James T. C. Teng

The effect of service quality and partnership on the outsourcing of information systems functions

Numerous corporations today are outsourcing specific information systems (IS) functions. The diversity of these outsourcing arrangements goes well beyond that associated with the more traditional facilities management. This paper examines outsourcing trends and reports the results of an empirical study on IS outsourcing. Overall IS outsourcing and its five component functions--namely, applications development, systems operations, telecommunications, end-user support, and systems planning and management--are examined for their relationships with outsourcing success. The effect of service quality of the provider and the ability of companies to build a partnership on these relationships are hypothesized and studied. Data from senior executives in 188 companies are gathered. Outsourcing success is found to be highly related to the degree of outsourcing of two functions, systems operations and telecommunications. The results indicate that transaction cost theory provides a good framework for IS outsourcing and that asset specificity of outsourcing transactions needs to be considered in any decision to outsource. Also, both service quality of the vendor and elements of partnership such as trust, cooperation, and communication are important for outsourcing success. Implications of the study for research and practice are discussed.

Business process change: a study of methodologies, techniques, and tools

Growth in Business Process Reengineering (BPR) consulting services has led to a proliferation of methods for conducting BPR. Sifting through vendor promotional hype and identifying a set of techniques and tools that best meets a particular projects needs can be a daunting task. This article investigates BPR Methods, Techniques, and Tools (MTTs) and places them within an empirically derived reference framework. A comprehensive picture of BPR emerges that includes MTTs that help in reengineering strategy, people, management, structure, and technology dimensions of business processes. A BPR planning approach for customizing this framework based on unique project characteristics is then offered to assist in selecting those BPR project activities and techniques to be emphasized. This flexible framework and comprehensive survey of commonly used BPR techniques and tools forms a knowledge base to improve business process change practice and provides a basis for future BPR research.

The implementation of business process reengineering

As more organizations undertake business process reengineering (BPR), issues in implementing BPR projects become a major concern. This field research seeks empirically to explore the problems of implementing reengineering projects and how the severity of these problems relates to BPR project success. Based on past theories and research related to the implementation of organizational change as well as field experience of reengineering experts, a comprehensive list of sixty-four BPR implementation problems was identified. The severity of each problem was then rated by those who have participated in reengineering in 105 organizations. Analysis of the results clearly demonstrates the central importance of change management in BPR implementation success. Resolutions of problems in other areas such as technological competence and project planning were also determined to be necessary, but not sufficient, conditions for reengineering success. Further, problems that are more directly related to the conduct of a project such as process delineation, project management, and tactical planning were perceived as less difficult, yet highly related to project success. This situation was also true for human resource problems such as training personnel for the redesigned process. These findings suggest that reengineering project implementation is complex, involving many factors. To succeed, it is essential that change be managed and that balanced attention be paid to all identified factors, including those that are more contextual (e.g., management support and technological competence) as well as factors that pertain directly to the conduct of the project (e.g., project management and process delineation). As one of the first pieces of empirical evidence based on a field study, this research emphasizes the importance of addressing BPR implementation within the broader context of organizational change in a complex sociotechnical environment.

BUSINESS PROCESS REENGINEERING: Building a Comprehensive Methodology

The new paradigm of business process reengineering seeks to achieve dramatic performance improvement by radically redesigning the organization; it replaces information systems development that has focused largely on automating and supporting existing organizational procedures. The Process Reengineering Life Cycle (PRLC) proposed in this article is a comprehensive, six-stage methodology with guidelines for envisioning a reengineering project, getting started, diagnosing process pathologies, and redesigning, reorganizing, and measuring the newly configured process.

Theoretical perspectives on the outsourcing of information systems

Critics have argued that the field of information systems (IS) lacks a coherent theoretical framework. This paper attempts to further the theoretical development of a critical and pervasive contemporary phenomenon, outsourcing of IS functions, by synthesizing four theoretical models (resource-based theory, resource-dependence theory, transaction cost theory and agency theory) that are useful for understanding determinants of a firms outsourcing strategy. From these theoretical models, a contingency model of outsourcing is developed which can be used to direct empirical research.

