Governance in Outsourcing Relationships - The Role of Information Technologies

This study investigates the role of information technologies (IT) in the governance of IT outsourcing relationships. Managers rely on contractual and relational governance to manage IT outsourcing projects. In addition, they use dedicated IT solutions to make the governance more efficient. While the role of IT in supporting the two governance approaches is appreciated in practice, it has not yet been comprehensively addressed in research. Through an exploratory case study comprising of five client and five vendor companies, this study investigates the impact of IT on contractual and relational governance. Our findings suggest that IT helps to support contractual governance in general and specific aspects of relational governance. In particular, vendors’ selfcontrol is supported by IT. Further, we outline the facilitating role of IT to create transparency as a possible antecedent of trust.

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