Systems development ambidexterity: Explaining the complementary and substitutive roles of formal and informal controls

Journal of Management Information Systems

Volumn 27, Issue 2, 2010, Pages 87-126

  Tiwana, Amrit ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA   (United States)

Author keywords

ambidexterity; control mechanisms; interaction effects; outsourcing; project governance; signaling; software project control; systems development

Indexed keywords

AMBIDEXTERITY; CONTROL MECHANISMS; INTERACTION EFFECT; PROJECT GOVERNANCE; SOFTWARE PROJECT CONTROL; SYSTEMS DEVELOPMENT;

CARBON FIBER REINFORCED PLASTICS; INFORMATION SYSTEMS; OUTSOURCING; PROJECT MANAGEMENT; SIGNALING;

BEHAVIORAL RESEARCH;

EID: 78649396846     PISSN: 07421222     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.2753/MIS0742-1222270203     Document Type: Article

References (98)

1. Anderson, S., and Dekker, H. Management control for market transactions. Management Science, 51, 12 (2005), 1734-1752.
2. Armstrong, J., and Overton, T. Estimating non-response bias in mail surveys. Journal of Marketing Research, 14, 3 (1977), 396-402.
3. Aron, R.; Clemons, E.; and Reddi, S. Just right outsourcing: Understanding and managing risk. Journal of Management Information Systems, 22, 2 (Fall 2005), 37-55.
4. Arora, A., and Gambardella, A. Complementarity and external linkages: The strategies of large firms in biotechnology. Journal of Industrial Economics, 38, 4 (1990), 361-379.
5. Aulakh, P.; Kotabe, M.; and Sahay, A. Trust and performance in cross border marketing partnerships: A behavioral approach. In P. Beamish and P. Killing (eds.), Cooperative Strategies: North American Perspectives. San Francisco: New Lexington Press, 1997, pp. 163-196.
6. Bagozzi, R.P.; Yi, Y.; and Phillips, L.W. Assessing construct validity in organizational research. Administrative Science Quarterly, 36, 3 (1991), 421-458.
7. Baiman, S. Agency research in managerial accounting: A second look. Accounting, Organizations and Society, 15, 4 (1990), 341-371.
8. Barki, H.; Rivard, S.; and Talbot, J. An integrative contingency model of software project risk management. Journal of Management Information Systems, 17, 4 (Spring 2001), 37-69.
9. Barua, A.; Lee, S.C.H.; and Whinston, A. The calculus of reengineering. Information Systems Research, 7, 4 (1996), 409-428.
10. Belsley, D.; Kuh, E.; and Welsch, R. Regression Diagnostics: Identifying Influential Data and Sources of Collinearity. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1980.
11. Bernheim, B., and Whinston, M. Incomplete contracts and strategic ambiguity. American Economic Review, 88, 4 (1998), 902-932.
12. Bradach, J., and Eccles, R. Price, authority, and trust: From ideal types to plural forms. Annual Review of Sociology, 15, 1 (1989), 97-118.
13. Browne, G.J., and Rogich, M.B. An empirical investigation of user requirements elicitation: Comparing the effectiveness of prompting techniques. Journal of Management Information Systems, 17, 4 (Spring 2001), 223-250.
14. Carson, S.; Madhok, A.; and Wu, T. Uncertainty, opportunism and governance: The effects of volatility and ambiguity on formal and relational contracting. Academy of Management Journal, 49, 5 (2006), 1058-1077.
15. Carte, T., and Russell, C. In pursuit of moderation: Nine common errors and their solutions. MIS Quarterly, 27, 3 (2003), 479-502.
16. Choudhury, V., and Sabherwal, R. Portfolios of control in outsourced software development projects. Information Systems Research, 14, 3 (2003), 291-314.
17. Das, T., and Teng, B.S. Between trust and control: Developing confidence in partner cooperation in alliances. Academy of Management Review, 23, 3 (1998), 491-512.
18. David, R., and Han, S. An assessment of the empirical support for transaction cost economics. Strategic Management Journal, 25, 1 (2004), 39-58.
19. Domberger, S. The Contracting Organization. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1998.
20. Dutta, A., and Roy, R. Offshore outsourcing: A dynamic causal model of counteracting forces. Journal of Management Information Systems, 22, 2 (Fall 2005), 15-36.
