Conceptual issues in services offshoring research: A multidisciplinary review

Group and Organization Management

Volumn 36, Issue 1, 2011, Pages 70-102

  Bunyaratavej, Kraiwinee ^a   Doh, Jonathan ^b   Hahn, Eugene D ^c   Lewin, Arie Y ^d   Massini, Silvia ^e  

^a Wesley College   (United States)

^b VILLANOVA UNIVERSITY   (United States)

^c SALISBURY UNIVERSITY   (United States)

^d DUKE UNIVERSITY   (United States)

^e UNIVERSITY OF MANCHESTER   (United Kingdom)

Author keywords

conceptual; offshoring; services

Indexed keywords

EID: 78751474217     PISSN: 10596011     EISSN: 15523993     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1177/1059601110390996     Document Type: Review

References (126)

1. Alvarez, L.H.R., & Stenbacka, R. (2006). Partial outsourcing: A real options perspective. International Journal of Industrial Organization, 25(1), 91-102.
2. Amsden, A. (1989). Asia's next giant: South Korea and late industrialization. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
3. Argyres, N., & Mayer, K.J. (2007). Contract design as a firm capability: An integration of learning and transaction cost perspectives. Academy of Management Review, 32, 1060-1077.
4. Aron, R., Clemons, E.K., & Reddi, S. (2005). Just right outsourcing: Understanding and managing risk. Journal of Management Information Systems, 22(2), 37-55.
5. Athreye, S., & Kapur, S. (2009). Introduction: The internationalization of Chinese and Indian firms-Trends, motivations and strategy. Industrial and Corporate Change, 18, 209-221.
6. Bahli, B., & Rivard, S. (2003). The information technology outsourcing risk: A transaction cost and agency theory-based perspective. Journal of Information Technology, 18, 211-221.
7. Baker, S., & Kripalani, M. (2004, March 1). Software: Will outsourcing hurt America's supremacy? Business Week, 872, 84-91.
8. Bardhan, A., & Kroll, C. (2003). The new wave of outsourcing, research report Fisher Center for Real Estate and Urban Economics paper 1103. Berkeley: University of California.
9. Barney, J.B. (1991). Firm resources and sustained competitive advantage. Journal of Management, 17, 99-120.
10. Beck, U. (2000). What is globalization? Cambridge, UK: Polity Press.
11. Bhalla, A., Sodhi, M.S., & Son, B.G. (2008). Is more IT offshoring better?: An exploratory study of western companies offshoring to South East Asia. Journal of Operations Management, 26, 322-335.
12. Brusoni, S., & Prencipe, A. (2001). Managing knowledge in loosely coupled networks: Exploring the link between product and knowledge dynamics. Journal of Management Studies, 38, 1019-1035.
13. Brusoni, S., Prencipe, A., & Pavitt, K. (2001). Knowledge specialization, organizational coupling and the boundaries of the firm: Why firms know more than they make? Administrative Science Quarterly, 46, 597-621.
14. Buckley, P.J., & Casson, M. (1976). The future of the multinational enterprise. London, UK: Holmes and Meier.
15. Buckley, P.J., & Lessard, D.R. (2005). Regaining the edge for international business research. Journal of International Business Studies, 36, 595-599.
16. Bunyaratavej, K., Hahn, E.D., & Doh, J.P. (2007). International offshoring of services: A parity study. Journal of International Management, 13, 7-21.
17. Cantwell, J. (1995). The globalisation of technology: What remains of the product cycle model. Cambridge Journal of Economics, 19, 155-174.
18. Cha, H.S., Pingry, D.E., & Thatcher, M.E. (2008). Managing the knowledge supply chain: An organizational learning model of information technology offshore outsourcing. MIS Quarterly, 32, 281-306.
19. Chakraborty, C., & Jayachandran, C. (2001). Indian software industry: Structure, trends and constraints. Journal of Service Research, 1, 73-93.
20. Chandler, A. D., & Mazlish, B. (Eds.). (2005). Leviathans: Multinational corporations and the new global history. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
21. Corbett, M.F. (2004). The outsourcing revolution: Why it makes sense and how to do it right. Chicago, IL: Dearborn Trade.
22. Dhar, S., & Balakrishnan, B. (2006). Risks, benefits, and challenges in global IT outsourcing: perspectives and practices. Journal of Global Information Management, 14(3), 39-69.
23. Di Gregorio, D., Musteen, M., & Thomas, D. (2009). Offshore outsourcing as a source of international competitiveness for SMEs. Journal of International Business Studies, 40, 969-988.
