 Exploring the transition phase in offshore outsourcing: Decision making amidst knowledge at riskChristopher Williams and Susanne Durst Journal of Business Research, 2019, vol. 103, issue C, 460-471 Abstract: We explore the transition phase in information system (IS) offshore outsourcing, focusing on ongoing decisions made in a client-vendor arrangement and the implications these decisions have for knowledge at risk. Drawing on time-compression and knowledge at risk literatures we argue that firms will need to make ongoing transitional decisions over time as knowledge intensive work is increasingly handed over from client to vendor. We conduct a longitudinal exploratory case study of a strategic development project transitioned from a European client to a company in India over a 4-year period. Analysis indicates: (1) four distinct phases of the transition: penetration, embedment, ramp-up and stabilization; (2) how transitional decisions and knowledge at risk vary across these phases. Results from the longitudinal approach have implications not only for understanding the ‘what’ and ‘how’ in IS offshore outsourcing but also for a deeper insight into the ‘when’ question. Keywords: Offshore outsourcing; Transitional decisions; Knowledge at risk; India; Longitudinal case study (search for similar items in EconPapers) Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:jbrese:v:103:y:2019:i:c:p:460-471 DOI: 10.1016/j.jbusres.2018.01.013 Access Statistics for this article Journal of Business Research is currently edited by A. G. Woodside More articles in Journal of Business Research from Elsevier |
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