Ilan Oshri

Social ties, knowledge sharing and successful collaboration in globally distributed system development projects

Traditionally, the main focus of the information system (IS) literature has been on technical aspects related to system development projects. Furthermore, research in the IS field has mainly focused on co-located project teams. In this respect, social aspects involved in IS projects were neglected or scarcely reported. To fill this gap, this paper studies the contribution of social ties and knowledge sharing to successful collaboration in distributed IS development teams. Data were drawn from two successful globally distributed system development projects at SAP and LeCroy. Data collected were codified using Atlas.ti software. The results suggest that human-related issues, such as rapport and transactive memory, were important for collaborative work in the teams studied. The paper concludes by discussing the implications for theory and suggesting a practical guide to enhance collaborative work in globally distributed teams.

Knowledge transfer in globally distributed teams: the role of transactive memory

This paper explores the role of transactive memory in enabling knowledge transfer between globally distributed teams. While the information systems literature has recently acknowledged the role transactive memory plays in improving knowledge processes and performance in colocated teams, little is known about its contribution to distributed teams. To contribute to filling this gap, knowledge‐transfer challenges and processes between onsite and offshore teams were studied at TATA Consultancy Services. In particular, the paper describes the transfer of knowledge between onsite and offshore teams through encoding, storing and retrieving processes. An in‐depth case study of globally distributed software development projects was carried out, and a qualitative, interpretive approach was adopted. The analysis of the case suggests that in order to overcome differences derived from the local contexts of the onsite and offshore teams (e.g. different work routines, methodologies and skills), some specific mechanisms supporting the development of codified and personalized ‘directories’ were introduced. These include the standardization of templates and methodologies across the remote sites as well as frequent teleconferencing sessions and occasional short visits. These mechanisms contributed to the development of the notion of ‘who knows what’ across onsite and offshore teams despite the challenges associated with globally distributed teams, and supported the transfer of knowledge between onsite and offshore teams. The paper concludes by offering theoretical and practical implications.

Managing dispersed expertise in IT offshore outsourcing: lessons from Tata Consultancy Services

Information Technology offshore outsourcing means using an offshore provider to handle some of an enterprise’s IT work. Offshore outsourcing now has a track record, so it has become an option that IT leaders need to consider. But the practice has raised the issue of how to manage expertise dispersed across sites. Both clients and providers now realize that knowledge management is an important contributor to successful offshore outsourcing.

Global software development: Exploring socialization and face-to-face meetings in distributed strategic projects

Socialization is one means through which globally distributed teams (GDTs) can improve collaboration. However, harnessing socializing processes to support globally distributed collaboration is not easy. In particular, infrequent and limited face-to-face (F2F) contact between remote counterparts might result in difficulties in sharing norms, attitudes and behaviours. In this paper we seek to understand how dispersed teams create socialization in globally distributed settings. Based on data collected at SAP, LeCroy and Baan we conclude that, while F2F meetings are important in socializing remote counterparts, other activities and processes employed before and after F2F meetings are no less important. In particular, the paper highlights the importance of re-socializing remote counterparts throughout a project lifecycle. Re-socializing means supporting the re-acquisition of behaviours, norms and attitudes that are necessary for participation in an organization. We offer a framework in which three phases of creating, maintaining and renewing socialization in GDTs are discussed. The paper concludes by offering managers some guidelines concerning socialization in GDTs.

Business model renewal and ambidexterity: structural alteration and strategy formation process during transition to a Cloud business model

textabstractThis paper presents the findings of a longitudinal study of a large corporations transition to a new business model in the face of a major transformation in the ICT industry brought about by Cloud computing. We build theory on the process of business model innovation through a qualitative study that investigates how an established firm organizes for an emerging business model. Contrary to previous findings that presented spatial separation as the optimal structural approach for dealing with two competing business models, our findings indicate a need for recursive iterations between different modes of separated and integrated structures in line with the emergent nature of strategic intent toward the new business models. Our analyses reveal strategy formation to be a collective experimental learning process revolving around a number of alternative strategic intentions ranging from incremental evolution and transformation to complete replacement of the existing business model. Given the fundamental differences in the nature and requirements of those alternative intents, iterations between different structural modes and differing combinations proved to be crucial in enabling the organization to make transition to the new business model.

