Abstract
Information Technology offshore outsourcing means using an offshore provider to handle some of an enterprise’s IT work. Offshore outsourcing now has a track record, so it has become an option that IT leaders need to consider. But the practice has raised the issue of how to manage expertise dispersed across sites. Both clients and providers now realize that knowledge management is an important contributor to successful offshore outsourcing.
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Notes
Orlikowski, W. (2002) Knowing In Practice: Enacting a Collective Capability in Distributed Organizing. Organization Science, 13(3): 249–273.
See Rottman, J. and Lacity, M., chapter 9, in Willcocks and Lacity, op. cit., 2007; and Willcocks, L., Cullen, S., and Lacity, M. (2006) The Outsourcing Enterprise 3: How to Select and Leverage Effective Suppliers, London: LogicaCMG.
Avoiding such damage and increasing outsourcing flexibility are reasons both researchers and practitioners argue for subdividing large-scale IT projects into smaller ones, with short timelines and frequent business outcomes. See, for example, Willcocks, L., Petherbridge, P., and Olson, N. (2003) Making IT Count: Strategy, Delivery and Infrastructure, Oxford: Butterworth.
The issue is discussed in Lacity, M., Willcocks, L., and Cullen, S. (2008) Global IT Outsourcing: 21st Century Search For Business Advantage, Chichester: John Wiley& Sons.
For details, Finnegan, D. and Willcocks, L. (2007) Implementing CRM: From Technology to Knowledge, Chichester: John Wiley& Sons.
For a detailed discussion about component reuse see Kotlarsky, J., Oshri, I., van Hillegerberg, J., and Kumar, K. (2007) Globally Distributed Component-Based Software Development: An Exploratory Study of Knowledge Management and Work Division. Journal of Information Technology, 22: 161–173.
See Oshri I. and Newell S. (2007) Component Sharing in Complex Products and Systems: Challenges, Solutions and Practical Implications. IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management 52(4): 509–521.
Full details are in Kotlarsky, J., Oshri, I., and van Fenema, P. (2008) Knowledge Processes in Globally Distributed Contexts, London: Palgrave Macmillan.
For 12 research-based predictions for the period 2006–2011, see Willcocks, L., Cullen, S., and Lacity, M. (2006) The Outsourcing Enterprise 3: Selecting and Leveraging Effective Suppliers, London: LogicaCMG.
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© 2008 Ilan Oshri, Julia Kotlarsky, and Leslie Willcocks
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Oshri, I., Kotlarsky, J., Willcocks, L. (2008). Managing dispersed expertise in IT offshore outsourcing: lessons from Tata Consultancy Services. In: Outsourcing Global Services. Technology, Work and Globalization. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230227415_12
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230227415_12
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