O Ffshore Is P Roject R Isk , C Ontracts and T Eam S Tructure

Offshore information systems (IS) project team structures are often treated as given in extant IS research and there is little insight about what criteria should be used to structure these teams. In this study we sought to understand how IS project risks shape the structure of project teams in offshoring. Drawing on the IS project risk literature, we predicted that social and technical subsystem risks shape the contract provisions that govern offshore relationships. We further posit that IS project risks indirectly influence offshore project team structure (client participation and temporal dispersion) through their effects on contract provisions. The model is tested in a field study of 87 offshore IS projects. We found support for the relationship of social and technical subsystem risk with contract provisions. We also found support for the role of contract provisions as mediating mechanisms between social and technical subsystem risks and offshore IS project team structure.