Heiko Gewald

Risks and benefits of business process outsourcing: A study of transaction services in the German banking industry

We developed a model of the adoption of business process outsourcing (BPO) based on risk-benefit analysis. The model was tested in the German banking industry in four areas of transaction processing. Our results showed that, in general, perceived BPO benefits have a substantially stronger impact on intention to increase the level of BPO than perceived risks. However, the experience that banks have with the BPO process, [whether already decided on BPO (Pro), still in the pre-decision phase (Neutral), or opted against BPO (Contra)], moderated the impact of factors affecting the perceived risks and benefits of BPO. Banks that opted for BPO were mostly driven by a desire to focus on their core business while considering financial risks. Banks in the neutral position had the most balanced view of risks and benefits, mainly financial and performance ones, and also focusing on the core business and increased business process performance. Those banks that decided against BPO mostly focused on benefits while the perceived risks were mostly formed by strategic and performance risks rather than financial ones. The results point out the path dependencies of the BPO decision.

A Governance Model for Managing Outsourcing Partnerships: A View from Practice

An outsourcing engagement is usually a long lasting and complex transaction which bears a considerable amount of risk. A well recognized way to mitigate the risk arising from the shift of responsibilities between outsourcer and service provider is the constitution of a joint governance structure. Although the need for governance has long been acknowledged in practice and academia, papers discussing an actual governance model are scarce. This work describes the governance model as deployed by one of the largest outsourcing service providers worldwide. The fundamental need for governance principles and strategic directions are discussed, as well as the necessary organizational structures, joint processes and relationship management functions. This paper offers insights into the practical answers to theoretically and empirically derived challenges and aims to foster discussions amongst scholars and practitioners on the important topic how to effectively govern an outsourcing relationship.

The impact of perceived risk on the capital market's reaction to outsourcing announcements

Outsourcing is a widely accepted option in strategic management, which, like every business venture, bears opportunities and risks. Supplementing the popular area of research on the merits of outsourcing, this paper examines how stockholders rate corporate sourcing decisions with regard to the risk they associate with this transaction. Using event study methodology and multivariate cross-sectional OLS-regression, we analyze a sample of 182 outsourcing transactions in the global financial services industry between 1998 and 2004 in order to investigate the risk-specific drivers of excess returns to shareholders. The analysis studies the impact of risk-specific independent variables, including transaction size, length, outsourced business functionality, and experience with outsourcing. Our findings indicate that risk-mitigating strategies have significant explanatory power, indicating that the capital market’s reaction to an outsourcing announcement might at least partly be forecast. Results show a positive correlation between market reaction and business process outsourcing by financial services companies. We also find strong evidence indicating that capital markets react positively to relatively large transactions compared to the market capitalization of the outsourcing firm. For service providers our results show that traditional IT-related sourcing projects or the insourcing of administrative processes have a significant positive correlation with market reaction.

It Consumerization: Byod-Program Acceptance and its Impact on Employer Attractiveness

Many firms are considering ‘bring-your-own-device’ (BYOD) programs, under which their employees are allowed to bring their own devices to work and use them for both private and business purposes. This study examines what factors determine an employees intention to participate in a corporate BYOD program and how such programs affect employer attractiveness. We approach our study of acceptance of corporate BYOD programs from the perspective of technology acceptance research. For this purpose, we propose a modified and extended UTAUT model. The model was tested by surveying students in their final term (n = 444). We show that performance expectancies have the strongest positive effect on intention, while perceived threats negatively impact intention. Finally, behavioural intention was positively associated with employer attractiveness, which leads to clear indications for companies considering establishing corporate BYOD programs. BYOD seems to play an increasingly important role in attracting and retaining future talent.

The perceived benefits of business process outsourcing

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide an in‐depth analysis of the benefits senior management associate with business process outsourcing (BPO) and how these benefits are valued against each other.Design/methodology/approach – A quantitative empirical study of the 200 largest banks in Germany was conducted: 218 senior managers from 126 different banks responded giving a response rate of 36.8 per cent. The answers were analysed using the partial least squares method (PLS).Findings – The quantitative analysis shows surprising findings. A remarkable one is that there is a significantly higher value associated to the programmability of cost in a BPO case than to actual cost savings. This implies that the BPO market gained in maturity and that banks are much more critical to the marketing statements of outsourcing service providers than in previous years.Research limitations/implications – This paper supports the case for a more detailed analysis of the benefits associated with BPO. Although it is e...

