Rajiv Kishore

The role of service level agreements in relational management of information technology outsourcing: an empirical study

This study extends the view that formal contracts and relational governance function as complements rather than as substitutes. We investigate how specific characteristics of service level agreements (SLAs) impact relational governance in information technology outsourcing relationships. Eleven contractual elements (categorized into three SLA characteristics: foundation, change, and governance characteristics) are hypothesized to act as complements of three relational governance attributes: relational norms, harmonious conflict resolution, and mutual dependence. Data for the study were collected through a survey of South Korean IT executives. Results of the study support the fundamental proposition of complementarity between formal contracts and relational governance, and indicate that well-structured SLAs have significant positive influence on the various aspects of relational governance in IT outsourcing relationships. However, the study also reveals that change characteristics of SLAs may act as a substitute for relational governance as these characteristics were found to dampen the level of trust and commitment through moderation effects. Overall, the findings support the proposition that well-developed SLAs not only provide a way to measure the service providers performance, but also enable effective management of outsourcing engagements through the development of partnership-style relationships with high levels of trust and commitment.

Rules of Crowdsourcing: Models, Issues, and Systems of Control

In this article, the authors first provide a practical yet rigorous definition of crowdsourcing that incorporates “crowds,” outsourcing, and social web technologies. They then analyze 103 well-known crowdsourcing web sites using content analysis methods and the hermeneutic reading principle. Based on their analysis, they develop a “taxonomic theory” of crowdsourcing by organizing the empirical variants in nine distinct forms of crowdsourcing models. They also discuss key issues and directions, concentrating on the notion of managerial control systems.

An investigation of factors that influence the duration of IT outsourcing relationships

Past studies in the IT outsourcing area have examined the management of IT outsourcing relationships from a variety of perspectives. The present paper extends this line of research. In this study, we take a multi-theoretic perspective to explore factors that determine the duration of continuing IT outsourcing relationships between vendor and client firms. Five ex-ante and two ex-post factors that may influence relationship duration were examined in this study. Data for this study were collected using a nationwide survey. To investigate the dynamics of continuing outsourcing relationships through repetitive contracts, we performed survival analysis using an accelerated failure-time (AFT) model. Four factors are found to have a significant relationship with relationship duration as hypothesized. However, three factors, of which two are ex-post factors, are found to not have a significant impact on outsourcing relationship duration. Implications and contributions of the study are discussed.

Enterprise integration using the agent paradigm: foundations of multi-agent-based integrative business information systems

Enterprise integration through integrated business information systems (IBIS) is necessary to achieve agility in the current age of hyper-competition. Multi-agent systems (MAS) provide a new paradigm for IBIS development. In this paper, we review the IBIS modeling and MAS literatures and find that the MAS paradigm provides an excellent approach for modeling and implementing IBIS systems. We synthesize these two bodies of literature and propose a conceptual framework for multi-agent-based integrative business information systems (MIBIS) and a unified set of eight orthogonal ontological constructs that are minimally required for any conceptual modeling grammar for the MIBIS bounded universe of discourse.

Market reactions to E-business outsourcing announcements: an event study

Stock markets have reacted favorably to firms who announced their implementation of E-business projects for commercial exploitation. Those that outsourced E-business projects in order to achieve swift execution also achieved abnormal positive returns. Contrary to expectations, outsourcing E-business projects with high task complexity also led to positive results. We analyzed the process and found that these three factors explained more than 20% of the variance in abnormal returns. The results were obtained from an event study of 96 E-business-related announcements, including those made by firms in the S&P500 index during 1999-2002. This paper contains information that should therefore help firms identify E-business projects for outsourcing.

How robust is the UTAUT instrument?: a multigroup invariance analysis in the context of acceptance and use of online community weblog systems

The recent Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) model developed by Venkatesh et al. (Venkatesh, et al., 2003) as an integration of the various technology acceptance and use models is an important model in IS literature. However, the UTAUT instrument has not been tested in many different settings and contexts yet. If the scales for the UTAUT constructs are not robust and stable across settings, they are most likely to effect the interpretation of research results. It is, therefore, essential to assess whether these scales are perceived in the same way by individuals in different subgroups. In this paper, acceptance of online community Weblog systems is chosen as the context and data collected from 265 business school undergraduate students are analyzed using multiple group invariance analysis to assess the equivalence of the UTAUT scales across different subgroups based on gender, general computing knowledge, Weblog-specific knowledge, experience with Weblogs, and frequency of using Weblogs. Results indicate that scales for the four constructs in UTAUT including performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence, and facilitating conditions have invariant true scores across most but not all subgroups. Researchers and practitioners, therefore, need to apply caution when interpreting the results from the UTAUT instrument.

Determinants of Sourcing During Technology Growth and Maturity: An Empirical Study of e-Commerce Sourcing

This paper conducts a two-period dynamic analysis of sourcing mode choices for e-commerce projects implemented by large firms during 1999-2002. We differentiate e-commerce assets that are the focus of a sourcing decision in terms of whether they are in the growth or maturity stages. We also consider hybrid governance mechanisms, such as minority equity arrangements, as a potential sourcing mode in addition to the conventional distinction between insourcing (i.e., hierarchical governance) and outsourcing (i.e., market governance). The rapid evolution in e-commerce technologies and their markets during this period allows us to test whether asset maturity plays any role in sourcing decisions. Results indicate that when the strategic intent of an e-commerce project is more business focused during the growth phase, hybrid governance is preferred over hierarchical governance for sourcing of e-commerce assets. Strategic intent is found not to influence sourcing mode choices during the technology/market maturity phase. Hierarchical governance is the preferred sourcing mode during the growth phase, when task complexity is high. For managing task complexity, as technologies and their markets mature, both hierarchical and hybrid governance modes become preferable to the market governance mode.

From DQ to EQ: understanding data quality in the context of e-business systems

A fix for irrelevant information, cognitive overhead, and disorientation---common gremlins endured by every e-business system user.

Offshore Outsourcing: Risks, Challenges, and Potential Solutions

Abstract While offshore outsourcing is associated with several benefits, these ventures also pose many risks. In this paper, through an in-depth review, we develop a type 1 analysis theory about the various risks involved in offshore outsourcing projects, the challenges faced by managers in these collaboration initiatives, and solutions that may aid in overcoming those challenges. This paper contributes to both the theoretical and practice domains by providing a comprehensive offshoring challenges and solutions framework.

An extension of the UTAUT model with e-quality, trust, and satisfaction constructs

This research seeks to validate a comprehensive model of quality in the context of e-business systems. It also extends the UTAUT model with e-quality, trust, and satisfaction constructs. The proposed model brings together extant research on systems and data quality, trust, and satisfaction and provides an important cluster of antecedents to eventual technology acceptance via constructs of behavioral intention to use and actual system usage.