Project Manager Roles in IT Outsourcing

Abstract: This article contributes to providing insight into the growing form of outsourcing by studying different managerial roles by IT project managers in outsourcing and termination projects. During the last several years outsourcing has emerged as a major issue in IT management. In this article we have examined which management roles are emphasized by the client's and vendor's project managers in both outsourcing as well as termination projects. The six managerial roles we applied were leader, resource allocator, spokesman, entrepreneur, liaison, and monitor. An important insight from this study is the need for a contingent approach to outsourcing projects and that the appropriate leadership role depends on the outsourcing perspective, time, and situation. Another result from this study is that external project manager roles are found to be significantly more important in outsourcing termination projects than in outsourcing projects. Although this paper is based on limited data, it lays the foundation for a framework of management roles in IT outsourcing projects. An engineering manager can use this article to better understand which roles project managers should emphasize in IT outsourcing and termination projects.