Jae-Nam Lee

Effect of partnership quality on IS outsourcing success: conceptual framework and empirical validation

Recently, increasing attention has been paid to building successful partnerships in information systems (IS) outsourcing. This study establishes partnership quality as a key predictor of outsourcing success. We propose a theoretical framework for outsourcing partnership based on a social, rather than an economic, perspective. We identify the partnership-related variables from the relevant literature and clarify the concept of partnership quality by distinguishing between its components and its determinants. We then examine the impact of partnership quality on outsourcing success. Hypotheses on partnership quality were tested for 74 outsourcing relationships between 36 service receivers and 54 service providers. Results indicate that partnership quality may serve as a key predictor of outsourcing success. Partnership quality was found to be positively influenced by factors such as participation, communication, information sharing, and top management support, and negatively affected by age of relationship and mutual dependency.

The impact of knowledge sharing, organizational capability and partnership quality on IS outsourcing success

In recent studies, there has been much interest in knowledge sharing between the service receiver and provider through an outsourcing partnership and its effect on Information Systems (IS) outsourcing success. This study examines the relationship between knowledge sharing and outsourcing success. The effect of the ability of the service receiver to absorb the needed knowledge and of companies to build a partnership on these relationships are modeled and hypotheses defined. These were tested using a sample of 195 public sector organizations in Korea. Findings indicate that all hypothesized paths in the model are significant.

IT Outsourcing Strategies: Universalistic, Contingency, and Configurational Explanations of Success

Focus on individual outsourcing decisions in IT research has often yielded contradictory findings and recommendations. To address these contradictions, we investigate a holistic, configurational approach with the prevailing universalistic or contingency perspectives in exploring the effects of IT outsourcing strategies on outsourcing success. Based on residual rights theory, we begin by identifying three dimensions of IT outsourcing strategies: degree of integration, allocation of control, and performance period. We then develop a model of fit-as-gestalt, drawing from literatures on strategy, governance, interorganizational relationships, and outsourcing.Next, based on data from 311 firms in South Korea, we test universalistic and contingency perspectives in explaining the relationship between IT outsourcing strategies and outsourcing success. We then identify three congruent patterns, or gestalts, of IT outsourcing strategies. We term these strategiesindependent, arms-length, andembedded strategies. To establish the predictive validity of these gestalts and the viability of a configurational perspective, we then explore the effects of these congruent gestalts vis-A -vis noncongruent patterns on three dimensions of outsourcing success:strategic competence,cost efficiency, andtechnology catalysis. We also contrast the effects of each of the three gestalts on each of the three dimensions of outsourcing success. Our findings indicate the superiority of the configurational approach over universalistic and contingency perspectives in explaining outsourcing success.

IT outsourcing evolution---: past, present, and future

To achieve complex solutions in the rapidly changing world of e-commerce, it is impossible to go it alone. This explains the latest trend in IT outsourcing---global and partner-based alliances. But where do we go from here?

Using e-CRM for a unified view of the customer

Applying detailed knowledge of the customer to a larger business domain.

The role of readiness for change in ERP implementation: Theoretical bases and empirical validation

Implementation of ERP systems continues to drive change in organizations. However, the effort is often considered a failure, partially because potential users resist the change. Readiness plays an active role in reducing resistance to such efforts. Therefore, we examined the formation of readiness for change and its effect on the perceived technological value of an ERP system leading to its use. We developed a model of readiness for change incorporating TAM and TPB. The model was then empirically tested using data collected from users of ERP systems in Korea. Structural equation analysis using LISREL provided significant support for all proposed relationships. Specifically, we found that readiness for change had an indirect effect on behavioral intention to use an ERP system. At the same time, readiness for change was found to be enhanced by two factors: organizational commitment and perceived personal competence.

Analyzing the impact of a firm's capability on outsourcing success: A process perspective

We investigated the effect of a firms resource capabilities and interaction processes on the success of IT outsourcing. Grounded in available literature on outsourcing relationship and process theory as well as a resource-based view of the IT resource capability, a conceptual model was composed to examine the causal structure of capability, process, and relationship in IT outsourcing. We identified the firms resource capability factors and, based on the premise that relationship intensity should be affected by the IT outsourcing process, we developed a first-order factor analysis of resource capabilities in the interactions between the outsourcer and provider. Results of empirical testing using responses from 267 IT outsourcing project teams in Korea supported most of our hypotheses. The integration of corporate IT resource and capability theories with social exchange theory distinguishes our research from that of others, who have generally treated these theories separately.

An integrative model of trust on IT outsourcing: Examining a bilateral perspective

Trust has been considered a central aspect of successful IT outsourcing. Although a great deal of interest in trust has been described, there are very few theoretical models in the IT outsourcing literature to explain mutual trust, its role, and its impact in IT outsourcing. This study proposes a trust-based relationship research model to assess the perceived IT outsourcing success in terms of (1) mutual trust with its temporal dimension of initial trust and initial distrust, and (2) knowledge sharing with the moderating effect of mutual dependency. This model was then validated and applied in a study involving organizations in Korea. The data was collected and analyzed to understand initial trust, initial distrust, knowledge sharing, and mutual dependency as contributing factors to success in IT outsourcing. The results show that mutual trust between the service receiver and provider is very important for knowledge sharing and outsourcing success, and is affected by the initial perception to each other’s partner at the beginning of the outsourcing process. Interestingly, this study also shows that initial trust is considered a significant factor in the perception of mutual trust from the service receiver’s perspective, but not from the service provider’s viewpoint. The results help extend our understanding of critical success factors in outsourcing success and of different standpoints between the service receiver and provider.

Understanding outsourcing partnership: a comparison of three theoretical perspectives

In recent years, increasing attention has been paid to building a successful partnership between the customer and supplier of the information systems (IS) outsourcing services. The sources of influence in successful information services outsourcing partnerships were explored by means of a study of Korean firms involved in such activity. Six major partnership-related variables were identified, and three alternative models were formulated based on 1) a behavioral-attitudinal theory which considered mutual benefits, commitment, and predisposition as intervening variables between the action-based factors of shared knowledge, mutual dependency and organizational linkage, and outsourcing success; 2) a simple direct effects model without such intervening variables; and 3) a model is based on a theory of reasoned action where the roles of the need-based psychological factors and the action-based factors were reversed. The three models were compared using a survey of 225 organizations in Korea that have outsourced their IS functions to external service providers. The findings indicate that the first model built on the behavioral-attitudinal theory best explained outsourcing success.

Effects of initial and ongoing trust in IT outsourcing: A bilateral perspective

Much has been written about the need for trust in outsourcing relationships, but the literature has produced only a few theoretical models that explain the process that helps it evolve. We proposed a theoretical model by distinguishing ongoing beliefs, such as ongoing trust and distrust, from initial perceptions, such as initial trust and distrust, in the context of IT outsourcing, and then explored empirically how these interacted with one another the knowledge sharing experience between the participants, thus leading to a successful experience from both the outsourcer and the service provider. The model and its hypotheses were tested using two-stage survey data collected from IT outsourcing projects. Our results showed that the ongoing trust and distrust between the receiver and provider were crucial in attaining benefits and that the outcome was also affected by the perceptions of the participants at the initial stage of the outsourcing process. We also found that knowledge-sharing experience between the parties moderated the impact of initial trust or distrust on the ongoing trust or distrust in different ways: the change in the service providers initial perceptions were apparently more visible and positive than those of the service receivers, although both initial perceptions tended to be cognitively consistent. These results helped us understand how trust evolves over time in an outsourcing relationship, and enabled us to explore the different viewpoints of the service provider and receiver.