21. Dyer, J. Effective interfirm collaboration: How firms minimize transaction costs and maximize transaction value. Strategic Management Journal, 18, 7 (1997), 535-556.
22. Edwards, J., and Lambert, L. Methods for integrating moderation and mediation: A general analytical framework using moderated path analysis. Psychological Methods, 12, 1 (2007), 1-22.
23. Eisenhardt, K. Control: Organizational and economic approaches. Management Science, 31, 2 (1985), 134-149.
24. Ethiraj, S.; Kale, P.; Krishnan, M.; and Singh, J. Where do capabilities come from and how do they matter? A study in the software services industry. Strategic Management Journal, 26, 1 (2005), 25-45.
25. Faraj, S., and Sproull, L. Coordinating expertise in software development teams. Management Science, 46, 12 (2000), 1554-1568.
26. Finken, S. Discursive conditions of knowledge production within cooperative design. Scandinavian Journal of Information Systems, 15, 1 (2003), 1-9.
27. Fox, J. Regression Diagnostics. Newbury Park, CA: Sage, 1991.
28. Gerwin, D., and Ferris, J. Organizing new product development projects in strategic alliances. Organization Science, 15, 1 (2004), 22-37.
29. Ghoshal, S., and Moran, P. Bad for practice: A critique of the transaction cost theory. Academy of Management Review, 21, 1 (1996), 13-47.
30. Gibson, C., and Birkinshaw, J. The antecedents, consequences, and mediating role of organizational ambidexterity. Academy of Management Journal, 47, 2 (2004), 209-226.
31. Goold, M., and Quinn, J. The paradox of strategic controls. Strategic Management Journal, 11, 1 (1990), 43-57.
32. Gopal, A.; Sivaramakrishnan, K.; Krishnan, M.; and Mukhopadhyay, T. Contracts in offshore software development: An empirical analysis. Management Science, 49, 12 (2003), 1671-1683.
33. Granovetter, M. Economic action and social structure: The problem of embeddedness. American Journal of Sociology, 91, 3 (1985), 481-510.
34. Grossman, S., and Hart, O. An analysis of the principal-agent problem. Econometrica, 51, 1 (1983), 7-46.
35. Grudnitski, G. Eliciting decision-makers information requirements. Journal of Management Information Systems, 1, 1 (Summer 1984), 11-32.
36. Gulati, R. Does familiarity breed trust? The implications of repeated ties for contractual choice in alliances. Academy of Management Journal, 38, 1 (1995), 85-112.
37. Hair, J.; Black, W.; Babin, B.; Anderson, R.; and Tatham, R. Multivariate Data Analysis with Readings, 6th ed. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2006.
38. Hansen, M. Knowledge networks: Explaining effective knowledge sharing in multiunit companies. Organization Science, 13, 3 (2002), 232-248.
39. He, Z., and Wong, P. Exploration vs. exploitation: An empirical test of the ambidexterity hypothesis. Organization Science, 14, 4 (2004), 481-494.
40. Henderson, J., and Lee, S. Managing I/S design teams: A control theories perspective. Management Science, 38, 6 (1992), 757-777.
41. Hickey, A.M., and Davis, A.M. A unified model of requirements elicitation. Journal of Management Information Systems, 20, 4 (Spring 2004), 65-84.
42. Highsmith, J., and Cockburn, A. Agile software development: The business of innovation. IEEE Computer, 34, 9 (2001), 120-122.
43. Inkpen, A.C., and Currall, S.C. International joint venture trust: An empirical examination. In P.W. Beamish and J.P. Killing (eds.), Cooperative Strategies: North American Perspectives, San Francisco: New Lexington Press, 1997, pp. 308-334.
44. Inkpen, A., and Currall, S. The coevolution of trust, control, and learning in joint ventures. Organization Science, 15, 5 (2004), 586-599.
45. Jaccard, J., and Turrisi, R. Interaction Effects in Multiple Regression, 2d ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 2003.
46. Kirsch, L.J. The management of complex tasks in organizations: Controlling the systems development process. Organization Science, 7, 1 (1996), 1-21.
47. Kirsch, L.J. Portfolios of control modes and IS project management. Information Systems Research, 8, 3 (1997), 215-239.
48. Kirsch, L.J.; Sambamurthy, V.; Ko, D.-G.; and Purvis, R.L. Controlling information systems development projects: The view from the client. Management Science, 48, 4 (2002), 484-498.
