The Role of Modularity and Absorptive Capacity in the Context of Information Systems Outsourcing

摘要

Many empirical findings point towards a high probability (about 50%) of failing to achieve the intended targets specified in information systems (hereafter IS) outsourcing contracts. The pattern of IS outsourcing failure is consistent, and includes premature contract terminations and/or dissatisfaction due to unaccomplished targets. Even though many possible 'remedies' have been proposed (e.g., a high quality service level agreement), very few studies examined in-depth the root cause of the high failure rate. This paper aims to do so and argues that practitioners may facilitate effective outsourcing through the implementation of evolvable modular designs 'in technology, in the organization, and in business processes' (referred to as 'systems'), which eventually reduces the complexity, minimizes the size of combinatorial effects, and consequently enhances the agility (adaptability) in the systems. As such, this paper builds on (and enhances) an existing reconceptualization of the relationships between 'systems modularity', and 'outsourcing'. In addition, this paper adds valuable new knowledge in that it: (1) recognizes the importance of heuristic (i.e., trial an error) methods; (2) proposes a remedy which is rooted in absorptive capacity theory, a management / organizational theory which now also provides a crucial tool to use in the context of modular systems and IS outsourcing. The main characteristic of this tool is that it adheres to the principles of absorptive capacity theory (i.e., acquire, assimilate, transform, and exploit new external knowledge) and, at the same time, optimally benefits from the concept of modularity by creating systems which are agile, evolvable, and free of combinatorial effects. To add new knowledge the results from an in-depth literature review are presented and a conclusion is made based on inference logic.