IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/infosf/v10y2008i2d10.1007_s10796-008-9065-8.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Firm strategic profile and IT outsourcing

Author

Listed:
  • Benoit A. Aubert

    (2020 University)

  • Guillaume Beaurivage

    (SAP Canada)

  • Anne-Marie Croteau

    (Concordia University)

  • Suzanne Rivard

    (HEC Montréal and CIRANO)

Abstract

IT outsourcing research has often been at the transaction level, focusing on the role of the characteristics of the IT activities as the antecedents of outsourcing decisions. The present study extends past research efforts examining the relationships between organizational level variables—in particular the business strategy—and the decision to outsource. Results show that prospectors and analyzers are more aggressive in their use of outsourcing for IT operations. However, no differences between the behaviour of the different strategic groups were found for maintenance activities, suggesting that these activities are too far from the core of the organization to be influenced by strategic profile.

Suggested Citation

  • Benoit A. Aubert & Guillaume Beaurivage & Anne-Marie Croteau & Suzanne Rivard, 2008. "Firm strategic profile and IT outsourcing," Information Systems Frontiers, Springer, vol. 10(2), pages 129-143, April.
  • Handle: RePEc:spr:infosf:v:10:y:2008:i:2:d:10.1007_s10796-008-9065-8
    DOI: 10.1007/s10796-008-9065-8
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10796-008-9065-8
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10796-008-9065-8?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jeffrey S. Conant & Michael P. Mokwa & P. Rajan Varadarajan, 1990. "Strategic types, distinctive marketing competencies and organizational performance: A multiple measures‐based study," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 11(5), pages 365-383, September.
    2. Pierre Berthon & Leyland Pitt & Michael Ewing & Christopher L. Carr, 2002. "Potential Research Space in MIS: A Framework for Envisioning and Evaluating Research Replication, Extension, and Generation," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 13(4), pages 416-427, December.
    3. Kirk Monteverde & David J. Teece, 1982. "Supplier Switching Costs and Vertical Integration in the Automobile Industry," Bell Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 13(1), pages 206-213, Spring.
    4. Rajiv Sabherwal & Yolande E. Chan, 2001. "Alignment Between Business and IS Strategies: A Study of Prospectors, Analyzers, and Defenders," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 12(1), pages 11-33, March.
    5. Francois Hennart, Jean, 1988. "Upstream vertical integration in the aluminum and tin industries : A comparative study of the choice between market and intrafirm coordination," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 9(3), pages 281-299, April.
    6. Masten, Scott E, 1984. "The Organization of Production: Evidence from the Aerospace Industry," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 27(2), pages 403-417, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Jun Tian & Kanliang Wang & Yan Chen & Björn Johansson, 2010. "From IT deployment capabilities to competitive advantage: An exploratory study in China," Information Systems Frontiers, Springer, vol. 12(3), pages 239-255, July.
    2. Chulhwan Chris Bang, 2015. "Information systems frontiers: Keyword analysis and classification," Information Systems Frontiers, Springer, vol. 17(1), pages 217-237, February.
    3. Anandasivam Gopal & Sabari Rajan Karmegam & Balaji R. Koka & William M. Rand, 2020. "Is the Grass Greener? On the Strategic Implications of Moving Along the Value Chain for IT Service Providers," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 31(1), pages 148-175, March.
    4. Vincent Cho & Aman Chan, 2015. "An integrative framework of comparing SaaS adoption for core and non-core business operations: An empirical study on Hong Kong industries," Information Systems Frontiers, Springer, vol. 17(3), pages 629-644, June.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. repec:bla:jomstd:v:47:y:2010:i:s1:p:859-883 is not listed on IDEAS
    2. Bigelow, Lyda S. & Argyres, Nicholas, 2008. "Transaction costs, industry experience and make-or-buy decisions in the population of early U.S. auto firms," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 66(3-4), pages 791-807, June.
