Exploring IT Outsourcing Governance with Vendor's Interpersonal Networks: A Case Study

The governance of IT outsourcing (ITO) has been identified as an essential determinant for ITO success. Prior studies have shed light on effective governance forms in different organizational contexts, but few have studied the association between governance forms and interpersonal networks. With a single case study from a vendor’s perspective in an ITO dyad, this research strives to explore and empirically understand how interpersonal networks reflect and influence ITO governance. Social Network Analysis (SNA) was conducted for whole-network analysis on 24 team members in an ITO vendor company. In addition, open-ended interviews with six selected team members were utilized to identify the governance form from the vendor’s perspective. The findings suggest that the similarity between formal and informal interpersonal networks reflects a hierarchical form of governance; and the hierarchy governance is in turn reinforced by the geographically dispersed nature of team members.