49. Koh, C.; Ang, S.; and Straub, D. IT outsourcing success: A psychological contract perspective. Information Systems Research, 15, 4 (2004), 356-373.
50. Kumar, S., and Seth, A. The design of coordination and control mechanisms for managing joint venture-parent relationships. Strategic Management Journal, 19, 6 (1998), 579-599.
51. Lamb, R., and Kling, R. Reconceptualizing users as social actors in information systems research. MIS Quarterly, 27, 2 (2003), 197-235.
52. Larson, A. Network dyads in entrepreneurial settings: A study of governance of exchange relationships. Administrative Science Quarterly, 37, 1 (1992), 76-104.
53. Lee, J., and Kim, Y. Effect of partnership quality on IS outsourcing success. Journal of Management Information Systems, 15, 4 (Spring 1999), 29-61.
54. Levi, M.; Kleindorfer, P.R.; and Wu, D.J. Codifiability, relationship-specific information technology investment, and optimal contracting. Journal of Management Information Systems, 20, 2 (Fall 2003), 77-98.
55. Lindell, M., and Whitney, D. Accounting for common method variance in cross-sectional research designs. Journal of Applied Psychology, 86, 1 (2001), 114-121.
56. Luo, Y.D. Contract, cooperation, and performance in international joint ventures. Strategic Management Journal, 23, 10 (2002), 903-919.
57. Malhotra, N.; Kim, S.; and Patil, A. Common method variance in IS research: A comparison of alternative approaches and a reanalysis of past research. Management Science, 52, 12 (2006), 1865-1883.
58. Mathiassen, L.; Saarinen, T.; Tuunanen, T.; and Rossi, M. A contingency model for requirements development. Journal of the Association for Information Systems, 8, 11 (2007), 570-598.
59. McEvily, B.; Perrone, V.; and Zaheer, A. Trust as an organizing principle. Organization Science, 14, 1 (2003), 91-103.
60. Milgrom, P., and Roberts, J. Complementarities and fit: Strategy, structure, and organizational change in manufacturing. Journal of Accounting and Economics, 19, 2-3 (1995), 179-208.
61. Mjoen, H., and Tallman, S. Control and performance in international joint ventures. Organization Science, 8, 3 (1997), 257-274.
62. Nidumolu, S., and Subramani, M. The matrix of control: Combining process and structure approaches to managing software development. Journal of Management Information Systems, 20, 3 (Winter 2003-4), 159-196.
63. Nunnally, J.C. Psychometric Theory. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1978.
64. Ouchi, W. The relationship between organizational structure and organizational control. Administrative Science Quarterly, 22, 1 (1977), 95-113.
65. Ouchi, W. A conceptual framework for the design of organizational control mechanisms. Management Science, 25, 9 (1979), 833-848.
66. Ouchi, W. Markets bureaucracies and clans. Administrative Science Quarterly, 25, 1 (1980), 129-141.
67. Ouchi, W., and Maguire, M. Organizational control: Two functions. Administrative Science Quarterly, 20, 4 (1975), 559-569.
68. Ovaska, P.; Rossi, M.; and Smolander, K. Filtering, negotiating and shifting in the understanding of information system requirements. Scandinavian Journal of Information Systems, 17, 1 (2005), 31-66.
69. Oxley, J., and Sampson, R. The scope and governance of international R&D alliances. Strategic Management Journal, 25, 11 (2004), 723-729.
70. Peffers, K.; Gengler, C.E.; and Tuunanen, T. Extending critical success factors methodology to facilitate broadly participative information systems planning. Journal of Management Information Systems, 20, 1 (Summer 2003), 51-85.
71. Ping, R. A parsimonious estimating technique for interaction and quadratic latent variables. Journal of Marketing Research, 32, 3 (1995), 336-347.
72. Pitts, M.G., and Browne, G.J. Stopping behavior of systems analysts during information requirements elicitation. Journal of Management Information Systems, 21, 1 (Summer 2004), 203-226.
73. Podsakoff, P.M.; MacKenzie, S.B.; Lee, J.Y.; and Podsakoff, N.P. Common method biases in behavioral research: A critical review of the literature and recommended remedies. Journal of Applied Psychology, 88, 5 (2003), 879-903.