24. Dibbern, J., Goles, T., Hirschheim, R., & Jayatilaka, B. (2004). Information systems outsourcing: A survey and analysis of the literature. The DATA BASE for Advances in Information Systems, 35(4), 6-102.
25. Doh, J.P. (2005). Offshore outsourcing: Implications for international business and strategic management theory and practice. Journal of Management Studies, 42, 695-704.
26. Doh, J., Bunyaratavej, K., & Hahn, E. (2009). Separable but not equal: The location determinants of discrete services offshoring activities. Journal of International Business Studies, 40, 926-943.
27. Dossani, R., & Kenney, M. (2003). Went for cost, stayed for quality? Moving the back office to India. Berkeley, CA: Mimeo.
28. Dossani, R., & Kenney, M. (2007). The next wave of globalization: Relocating service provision to India. World Development, 35, 772-791.
29. Drezner, D.W. (2004). The outsourcing bogeyman. Foreign Affairs, 83(3). Retrieved fromhttp://www.foreignaffairs.org/2004/3.html.
30. Duke University Offshoring Research Network & Booz. (2007). Offshoring 2.0: Contracting knowledge and innovation to expand global capabilities (2007 Service Provider Survey Report). Durham, NC: Author.
31. Dunning, J.H. (1998). Location and the multinational enterprise: A neglected factor? Journal of International Business Studies, 29, 45-66.
32. Dunning, J., & Narula, R. (1995). The R&D activities of foreign firms in the United States. International Studies of Management & Organization, 5, 39-74.
33. Dunning, J. (2005). Is Global Capitalism Morally Defensible? Contributions to Political Economy, 24(1), 135-151.
34. Dunning, J.H. (1980). Toward an eclectic theory of international production. Some empirical tests. Journal of International Business Studies, 11 (1), 9-31.
35. Ellram, L.M., Tate, W.L., & Billington, C. (2008). Offshore outsourcing of professional services: A transaction cost economics perspective. Journal of Operations Management, 26, 148-163.
36. Ethiraj, S.K., Prashant, K., Krishnan, M.S., & Singh, J.V. (2004). Where do capabilities come from and how do they matter? A study in the software services industry. Strategic Management Journal, 26, 25-45.
37. Farrell, D. (2005). Offshoring: Value creation through economic change. Journal of Management Studies, 42, 675-683.
38. Fifarek, B.J., Veloso, F.M., & Davidson, C.I. (2008). Offshoring technology innovation: A case study of rare-earth technology. Journal of Operations Management, 26, 222-238.
39. Florida, R. (1997). The globalization of R&D: Results of a survey of foreign-affiliated R&D laboratories in the USA. Research Policy, 26, 85-103.
40. Friis Olsen, R. & Ellram, L.M. (1997). A portfolio approach to supplier relationships. Industrial Marketing Management, 26(2), 101-113.
41. Gammeltoft, P. (2006). Internationalization of R&D: Trends, drivers and managerial challenges. International Journal of Technology and Globalization, 2, 177-199.
42. Gefen, D., & Carmel, E. (2008). Is the world really flat? A look at offshoring at an online programming marketplace. MIS Quarterly, 32, 367-384.
43. Graf, M., & Mudambi, S.M. (2005). The outsourcing of IT-enabled business processes: A conceptual model of the location decision. Journal of International Management, 11, 253-268.
44. Grimshaw, D., & Miozzo, M. (2006). Institutional effects on the IT outsourcing market: Analysing clients, suppliers and staff transfer in Germany and the UK. Organization Studies, 27, 1229-1259.
45. Grossman, S.J., & Hart, O.D. (1986). The costs and benefits of ownership: A theory of vertical and lateral integration. Journal of Political Economy, 94, 691-719.
46. Grover, V., Cheon, M.J., & Teng, J.T.C. (1996). The effect of service quality and partnership on the outsourcing of information systems functions. Journal of Management Information Systems, 12, 89-116.
47. Hahn, E.D., Doh, J.P., & Bunyaratavej, K. (2009). The evolution of risk in IS offshoring: The impact of home country risk, firm learning and competitive dynamics. MIS Quarterly, 33, 597-616.
48. Hahn, E.D., & Bunyaratavej, K. (2010). Services cultural alignment in offshoring: The impact of cultural dimensions on offshoring location choices. Journal of Operations Management, 28, 186-193.
