as well…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the views of top corporate financial executives on the success of implementation of systems outsourcing and offshore outsourcing, as well as the variables associated with success in these areas.
Design/methodology/approach
An analysis of secondary data obtained from the Financial Executives International comprehensive survey‐based research on technology issues for financial executives. Regression analysis and other statistical methods are used.
Findings
The study examined usage of outsourcing and offshore outsourcing from the top financial executive's perspective. Only 30 percent of the surveyed companies outsourced IT and only 25 percent engaged in offshore outsourcing IT. Size of the company did significantly influence usage. The major motivators behind the decision to pursue outsourcing were the views that IT is not a core competency and that significant cost reduction was possible. The experiences of the organizations surveyed reflect a general satisfaction with outsourcing and offshore outsourcing. But finally, it was found that while overall use of outsourcing did correlate with higher IT returns, offshore outsourcing did not correlate with higher IT return to the organization at traditional significance levels.
Research limitations/implications
The study can be used as a basis for further exploration on outsourcing and offshore outsourcing success, influencing variables, and motivators.
Practical implications
The findings can be used to guide management teams in outsourcing and offshore outsourcing decisions to maximize returns to their organizations.
Originality/value
Despite many studies that examine success from the theoretical and IT perspectives, this paper provides a large sample set, which empirically reviews major corporations' top financial executives' experiences with outsourcing and offshore outsourcing. In addition, it begins to explore the variables influencing overall outsourcing and offshore outsourcing success perception. Major contributions are the extent of the detail, the large dataset analysis, and the CFO rather than CIO perspective.
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Vathsala Wickramasinghe and Nuwan Wickramanayake
The purpose of this paper is to investigate job expectations, experience, and met expectations of IT professionals in offshore software development and commercial banks in Sri…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate job expectations, experience, and met expectations of IT professionals in offshore software development and commercial banks in Sri Lanka.
Design/methodology/approach
For the study, quantitative research methodology was used and data were collected from 342 and 208 IT professionals engaged full‐time in offshore software development and commercial banks, respectively, in Sri Lanka. Descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, paired sample t‐test, independent sample t‐test, and binary logistic regression were used appropriately for data analysis.
Findings
The findings of the study led to identify job expectations, experience, and met expectations of IT professionals that discriminate between offshore software development and commercial banks.
Originality/value
The literature provides evidence that job expectations of IT professionals in offshore software development are different from their counterparts in other comparable occupations. Therefore, the paper argues that sectoral differences in job expectations, experience, and met expectations of IT professionals are worthy of empirical investigation. Although the growth of the services sector has resulted in extensive employment opportunities for IT professionals in South Asia, the details on their job expectations and whether their expectations vary by the business sector remain obscure.
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This study aims to investigate the level of job satisfaction experienced by IT graduates employed full time in offshore outsourced IT firms (OOITF) in Sri Lanka, the demographic…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to investigate the level of job satisfaction experienced by IT graduates employed full time in offshore outsourced IT firms (OOITF) in Sri Lanka, the demographic characteristics that predict job satisfaction, perceptions towards IT jobs in OOITF, and turnover and job search intentions.
Design/methodology/approach
The sample consisted of 122 randomly selected individuals who graduated in the information technology field and were employed full‐time in OOITF in Sri Lanka. A survey questionnaire was chosen as the mode for data collection.
Findings
The results indicate that gender and tenure are significant in job satisfaction measurement. Females are less satisfied with their jobs and feel a loss of interest in IT jobs in OOITF but wish to remain in their present workplace. IT graduates with a longer tenure in their present workplace are less satisfied with their jobs, feel a loss of interest in IT jobs in OOITF and intend to leave their present workplace.
Originality/value
The majority of job satisfaction studies on IT personnel have been undertaken primarily in the West. The extent to which the research findings of those studies could be generalised to the South Asian offshore outsourcing context has not been widely tested.
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The purpose of this paper is to investigate the influence of human resource development (HRD) practices on the quality of service of services offshore outsourcing firms in Sri…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the influence of human resource development (HRD) practices on the quality of service of services offshore outsourcing firms in Sri Lanka.
Design/methodology/approach
Survey methodology was used and 402 respondents who fulfilled the selection criteria set for the study responded. To examine the hypothesised relationships structural equation modelling with maximum likelihood estimation was performed using AMOS 16.
Findings
The analysis yielded two component factor structure for HRD practices, which were termed as talent engagement and job-related training. It was found that both talent engagement and job-related training significantly positively predict the quality of service. The study provided empirical data to support the contention that organisations should develop and engage capabilities of employees to enhance the quality of service.
Originality/value
Characteristics of service business demand the effective use of human resource. Therefore, it is expected that the findings of this study will provide useful information for academics and practitioners to make informed decisions on the influence of HRD practices on the quality of service.
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Ashish Malik, Liem Viet Ngo and Russel P.J. Kingshott
This exploratory study aims to analyse the influence of organisational resources and capabilities on relationship quality and firm performance in the context of high-technology…
Abstract
Purpose
This exploratory study aims to analyse the influence of organisational resources and capabilities on relationship quality and firm performance in the context of high-technology offshore outsourcing service vendors.
Design/methodology/approach
Using a qualitative case study design, data from four offshore business process and information technology outsourcing firms were analysed.
Findings
Findings highlight that resource dependence, cultural orientation and the vendor’s resources and capabilities strengthen relationship quality and affect firm performance.
Originality/value
The distinctive contribution of this study lies in identifying key organisational mechanisms that improve relationship quality and firm performance, as well as help to understand the adverse effects of ethnocentricity and power faced by vendors and subsidiaries within diverse intercultural contexts. Study limitations and future research directions, along with implications for theory and practice, are also discussed.
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