    3. Poray, Michael C. & Gray, Allan W. & Boehlje, Michael, 2002. "Evaluation of Alternative Coordination Systems Between Producers and Packers in the Pork Value Chain," Staff Papers 200386, Purdue University, Department of Agricultural Economics.
    4. Sharon Novak & Scott Stern, 2009. "Complementarity Among Vertical Integration Decisions: Evidence from Automobile Product Development," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 55(2), pages 311-332, February.
    5. Magali Delmas & Ivan Montiel, 2009. "Greening the Supply Chain: When Is Customer Pressure Effective?," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 18(1), pages 171-201, March.
    6. Thomas Mellewigt & Glenn Hoetker & Martina Lütkewitte, 2018. "Avoiding High Opportunism Is Easy, Achieving Low Opportunism Is Not: A QCA Study on Curbing Opportunism in Buyer–Supplier Relationships," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 29(6), pages 1208-1208, December.
    7. Artz, Kendall W. & Brush, Thomas H., 2000. "Asset specificity, uncertainty and relational norms: an examination of coordination costs in collaborative strategic alliances," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 41(4), pages 337-362, April.
    8. Hermano, Víctor & Martín-Cruz, Natalia, 2013. "How to Deliver Foreign Aid? The Case of Projects Governed by the Spanish International Agency," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 298-314.
    9. Daron Acemoglu & Philippe Aghion & Rachel Griffith & Fabrizio Zilibotti, 2010. "Vertical Integration and Technology: Theory and Evidence," Journal of the European Economic Association, MIT Press, vol. 8(5), pages 989-1033, September.
    10. Wang, Sen & Bogle, Tim & van Kooten, G. Cornelis, 2012. "Forestry and the New Institutional Economics," Working Papers 130818, University of Victoria, Resource Economics and Policy.
    11. Schmidt, Klaus & Fehr, Ernst & Bartling, Björn, 2012. "Use and Abuse of Authority: A Behavioral Foundation of the Employment Relation," CEPR Discussion Papers 9231, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    12. Thiele, Veikko, 2007. "The Demand for Tailored Goods and the Theory of the Firm," MPRA Paper 2471, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    13. Francine Lafontaine & Kathryn L. Shaw, 1999. "The Dynamics of Franchise Contracting: Evidence from Panel Data," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 107(5), pages 1041-1080, October.
    14. Rachael E. Goodhue & Dale M. Heien & Hyunok Lee & Daniel A. Sumner, 2003. "Contracts and Quality in the California Winegrape Industry," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 23(3_4), pages 267-282, December.
    15. W. Coles, Jerilyn & Hesterly, William S., 1998. "The impact of firm-specific assets and the interaction of uncertainty: an examination of make or buy decisions in public and private hospitals," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 36(3), pages 383-409, August.
    16. Mikko Ketokivi & Joseph T. Mahoney, 2020. "Transaction Cost Economics As a Theory of Supply Chain Efficiency," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 29(4), pages 1011-1031, April.
    17. De Vita, Glauco & Tekaya, Arafet & Wang, Catherine L., 2010. "Asset specificity's impact on outsourcing relationship performance: A disaggregated analysis by buyer-supplier asset specificity dimensions," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 63(7), pages 657-666, July.
    18. Johannes Boehm, 2014. "The Impact of Contract Enforcement Costs on Outsourcing and Aggregate Productivity," 2014 Meeting Papers 340, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    19. Lyons, Bruce R., 1995. "Specific investment, economies of scale, and the make-or-buy decision: A test of transaction cost theory," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 26(3), pages 431-443, May.
    20. Bruce R. Lyons, 1994. "Contracts and Specific Investment: An Empirical Test of Transaction Cost Theory," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 3(2), pages 257-278, June.
    21. Heritier Adrienne & Mueller-Debus Anna K & Thauer Christian R, 2010. "The Firm as an Inspector: Private Ordering and Political Rules," Business and Politics, De Gruyter, vol. 11(4), pages 1-34, January.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    IT outsourcing; Strategic profile;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:infosf:v:10:y:2008:i:2:d:10.1007_s10796-008-9065-8. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.