The Relationship Advantage Information Technologies, Sourcing, and Management

The post-contract relationship in IT outsourcing often determines the success or failure of an outsourcing venture. Using five longitudinal case studies, the authors address the various factors involved in outsourcing relationships and present pointers to assist managers and practitioners achieve the 'relationship advantage' in outsourcing.

The relationship in information technology (IT) outsourcing determines the difference between a successful, a less successful, and a failing outsourcing deal. IT managers will commonly spend seventy per cent of their time on making the client-supplier relationship work, while thirty per cent of their time will focus on the contract, personnel, and problem issues. Longitudinal research into Xerox's global, British Aerospace's total,ESSO's selective, British Petroleum's alliance, and the UK Inland Revenue's public sector outsourcing deals highlights relationship practices and recurring post-contract management issues that demand careful attention and management. By use of novel cliebt-supplier relationship framework developed from transaction cost, relational contract, nad interorganisational relationship theory, the authors carefully amalyse these five longitudinal case studies and identify what the key dimensions of an outsourcing relationship are. Together the framework and the case studies provide a number for both practitioners and academics on how to achieve a relationship advantage.

1. - The IT Outsourcing Phenomenon: Trends, Practices, Challenges
2. - Risk Mitigation and the Relationship Advantage in IT Outsourcing
3. - Global Relationship Management at Xerox Corporation
4. - Relational Dynamics at British Aerospace
5. - Alliance Management at British Petroleum Exploration
6. - Relationship Management in Selective Outsourcing at ESSO-ITNet
7. - Strategic Partnering in Public Sector IT Outsourcing
8. - Relationship Management: A Cross-Case Perspective
9. - The Relationship Advantage as Practice: Reflections
Appendix 1. - Research Methodology
Appendix 2. - The Research Process: Founding the Analytical Frameworks

Thomas Kern is Assistant Professor for Information Management at the Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University. He is also a Research Affiliate with the Oxford Institute of Information Management, Templeton College, University of Oxford, and the European Editor of the Journal of Information Technology. Leslie P. Willcocks is Arthur Andersen Professor of E-Business and Information Management at Warwick Business School. He is also Associate Fellow at Templeton College, University of Oxford; Visiting Professor in Information Systems at Erasmus University; Professorial Associate at the University of Melbourne; and Distinguished Visitor at the Australian Graduate School of Management. For the last twelve years, he has been Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Information Technology.