Global sourcing: recent trends and issues

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to review recent trends and issues in global IT sourcing and to introduce papers in the special issue: “Social, managerial and knowledge aspects in global IT sourcing”.Design/methodology/approach – The paper examines trends by regions including Brazil, Russia, India and China and also trends in Captive Centres and their strategies.Findings – There will be a continuing rise in outsourcing revenues for global outsourcing, with BPO overtaking ITO within five years. Multi‐sourcing will continue to be the dominant trend. India will continue to dominate but its role will change. China heralds promise but will still struggle to achieve scale in Western European and North American markets. Emerging country competition will intensify. Software as a service will be a “slow burner” but will gain momentum in the second half of the next decade. Near‐shoring will be a strong trend. Outsourcing, by offering a potential alternative, will help discipline in‐house capabilities and ser...

Globally distributed component-based software development: an exploratory study of knowledge management and work division

Component-based development (CBD) can be an appealing proposition to globally distributed software development teams because of the almost endless possibilities to recombine and reuse components in new products. In particular, it has been suggested that CBD will improve globally distributed software development practices by allowing each site to take ownership of particular components, resulting in reduced inter-site communication and coordination activities. Such an approach may indeed overcome breakdowns in inter-site coordination efforts; however, it may also lessen opportunities to share knowledge between sites and may hamper opportunities to reuse existing components. A case study approach, exploratory in nature, was adopted to explore knowledge aspects in global component-based software development. Evidence collected at several globally distributed CBD projects suggests that the true potential of CBD, which mainly relates to reusing components, can also be achieved when components are developed in a joint manner (i.e. by several sites) by accessing and utilizing expertise regardless of its geographical location. To improve the rate of component reuse, the studied teams developed capabilities in three particular areas: inter-site coordination, communications, and knowledge management. The paper concludes by discussing the links between component reuse, CBD principles and organizational capabilities, and offers managers and engineers some guidelines to consider in their CBD projects.

Management Innovation and Adoption of Emerging Technologies: The Case of Cloud Computing

This paper examines the effect of management innovation on a firms ability to effectively adopt an emerging core technology. Organizing for technological change is often associated with structural dilemmas for incumbents: while structural contingent solutions such as spatially separated units and parallel organizations have been frequently discussed as enablers of handling contradictory requirements of existing and emerging technologies, there is empirical evidence that such solutions are likely to be either unfeasible or unsustainable in the cases of core technologies. Our analysis on the adoption process of a new core technology by a large telecommunication firm reveals the role of management innovation in fulfilling seemingly paradoxical structural requirements of knowledge accumulation in a dynamic knowledge environment. We discuss how a novel structural approach enabled the organization to overcome rigidities in the existing routines and foster a favorable environment for adoption of cloud technology and to overcome organizational challenges, with which the firms conventional practices failed to commensurate.This paper examines the effect of management innovation on a firms ability to effectively adopt an emerging core technology. Organizing for technological change is often associated with structural dilemmas for incumbents: while structural contingent solutions such as spatially separated units and parallel organizations have been frequently discussed as enablers of handling contradictory requirements of existing and emerging technologies, there is empirical evidence that such solutions are likely to be either unfeasible or unsustainable in the cases of core technologies. Our analysis on the adoption process of a new core technology by a large telecommunication firm reveals the role of management innovation in fulfilling seemingly paradoxical structural requirements of knowledge accumulation in a dynamic knowledge environment. We discuss how a novel structural approach enabled the organization to overcome rigidities in the existing routines and foster a favorable environment for adoption of cloud technology and to overcome organizational challenges, with which the firms conventional practices failed to commensurate.

Missing links: building critical social ties for global collaborative teamwork

Face-to-face meetings may be invaluable, but they are not a panacea for the challenges facing teams spread around the globe---managers must also prioritize activities before and after these meetings to help team members stay connected.

Country attractiveness for offshoring and offshore outsourcing : additional considerations

In this article, we review aspects relating to the attractiveness of India for information technology offshore – outsourcing. Our starting point is that, indeed, India will remain competitive in the short-medium term. However, more importantly, we move on to argue that country attractiveness is becoming a less important issue. We consider an alternative approach to analyze country attractive in which the clients strategic intent behind going offshore and the vendors global dispersedness and its local knowledge define the attractiveness of the firms offshoring strategy.