Expertise Management in a Distributed Context

This paper explores the management of expertise in offshore outsourcing projects. While the study of expertise development and coordination gained some attention in recent years, much of this research has been on co-located teams. Little is known about the way expertise is managed in distributed contexts and the challenges distributed teams face when attempting to develop and share expertise. To address this gap this paper discusses the notion of expertise management and concludes that it consists of three key processes; namely, development, coordination, and integration. To illustrate the challenges involved in expertise management processes, an indepth case study of an ABN AMRO – TCS outsourcing project is outlined. In this case study onsite and offshore teams developed, coordinated, and integrated expertise despite geographical distance, time-zone differences, and different local contexts. Evidence from this case suggests that this outsourcing project jointly developed expertise while coordinating and integrating expertise in a distributed manner. Finally, conclusions are made and implications for research are discussed.