49. Hakanson, L., & Nobel, R. (1993). Foreign research and development in Swedish multinationals. Research Policy, 22, 373-396.
50. Hätönen, J., & Eriksson, T. (2009). 30+ years of research and practice of outsourcing- Exploring the past and anticipating the future. Journal of International Management, 15, 142-155.
51. Heijiman, T., Lewin, A.Y., Manning, S., Perm-Ajchariyawong, N., & Russell, J. (2008). Offshoring reaches the C-Suite. Durham, NC: Duke University & The Conference Board.
52. Howells, J. (1990). The location and organisation of research and development: New horizons. Research Policy, 19, 133-146.
53. Howells, J. (1995). Going global: The use of ICT networks in research and development. Research Policy, 24, 169-184.
54. Hutzschenreuter, T., Pedersen, T., & Volberda, H. (2007). The role of path dependency and managerial intentionality: A perspective on international business research. Journal of International Business Studies, 38, 1055-1068.
55. Jensen, P.D. (2009). A learning perspective on the offshoring of advanced services. Journal of International Management, 15, 181-193.
56. Kedia, B.L., & Lahiri, S. (2007). International outsourcing of services: A partnership model. Journal of International Management, 13, 22-37.
57. Kedia, B.L., & Mukherjee, D. (2009). Understanding offshoring: A research framework based on disintegration, location and externalization advantages. Journal of World Business, 44, 250-261.
58. Kenney, M., Massini, S., & Murtha, T.P. (2009). Offshoring administrative and technical work: New fields for understanding the global enterprise. Journal of International Business Studies, 40, 887-900.
59. King, W.R. (2005). Innovation in responding to the threat of IT offshoring. Information Systems Management, 22, 80-81.
60. King, W.R., & Torkzadeh, G. (2008). Information systems offshoring: Research status and issues. MIS Quarterly, 32, 205-225.
61. Kliem, R. (2004). Managing the risks of offshore IT development projects. Information Systems Management, 21, 22-27.
62. Kogut, B., & Zander, U. (1992). Knowledge of the firm, combinative capabilities and the replication of technology. Organization Science, 3, 383-397.
63. Koh, C., Ang, S., & Straub, D.W. (2004). IT outsourcing success: A psychological contract perspective. Information Systems Research, 15, 356-373.
64. Kotabe, M., & Murray, J.Y. (2004). Global sourcing strategy and sustainable competitive advantage. Industrial Marketing Management, 33, 7-14.
65. Krishna, S., Sahay, S., & Walsham, G. (2004). Managing cross-cultural issues in global software outsourcing. Communications of the ACM, 47, 62-66.
66. Krugman, P. (1981). Trade, accumulation and uneven development. Journal of Development Economics, 8, 149-61.
67. Kshetri, N. (2007). Institutional factors affecting offshore business process and information technology outsourcing. Journal of International Management, 13, 38-56.
68. Kuemmerle, W. (1999). Foreign direct investment in industrial research in the pharmaceutical and electronics industries-Results from a survey of multinational firms. Research Policy, 28, 179-193.
69. Lacity, M.C., Willcocks, L.P., & Rottman, J.W. (2008). Global outsourcing of back-office services: Lessons, trends, and enduring challenges. Strategic Outsourcing: An International Journal, 1(1), 13-34.
70. Lee, J.N., & Kim, Y.G. (1999). Effect of partnership quality on IS outsourcing success: Conceptual framework and empirical validation. Journal of Management Information Systems, 15(4), 29-61.
71. Levina, N., & Ross, J.W. (2003). From the vendor's perspective: Exploring the value proposition in information technology outsourcing. MIS Quarterly, 27, 331-364.
72. Levina, N., & Vaast, E. (2008). Innovating or doing as told? Status differences and overlapping boundaries in offshore collaboration. MIS Quarterly, 32, 307-332.
73. Levy, D.L. (2005). Offshoring in the new global political economy. Journal of Management Studies, 42, 685-693.
74. Levy, D.L. (2008). Political contestation in global production networks. Academy of Management Review, 33, 943-962.
75. Lewin, A.Y., & Couto, V. (2007). Next generation offshoring: The globalization of innovation. (CIBER/Booz Allen Hamilton Report). Durham, NC: Duke University.