Acceptance and use of electronic medical records: An exploratory study of hospital physicians’ salient beliefs about HIT systems

If a hospital keeps electronic medical records (EMRs), the underlying health information system is the primary repository and source of patient-related data for hospital physicians. Even though the benefits and improvements attained through health information technology (HIT) are widely acknowledged, EMR adoption rates are surprisingly low in German hospitals. Since there is no ‘pull’ to use EMR systems, we theorize that low penetration of EMR systems could be in part explained by physicians’ antipathy towards computerized medical records. In order to examine physicians’ salient beliefs about EMRs and EMR usage and to identify the processes that form them, we conducted a multi-case study in German hospitals, drawing on concepts from Social Cognitive Theory and the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) to elicit beliefs and structure our analysis. This study sheds light on different types of beliefs and the belief-forming process and their impact on HIT acceptance and use. Our findings indicate that HIT acceptance and use is not solely impacted by cognitive behavioural and environmental factors, as proposed by UTAUT, but also by personal factors such as self-efficacy and emotions. Furthermore, our study provides evidence of continuous reciprocal causation across behavioural, personal and environmental beliefs. The findings indicate that existing technology acceptance models need to be modified for the specific health-care context by adapting the range, meaning and scope of constructs.

Elderly People in eHealth: Who are they?☆

Abstract eHealth initiatives are constantly evolving, supporting consumers to take active control of their health and well-being through access to health information via the Internet. Although particularly elderly people could benefit from eHealth, they often pose resistance and anxiety towards new technologies. Since modern technologies become increasingly complex, elderlys mental models on how technology works might be not supported. Todays technologies are often designed without paying attention to the circumstances of elderly people, thereby limiting the technologies’ intended effectiveness. As such it becomes apparent to understand who these ‘elderly people’ actually are and how individual characteristics shape elderlys perceptions and behavior in using eHealth. Consequently, we seek to investigate how broad personality traits (i.e. the ‘big five’) affect perceptions of elderly of being generally able to use the Internet (i.e. self-efficacy) in order to use the Internet for health-related purposes. By conducting a quantitative study among elderly people, we aim to contribute to the knowledge on relationships between personality traits and self-efficacy. We further expect to provide new insights on elderlys personality in order to design effective systems for the growing segment of older adults.

A Description and Retrieval Model for Web Services Including Extended Semantic and Commercial Attributes

Commercially available web services pose certain challenges to the customer. Whereas the technical service description is usually well defined and published, the semantic and especially the commercial description does often not reach the necessary depth. Therefore, identifying the most suitable web service from a technical, semantic and commercial perspective is often a difficult quest. This research develops a holistic web service description language integrating the semantic and commercial perspective and based on XML. The newly defined description rules for web services enable a requestor to identify the most suitable web services according to a given set of parameters. The model is tested with a prototype and the proof-of-concept shows that it is a fully functional description. Applying this model on a broad scale would lead to better decisions in web service selection, especially if non-technical staff is involved.

Quo vadis outsourcing? A view from practice

Purpose The purpose of this study is to derive a prioritized list of the present and future topics that sourcing managers in large companies are mostly concerned with using a rigorous methodological approach. Design/methodology/approach The Delphi method was chosen to derive the list. An initial list of topics was compiled based on a literature review combined with the results of an expert panel. This input was prioritized and extended by sourcing managers over three iterations. Findings The findings indicate that outsourcing remains a hot topic, even after almost 25 years of academic research. The authors identified four clusters where outsourcing scholars who are interested to provide insights and guidance for practitioners should focus their attention: managerial decisions (selection of the right partner and ability of the company to outsource parts of their business), managing the service provider (governance issues and relationship management and alignment), managerial responsibilities (integrated risk management and adherence to regulation and compliance) and increased flexibility (cloud computing and multi-vendor arrangements). Research limitations/implications The findings are only directly transferrable to large companies using experienced sourcing managers in Germany. Originality/value The findings may serve as input in formulating a research agenda which helps to align scholars’ focus and practitioners’ problems.

Older Adults’ Use of Online Health Information – Do They Even Try?

Online health information holds the potential to support older adults in taking active control of their health and well-being. Yet, despite generally using the Internet, many seniors do not make use of health information provided via the Internet. Understanding why older Internet users do not use online health information is consequently of high importance. Drawing on post-adoption research, a model is developed and empirically validated that examines how the interplay of health need, health knowledge, exploratory IT behavior and benefit expectations jointly accounts for seniors’ online health information use. This research contributes to the literature by focusing explicitly on older adults and by providing a better understanding how health need and health knowledge enable and inhibit online health information use.