Investigating Post-outsourcing Decisions: Using the Intellectual Capital View

Over the last 30 years, IT outsourcing has become an enormous industry, and it continues to grow today. Over this period, outsourcing has matured and become widespread; this change has meant that for many managers, outsourcing questions have shifted from “Whether or not I should outsource?” to “What should I do when the outsourcing contract is about to expire/be terminated?” This study presents multiple case studies of the post-outsourcing decisions faced by two companies operating in Australia and begins the process of understanding this new class of outsourcing decisions. The study identifies the factors considered during post-outsourcing decisions and their interrelationship. The findings show that the factors affecting post-outsourcing decisions are of a combination of initial outsourcing decision factors and experience factors with the previous vendor. Several factors that were important in the initial outsourcing decision become much less relevant in the context of post-outsourcing decisions.