74. Poppo, L., and Zenger, T. Do formal contracts and relational governance function as substitutes or complements? Strategic Management Journal, 23, 8 (2002), 707-725.
75. Ramaswami, S. Marketing controls and dysfunctional behaviors: A test of traditional and contingency theory postulates. Journal of Marketing, 60, 2 (April 1996), 105-120.
76. Reuer, J., and Ragozzino, R. Agency hazards and alliance portfolios. Strategic Management Journal, 27, 1 (2006), 27-43.
77. Ring, P., and Van de Ven, A. Developmental processes of cooperative interorganizational relationships. Academy of Management Review, 19, 1 (1994), 90-118.
78. Roberts, T.L.; Cheney, P.H.; Sweeney, P.D.; and Hightower, R.T. The effects of information technology project complexity on group interaction. Journal of Management Information Systems, 21, 3 (Winter 2004-5), 223-248.
79. Rodrigues, A., and Williams, T. System dynamics in software project management: Towards the development of a formal integrated network. European Journal of Information Systems, 6, 1 (1996), 51-56.
80. Rustagi, S.; King, W.; and Kirsch, L. Predictors of formal control usage in IT outsourcing partnerships. Information Systems Research, 19, 2 (2008), 126-143.
81. Shrout, P., and Fleiss, J. Intraclass correlations: Uses in assessing rater reliability. Psychological Bulletin, 86, 2 (1979), 420-428.
82. Siggelkow, N. Misperceiving interactions among complements and substitutes: Organizational consequences. Management Science, 48, 7 (2002), 900-916.
83. Simonin, B. The importance of collaborative know-how: An empirical test of the learning organization. Academy of Management Journal, 40, 5 (1997), 1150-1174.
84. Smith, M.A.; Mitra, S.; and Narasimhan, S. Information systems outsourcing: A study of pre-event firm characteristics. Journal of Management Information Systems, 15, 2 (Fall 1998), 61-93.
85. Sundaramurthy, C., and Lewis, M. Control and collaboration: Paradoxes of governance. Academy of Management Review, 28, 3 (2003), 397-415.
86. Tanriverdi, H. Information technology relatedness, knowledge management capability, and performance of multibusiness firms. MIS Quarterly, 29, 2 (2005), 311-325.
87. Tellioglu, H., and Wagner, I. Cooperative work across cultural boundaries in systems design. Scandinavian Journal of Information Systems, 11, 1 (1999), 1-16.
88. Tiwana, A., and Bush, A. A comparison of transaction cost, agency, and knowledge-based predictors of IT outsourcing decisions. Journal of Management Information Systems, 24, 1 (Summer 2007), 263-305.
89. Tiwana, A., and Keil, M. Does peripheral knowledge complement control? An empirical test in technology outsourcing alliances. Strategic Management Journal, 28, 6 (2007), 623-634.
90. Tiwana, A., and Keil, M. Control in internal and outsourced systems development projects. Journal of Management Information Systems, 26, 3 (Winter 2009-10), 9-44.
91. Turner, K., and Makhija, M. The role of organizational controls in managing knowledge. Academy of Management Review, 31, 1 (2006), 197-217.
92. Uzzi, B. Social structure and competition in interfirm networks. Administrative Science Quarterly, 42, 1 (1997), 35-67.
93. Walker, G., and Weber, D. A transaction cost approach to make or buy decision. Administrative Science Quarterly, 29, 3 (1984), 373-379.
94. Whittington, R.; Pettigrew, A.; Peck, S.; Fenton, E.; and Conyon, M. Change and complementarities in the new competitive landscape: A European panel study, 1992-1996. Organization Science, 10, 5 (1999), 583-600.
95. Williamson, O.E. Comparative economic organization: The analysis of discrete structural alternatives. Administrative Science Quarterly, 36, 2 (1991), 269-296.
96. Xia, W., and Lee, G. Complexity of information systems development projects: Conceptualization and measurement development. Journal of Management Information Systems, 22, 1 (Summer 2005), 45-84.
97. Yourdon, E. Modern Structured Analysis. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1989.
98. Zand, D.E. Trust and managerial problem solving. Administrative Science Quarterly, 17, 2 (1972), 229-239.