A Strategic Fit Model for IT Outsourcing Success: An Exploratory Approach

During the last decade, outsourcing has emerged as a major strategic alternative in information systems management. Although various outsourcing strategies have been appeared, most of studies have focused on one or two dimensions of outsourcing strategies without consideration of their combination effects. Being perhaps the first attempt, this exploratory study identifies major four dimensions for outsourcing strategy, and seeks to examine the concept of fit or congruence to describe the nature of the interrelationships among them using a Korean sample. The results of cluster analysis support the notion of gestalt fit by grouping six clusters. The results also suggest that organizations in congruent groups (clusters one, two, and six) appear to realize a greater degree of outsourcing success than those in non-congruent groups (clusters three, four, and five). Interestingly, cluster six (total outsourcing based on long-term partnership with multiple vendors) displays the highest outsourcing achievement among them.