Colleen Carraher-Wolverton and Rudy Hirschheim
The authors’ contribution to the literature involves using expectation disconfirmation theory (EDT) to examine the impact of expectations on outsourcing success. This study…
Abstract
Purpose
The authors’ contribution to the literature involves using expectation disconfirmation theory (EDT) to examine the impact of expectations on outsourcing success. This study hypothesizes that perceptions of outsourcing success are contingent on disconfirmation between clients’ expectations and the perceived performance of fundamental issues related to the outsourcing relationship.
Design/methodology/approach
To test the hypothesis, this study surveyed chief information officers, vice presidents and senior information systems managers to determine their perceptions of vendors. This study analyzed the data using structural equation modeling.
Findings
The findings demonstrate that the existing outsourcing success factors are more precisely depicted as multidimensional success factors that predict managerial perceptions of outsourcing success. This study uses a novel perspective to identify the multidimensional nature of the outsourcing success factors that might have remained latent without further analysis.
Originality/value
Using EDT, this study extends the understanding of outsourcing success as not merely composed of unidimensional factors but as a collection of multidimensional outsourcing success factors. This research demonstrates that not only do these success factors predict outsourcing success, but they can also be grouped together to provide a diversified, yet parsimonious view of how expectations relating to certain success factors influence a client’s perception of outsourcing success.
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Hanieh Javadi Khasraghi, Isaac Vaghefi and Rudy Hirschheim
The research study intends to gain a better understanding of members' behaviors in the context of crowdsourcing contests. The authors examined the key factors that can motivate or…
Abstract
Purpose
The research study intends to gain a better understanding of members' behaviors in the context of crowdsourcing contests. The authors examined the key factors that can motivate or discourage contributing to a team and within the community.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors conducted 21 semi-structured interviews with Kaggle.com members and analyzed the data to capture individual members' contributions and emerging determinants that play a role during this process. The authors adopted a qualitative approach and used standard thematic coding techniques to analyze the data.
Findings
The analysis revealed two processes underlying contribution to the team and community and the decision-making involved in each. Accordingly, a set of key factors affecting each process were identified. Using Holbrook's (2006) typology of value creation, these factors were classified into four types, namely extrinsic and self-oriented (economic value), extrinsic and other-oriented (social value), intrinsic and self-oriented (hedonic value), and intrinsic and other-oriented (altruistic value). Three propositions were developed, which can be tested in future research.
Research limitations/implications
The study has a few limitations, which point to areas for future research on this topic. First, the authors only assessed the behaviors of individuals who use the Kaggle platform. Second, the findings of this study may not be generalizable to other crowdsourcing platforms such as Amazon Mechanical Turk, where there is no competition, and participants cannot meaningfully contribute to the community. Third, the authors collected data from a limited (yet knowledgeable) number of interviewees. It would be useful to use bigger sample sizes to assess other possible factors that did not emerge from our analysis. Finally, the authors presented a set of propositions for individuals' contributory behavior in crowdsourcing contest platforms but did not empirically test them. Future research is necessary to validate these hypotheses, for instance, by using quantitative methods (e.g. surveys or experiments).
Practical implications
The authors offer recommendations for implementing appropriate mechanisms for contribution to crowdsourcing contests and platforms. Practitioners should design architectures to minimize the effect of factors that reduce the likelihood of contributions and maximize the factors that increase contribution in order to manage the tension of simultaneously encouraging contribution and competition.
Social implications
The research study makes key theoretical contributions to research. First, the results of this study help explain the individuals' contributory behavior in crowdsourcing contests from two aspects: joining and selecting a team and content contribution to the community. Second, the findings of this study suggest a revised and extended model of value co-creation, one that integrates this study’s findings with those of Nov et al. (2009), Lakhani and Wolf (2005), Wasko and Faraj (2000), Chen et al. (2018), Hahn et al. (2008), Dholakia et al. (2004) and Teichmann et al. (2015). Third, using direct accounts collected through first-hand interviews with crowdsourcing contest members, this study provides an in-depth understanding of individuals' contributory behavior. Methodologically, this authors’ approach was distinct from common approaches used in this research domain that used secondary datasets (e.g. the content of forum discussions, survey data) (e.g. see Lakhani and Wolf, 2005; Nov et al., 2009) and quantitative techniques for analyzing collaboration and contribution behavior.
Originality/value
The authors advance the broad field of crowdsourcing by extending the literature on value creation in the online community, particularly as it relates to the individual participants. The study advances the theoretical understanding of contribution in crowdsourcing contests by focusing on the members' point of view, which reveals both the determinants and the process for joining teams during crowdsourcing contests as well as the determinants of contribution to the content distributed in the community.
