Exploring Information Systems Outsourcing: The Role of Social Capital

Information Systems outsourcing has become a popular strategy for managing the technology needs of organizations. However, a considerable number of outsourcing deals fail to produce expected outcomes, resulting in significant losses for both client and vendor. The research reported in this book examines the client-vendor relationship in outsourcing to gain a better understanding of the impact of the relationship on the outcome of the outsourcing project. The "social capital" framework used in this work provides an in-depth understanding of the management of outsourcing relationships. While past outsourcing research has held that the client-vendor relationship is important in outsourcing, this theoretical framework clarifies the nature and content of the relationship and its role in ensuring the success of an outsourcing arrangement. Through a close examination of several outsourcing relationships, the book offers outsourcing practitioners and others interested in the topic insights on what works and what does not.