The Evolution of Risk in Information Systems Offshoring: The Impact of Home Country Risk, FIRM Learning, and Competitive Dynamics1
Authors: Hahn, Eugene D.; Doh, Jonathan P.; Bunyaratavej, Kraiwinee
Journal: MIS Quarterly (2009)
DOI: 10.2307/20650312
Information systems offshoring has emerged as a significant force in the global political economy, an important source of firm-specific competitive advantage, and a focal point for debates over the benefits and costs of globalization. As worldwide competition exerts increasing pressure on the IS function of firms to become geographically unbundled, and IS services are dispersed among increasingly distant and unfamiliar locations, the issue of risk emerges as a significant factor in decisions about where to locate offshore facilities. Drawing from prior research in IS outsourcing/offshoring and theoretical perspectives from international strategy and multinational management, we examine the determinants of risk firms bear in their offshoring decisions. In particular, the current paper explores firm-level and environment-level “push” factors that drive firms to accept increasingly greater degrees of host country risk. We predict that firm-level risk outcomes for locating IS offshore facilities will be influenced by prior firm-specific experience, the relative gap between home and host country risk levels, and the overall movement by IS offshore services providers toward increasingly…