76. Lewin, A.Y., Massini, S., & Peeters, C. (2009). Why are companies offshoring innovation? The emerging global race for talent. Journal of International Business Studies, 40, 901-925.
77. Lewin, A.Y., & Peeters, C. (2006). Offshoring administrative and technical work: Business hype or the onset of fundamental strategic and organizational transformation? Long Range Planning, 39, 221-239.
78. Lewin A. Y., Perm Ajchariyawong N., Sappenfield D., & Aird C. (2009). Is the global outsourcing industry in for a no-holds-barred competition? (ORN & PwC Service Provider Survey Report). Durham, NC: Duke University.
79. Lewin, A.Y., & Volberda, H.W. (1999). Prolegomena on coevolution: A framework for research on strategy and new organizational forms. Organization Science, 10, 519-534.
80. Lin, L., Geng, X., & Whinston, A.B. (2005). A sender-receiver framework for knowledge transfer. MIS Quarterly, 29, 197-219.
81. Luo, Y. (1997). Performance implications of international strategy: An empirical study of foreign-invested enterprises in China. Group & Organization Management, 22, 87-116.
82. Mankiw, N.G., & Swagel, P. (2006). The politics and economics of offshore outsourcing. Journal of Monetary Economics, 53, 1027-1056.
83. Manning, S., Massini, S., & Lewin, A.Y. (2008). A dynamic perspective on offshoring: The global sourcing of sciences and engineering talent. Academy of Management Perspectives, 22, 35-54.
84. Maskell, P., Pedersen, T., Petersen, B., & Dick-Nielsen, J. (2007). Learning paths to offshore outsourcing: From cost reduction to knowledge seeking. Industry and Innovation, 14, 239-257.
85. Massini, S., & Miozzo, M. (IN PRESS). Outsourcing and offshoring of business services: Challenges to theory, management and geography of innovation. Regional Studies.
86. Massini, S., Perm-Ajchariyawong, N., & Lewin, A.Y. (2010). The role of corporate wide offshoring strategy in direction organizational attention to offshoring drivers, risks and performance. Industry and Innovation Industry and Innovation, 17 (4), 337-371.
87. Metters, R. (2008). A typology of offshoring and outsourcing in electronically transmitted services. Journal of Operations Management, 26, 198-211.
88. Minbaeva, D., Pedersen, T., Bjorkman, I., Fey, C.F., & Park, H.J. (2003). MNC knowledge transfer, subsidiary absorptive capacity, and HRM. Journal of International Business Studies, 34, 586-599.
89. Mir, R., & Mir, A. (2009). From the colony to the corporation: Studying knowledge transfer across international boundaries. Group and Organization Management, 34, 90-113.
90. Mirchandani, K. (2004). Practices of global capital: Gaps, cracks, and ironies in transnational call centres in India. Global Networks, 4, 255-373.
91. Mol, M.J., Pauwels, P., Matthyssens, P., & Quintens, L. (2004). A technological contingency perspective on the depth and scope of international outsourcing. Journal of International Management, 10, 287-305.
92. Murmann, P.J. (2000). Knowledge and competitive advantage: The coevolution of firms, technology, and national institutions. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
93. Murray, J., & Kotabe, M. (1999). Sourcing strategies of U.S. service companies: A modified transaction-cost analysis. Strategic Management Journal, 20, 791-809.
94. Murtha, T.P. (2004). The metanational firm in context: Competition in knowledge-driven industries. Advances in International Management, 16, 101-136.
95. Niederman, F., Kundu, S., & Salas, S. (2006). IT software development offshoring: A multi-level theoretical framework and research agenda. Journal of Global Information Management, 14(2), 52-74.
96. Niosi, J., & Tschang, F.T. (2009). The strategies of Chinese and Indian software multinationals: Implications for internationalization theory. Industrial and Corporate Change, 18, 269-294.
97. Ocasio, W. & Joseph, J. (2005). An attention based theory of strategy formulation: Linking decision making and guided evolution in strategy processes. In Szulanski, G., Porac, J., & Doz, Y. (Eds.) Advances in Strategic Management. Amsterdam, Netherlands: Elsevier.
98. Patel, P., & Pavitt, K. (1991). Large firms in the production of the world's technology: An important case of non-globalization. Journal of International Business Studies, 22, 1-21.
99. Patibandla, M., & Petersen, B. (2002). Role of transnational corporations in the evolution of a high-tech industry: The case of India's software industry. World Development, 30, 1561-1577.
