IT-Supported International Outsourcing of Software Production

IT-Supported International Outsourcing of Software Production Chunling Wu and Anicet Yalaho Jyväskylä, University of Jyväskylä, 2002. Pp. 172 This study analyses how the IT supported international outsourcing of software production process is executed. We present essential ideas and theoretical background for our study through an in-depth literature review in the areas of subcontracting, outsourcing, international outsourcing, information technology (IT) and international software production. The literature review reveals the limitations of research on IT supported international outsourcing of software production process. Three research questions arise in this context. (1) What are the phases of the IT supported international outsourcing process and how these phases are executed? (2) What are the major activities in each phase of the international outsourcing process and how these activities are managed? (3) What are the performance measures and expected outcomes of each phase? The study addresses these research questions (1) by conceptualising a framework on IT supported international outsourcing of software production in the light of diffusion of innovation theory and relevant literature in the fields of outsourcing, software production and IT and (2) by conducting an empirical investigation. This study reports the results of an empirical research focusing on the IT supported international outsourcing process of software production through a single case study. Different issues associated with the conceptual framework of IT supported international outsourcing process of software production have been classified and analysed based on our empirical findings. The major contribution of this framework is to help companies to understand, improve and systematise the IT supported international outsourcing process of software