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Bandula Jayatilaka and Rudy Hirschheim
Companies are increasingly changing their IT sourcing arrangements. Such changes often involve significant costs. The purpose of this paper is to explore and explain IT sourcing…
Abstract
Purpose
Companies are increasingly changing their IT sourcing arrangements. Such changes often involve significant costs. The purpose of this paper is to explore and explain IT sourcing as a dynamic organizational phenomenon and to gain a deeper understanding of the drivers and outcomes of IT sourcing changes at organizational level.
Design/methodology/approach
A qualitative approach with interpretive analysis of historical data. Data are collected from companies through interviews and review of public documents where available.
Findings
The underlying tendencies of change are either primarily associated with institutional processes, or with what we term “IT‐driven” considerations. The perceived success of IT outsourcing in companies is dependent on these underlying tendencies.
Research limitations/implications
This is an exploratory study and the findings on the underlying tendencies in change will be helpful in further theory development and research on IT outsourcing changes.
Practical implications
Knowledge coming from such research could help companies make more effective decisions about IT sourcing changes and set realistic expectations.
Originality/value
The dynamic perspective taken in this paper is different from the perspectives taken in earlier research where the researchers took cross‐sectional views of IT outsourcing arrangements. This paper shows the importance of re‐examining the reasons for change using the more encompassing concept of orientation.
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Beena George, Rudy Hirschheim and Alexander von Stetten
This paper proposes a new research agenda for information technology (IT) outsourcing,motivated by the belief that the social capital concept enables IT outsourcing researchers to…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper proposes a new research agenda for information technology (IT) outsourcing,motivated by the belief that the social capital concept enables IT outsourcing researchers to capture more of the nuances of the client–vendor relationship in IT outsourcing arrangements.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper builds a comprehensive framework of social capital based on Nahapiet and Ghoshal (1998) to examine the IT outsourcing life cycle. Past research on IT outsourcing is examined applying the parameters of the framework to identify issues that have been addressed in research on IT outsourcing and to uncover the gaps in past research.
Findings
The social capital framework is applied to IT outsourcing which suggests new avenues for future outsourcing research.
Research limitations/implications
While past research has identified success factors for IT outsourcing, a significant number of outsourcing arrangement still fail to meet expectations. The research agenda presented in this paper encourages an examination of IT outsourcing from a different perspective to determine how to successfully manage IT outsourcing.
Originality/value
The paper provides a new framework that is useful for identifying the relationships among past research in IT outsourcing as well as for identifying potential topics for future research.
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The strategic value of information and information technology to an enterprise has received increased attention both in management practice and in the business and information…
Abstract
The strategic value of information and information technology to an enterprise has received increased attention both in management practice and in the business and information literatures. This paper explores issues related to the alignment of business and information strategies and some organisational characteristics which appear to contribute to such an alignment, drawing on recent and current research in progress. Implications are drawn for organisational processes and structures and for the education and training of managers and of information specialists.
Mary C. Lacity, Leslie P. Willcocks and Joseph W. Rottman
To identify key lessons, trends and enduring challenges with global outsourcing of back office services.
Abstract
Purpose
To identify key lessons, trends and enduring challenges with global outsourcing of back office services.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors extract lessons, project trends, and discuss enduring challenges from a 20 year research program conducted by these authors and their extended network of co‐authors and colleagues.
Findings
The authors identify seven important lessons for successfully exploiting the maturing Information Technology Outsourcing (ITO) and Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) markets. The lessons require back office executives to build significant internal capabilities and processes to manage global outsourcing. The authors predict 13 trends about the size and growth of ITO and BPO markets, about suppliers located around the world, and about particular sourcing models including application service provision, insourcing, nearshoring, rural sourcing, knowledge process outsourcing, freelance outsourcing, and captive centers. The authors identify five persistent, prickly issues on global outsourcing pertaining to back office alignment, client and supplier incentives, knowledge transfer, knowledge retention, and sustainability of outsourcing relationships.
Originality/value
The authors present some experimental innovations to address these issues.
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Shengliang Deng, Rob Lawson and Luiz Moutinho
Presents an exploratory study on travel agents’ attitudes towards automation. Surveys 167 travel agents from both Canada and New Zealand. Shows that there are four distinct groups…
Abstract
Presents an exploratory study on travel agents’ attitudes towards automation. Surveys 167 travel agents from both Canada and New Zealand. Shows that there are four distinct groups of agents whose attitudes towards automation differ quite substantially and that these attitudes are related not so much to current use of technology but more to perceived future usage.
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Notes that the phenomenon of office automation (OA) is continually evolving and that groupworking and computer‐supported co‐operative working, supported by groupware products such…
Abstract
Notes that the phenomenon of office automation (OA) is continually evolving and that groupworking and computer‐supported co‐operative working, supported by groupware products such as Lotus Notes, are seen as the next phase in the OA saga. Explores the concept of the “office” in today’s changing business and technological environment, and further evaluates whether groupware can lead to truly flexible and co‐operative working by identifying some of the philosophical and managerial issues this topic raises.