Succeeding in Application Services Outsourcing Strategies - A Contingency Perspective
ISBN
978-0-9915567-0-0
Type
conference paper
Date Issued
2014-06-10
Author(s)
Editor(s)
Avital, Michel
Leimeister, Jan Marco
Schultze, Ulrike
Research Team
IWI4
Abstract
Prior research has revealed that succeeding in application services outsourcing (ASO) is more complex than the outsourcing of other information technology (IT) functions. This complexity results from the closeness to business processes and lower degree in the standardisation of ASO. The present research endeavour explored the relationship between specific strategy configurations, the so-called ‘gestalts', and the success in ASO. By deriving a contingency model, we identified the internal factors which moderate the relationship between a particular outsourcing gestalt and its success. We conducted comparative case study research with 20 large German and Swiss enterprises. Basing on the notion of literal and theoretical replication, we identified the salient contingency factors and the forces amongst them. We were able to show that the success of the different gestalts is moderated by distinct sets of contingencies, considering the organisational structure, application portfolio structure and the information systems (IS) capabilities implemented. The results contribute to a more differentiated understanding of outsourcing contingencies and support an anticipatory assessment of outsourcing configurations in ASO.
Language
English
Keywords
CCIIM
HSG Classification
not classified
Refereed
No
Book title
ECIS 2014 proceedings : 22th European Conference on Information Systems
Publisher
Association for Information Systems
Publisher place
AIS Electronic Library (AISeL)
Event Title
22nd European Conference on Information Systems (ECIS) 2014
Event Location
Tel Aviv, Israel
Event Date
09.-11.06.2014
Subject(s)
Division(s)
Eprints ID
229758