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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
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    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.

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    Keywords

    IT outsourcing; Strategic profile;

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