Christian Jentsch

Applying a Configurational Approach for Explaining the Role of Relationship Quality for Successful Outsourcing Arrangements

Relationship quality dimensions like trust or commitment have been proven to be crucial determinants for the success of outsourcing arrangements. Most previous empirical studies focus on the success of relationship quality dimensions within a specific contextual outsourcing arrangement. We argue that the importance and formation of each relationship quality dimension highly depend on the contextual background of the particular study. To substantiate this contingency argument, we conducted 16 interviews with managers in different types of outsourcing arrangements and questioned them about their understanding of relationship quality. Linking managers’ statements with their outsourcing background, we found several configurational patterns that describe the different roles of relationship quality for successful outsourcing.

The Impact of Process and IT Modularity for Mutual Understanding among Business and IT

Due to an increasing degree of business specialization, business systems nowadays can be very complex. Often, complex systems need to be managed by more than a handful of people from the business unit. To handle the extensive amount of information in a complex business system, the system needs to be supported by an appropriate IT system. However, for the IT unit it can be a challenging task to implement appropriate IT system in complex business environment. In our research, we argue that mutual understanding among business and IT plays a critical role in the successful management of the business system. To achieve a mutual understanding, the complexity needs to be reduced by a modularization of the system. In our empirical study, based on 119 survey results, we found that process modularity only in combination with an IT architecture which matches the modular structure enables a profound mutual understanding. While modular business processes enable mutual understanding of the business strategy, an IT architecture which match the modular process facilitates mutual understanding of the business process.