100. Platt, J.R. (1964). Strong Inference. Science, 146, 347-353.
101. Porter, M. (1990). The competitive advantage of nations. New York, NY: Free Press.
102. Quinn, J.B. (2000). Outsourcing innovation: The new engine of growth. Sloan Management Review, 41(4), 13-28.
103. Ramasubbu, N., Mithas, S., Krishan, M.S., & Kemerer, C.F. (2008). Work dispersion, process-based learning, and offshore software development performance. MIS Quarterly, 32, 437-458.
104. Reddy, P. (1997). New trends in globalization in corporate R&D and implications for innovation capability in host countries: A survey from India. World Development, 25, 1821-1837.
105. Ren, Z.J., & Zhou, Y.P. (2008). Call center outsourcing: Coordinating staffing level and service quality. Management Science, 54, 266-278.
106. Rottman, J.W., & Lacity, M.C. (2006). Proven practices for effectively offshoring IT work. Sloan Management Review, 47(3), 56-63.
107. Senge, P.M. (1990). The fifth discipline: The art and practice of the learning organization. New York, NY: Doubleday.
108. Simon, H. (1957). Models of man. New York, NY: Wiley.
109. Singh, S.N., & Wachter, R.M. (2008). Perspectives on medical outsourcing and telemedicine -Rough edges in a flat world? New England Journal of Medicine, 358, 1622-1627.
110. Smith, M.A., Mitra, S., & Narasimhan, S. (1998). Information systems outsourcing: A study of pre-event firm characteristics. Journal of Management Information Systems, 15(2), 61-93.
111. Soyer, R., & Tarimcilar, M.M. (2008). Modeling and analysis of call center arrival data: A Bayesian approach. Management Science, 54, 266-278.
112. Stopford, J.M., & Wells, L.T. (1972). Managing the multinational enterprise. New York, NY: Basic Books.
113. Stringfellow, A., Teagarden, M.B., & Nie, W. (2008). Invisible costs in offshoring services work. Journal of Operations Management, 26, 164-179.
114. Sturgeon, T.J. (2002). Modular production networks: A new American model of industrial organization. Industrial and Corporate Change, 11, 451-496.
115. Sturgeon, T.J., Levy, F., Brown, C., Jensen, J.B., & Weil, D. (2006). Why we can't measure the economic effects of services offshoring: The data gaps and how to fill them. Cambridge, MA: Industrial Performance Center, Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
116. Susarla, A., Baura, A., & Whinston, A.B. (2003). Understanding the service component of application service provision. MIS Quarterly, 27, 91-123.
117. Tate, W.L., Ellram, L.M., Bals, L. & Hartmann, E. (2009). Offshore outsourcing of services: An evolutionary perspective. International Journal of Production Economics, 120, 512-524.
118. United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) (2004). World investment report. New York, NY: United Nations.
119. Vivek, S.D., Banwet, D.K., & Shankar, R. (2008). Analysis of interactions among core, transaction and relationship-specific investments: The case of offshoring. Journal of Operations Management, 26, 180-197.
120. Vlaar, P.W.L., van den Bosch, F.A.J., & Volberda, H.W. (2007). On the evolution of trust, distrust, and formal coordination and control in interorganizational relationships: Toward an integrative framework. Group and Organization Management, 32, 407-429.
121. Voss, C.A., Roth, A.V., Rosenzweig, E.D., Blackmon, K., & Chase, R.B. (2004). A tale of two countries' conservatism, service quality, and feedback on customer satisfaction. Journal of Service Research, 6, 212-230.
122. Whitt, W. (2006). Staffing a call center with uncertain arrival rates and absenteeism. Production and Operations Management, 15, 88-102.
123. Williamson, O.E. (1996). The mechanisms of governance. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
124. Youngdahl, W., & Ramaswamy, K. (2008). Offshoring knowledge and service work: A conceptual model and research agenda. Journal of Operations Management, 26, 212-221.
125. Zaheer, S., Lamin, A., & Subramani, M. (2009). Cluster capabilities or ethnic ties? Location choice by foreign and domestic entrants in the services offshoring industry in India. Journal of International Business Studies, 40, 944-968.
126. Zhao, M. (2006) Conducting R&D in countries with weak intellectual property rights protection. Management Science, 52, 1185-1199.