Continuous Contracting in Software Outsourcing: Towards A Configurational Theory
Authors: Huber, Thomas; Lyytinen, Kalle
Journal: Journal of the Association for Information Systems (2025)
DOI: 10.17705/1jais.00959
<jats:p>Contemporary software outsourcing projects increasingly employ continuous contracting, where an umbrella agreement is followed by periodic contracts. Consequently, both contract design and project control become episodic, thereby dissolving the traditional boundary between the two and requiring managers to holistically combine them into cohesive governance configurations aimed at achieving alignment and flexibility. Despite the growing popularity of continuous contracting, we lack insights into how governance configurations are formed, evolve, and influence project outcomes. We address this gap through a longitudinal, multimethod study of 33 governance episodes across three multiyear software projects executed under a common umbrella agreement. Using thematic analysis, we first identified three dimensions (content, contingency, timing) to capture salient characteristics of both contract design and project control. Applying crisp-set qualitative comparative analysis (csQCA), we then identified eight governance configurations, consistently linked to specific alignment and flexibility outcomes. The narrative analysis revealed that these episodic outcomes depend on specific in…