A descriptive study on the outsourcing of information systems functions

A few years ago some major outsourcing contracts were signed by large corporations like Eastman Kodak and General Dynamics. Since then the trade literature in particular has examined the outsourcing of Information Systems (IS) functions as an important and growing trend. This paper attempts to provide a systematic overview of the outsourcing phenomenon. IS outsourcing is viewed from a definitional and an evolutionary perspective. It is argued that outsourcing is not new, but its nature has evolved over decades. An exploratory study of 188 firms is reported; it provides insight into the types of IS functions being outsourced and the relationship between outsourcing and certain demographics: size, industry and information intensity. The results suggest that while system-operations remains the predominant function outsourced, other functions are also being performed by external service providers. Further, industry and information intensity have some influence on the extent of outsourcing of certain functions.

Business Process Reengineering: Charting a Strategic Path for the Information Age

Many organizations are undergoing major restructuring efforts in order to be viable in todays changing economic environment. Business process redesign (BPR), which involves the radical redesign of age-old business processes, represents one such effort. Information technologies (IT) play an important role in BPR. This article presents a framework for examining business processes based on two process characteristics—degree of mediation and degree of collaboration—to show how IT may be applied to improve process performance by altering these process characteristics. Based on the framework, guidelines are provided for selecting strategic paths in reengineering specific processes.

Information technology innovations: general diffusion patterns and its relationships to innovation characteristics

While many scholars of organizational innovations have examined characteristics of innovations such as relative advantage and complexity and how they facilitate the adoption of an innovation by organizations, others have used mathematical models to fit diffusion patterns. In this study, the authors attempt to integrate these two areas of inquiry and explore the possibilities to predict diffusion patterns based on characteristics of the innovation and the adopting entities. Based on a cross-sectional sample of 313 large American firms, 20 information technology (IT) innovations were examined and their diffusion patterns assessed with respect to models that espoused internal and external influence. The mixed influence model (Bass model) was chosen as a robust common representation for the set of diffusion patterns. However, the external influence as represented by the coefficient of innovation was found to be extremely small and the internal influence dominates for all innovations. The other two parameters of the model, the saturation level and the coefficient of imitation, which represents internal influence, were then used to perform a cluster analysis. Five clusters of technologies emerged, and the potential relationships between their innovation characteristics and diffusion patterns were explored. Rigorous examination of these potential relationships by future researchers may result in practical methods for predicting patterns of IT innovation diffusion based on innovation and technology characteristics.

The Relationship of Information System Training Methods and Cognitive Ability to End-User Satisfaction, Comprehension, and Skill Transfer: A Longitudinal Field Study

This study compares traditional and nontraditional training techniques with regard to computer related training. Its purpose was to determine which training methods could best be utilized in computer related training to maximize a trainees retention of material and transfer of learning. A field experiment was conducted using two hundred members of active duty U.S. Naval Construction Battalion as subjects. Evaluation of trainees included a pre-training screening, post-training evaluation immediately after training, and a follow-up session four weeks after the post-training session utilizing previously validated instruments. Training treatments included instruction lecture, exploration independent study, and a nontraditional technique---behavior modeling an enhanced combination of the other two methods. Performance outcomes were operationalized using hands-on task performance and comprehension of the computer system as dependent variables. End-user satisfaction with the computer system was also measured. Two covariates, cognitive ability and system use, were also introduced into the study. The use of hands-on training methods, especially behavior modeling, resulted in superior retention of knowledge, transfer of learning, and end-user satisfaction. Cognitive ability failed to be a good predictor of trainee success but a connection was established between training methodology, system use, and end-user satisfaction.

Empirical Evidence on Swanson's Tri-Core Model of Information Systems Innovation

Research in IS innovation has been isolated and fragmented. These studies typically examine single innovations and do not effectively integrate notions of IS innovation with organizational innovation. Swanson Swanson, E. B. 1994. Information systems innovation among organizations. Management Sci.409 1069--1088. extends the prior dual-core model of innovation into a tri-core model specifically for the unique nature of IS innovation. This model provides a useful typology of IS innovation that can form the foundation for innovation theory in this important area. In this paper we present Swansons tri-core model of IS innovation along with preliminary data to test aspects of the model proposed by Swanson. Adoption of ten IS innovations is studied using two analyses, one based only on adopter sub-samples and the other using a more rigorous treatment of nonadopters based on survival analysis. The objective of this study is simple---to test theory and encourage continued focused inquiry in IS innovation. The results of this study provide partial support for the proposed hypotheses, leading us to conclude on an optimistic note regarding the viability of this model as an integrating frame-work for IS innovation.