ISJ _2013_final_institutional repository.pdf (338.55 kB)
Knowledge transfer in IT offshoring relationships: the roles of social capital, efficacy and outcome expectations
journal contribution
posted on 2013-07-30, 13:59 authored by Angelika ZimmermannAngelika Zimmermann, M.N. RavishankarInformation technology (IT) development in global organisations relies
heavily on the transfer of tacit and complex knowledge from onshore units to offshore
subsidiaries. A central concern of such organisations is the development of social
capital, which is known to facilitate the smooth transfer of knowledge. However, only
a few studies in IS research have explicitly examined the role of social capital for
knowledge transfer in an IT offshoring context. In this paper, we argue that such
knowledge transfer mechanisms can be understood better by considering social
capital in concert with knowledge senders' efficacy and outcome expectations, two
of the potentially keymotivational drivers of knowledge transfer.We develop our arguments
through a qualitative case study of a large German multinational company.
German IT developers in this firm provided in-depth accounts of their experience with
offshore colleagues in an Indian captive subsidiary unit. Drawing on our analysis, we
develop a model that depicts the influence of social capital, efficacy and outcome
expectations on onshore IT developers' ability and willingness to transfer knowledge
to offshore colleagues. Through the model, we also explain how social capital, efficacy
and outcome expectations are interrelated and generate three interlocked,
self-reinforcing circles of knowledge transfer success in IToffshoring relationships.
History
School
- Business and Economics
Department
- Business
Citation
ZIMMERMANN, A. and RAVISHANKAR, M.N., 2014. Knowledge transfer in IT offshoring relationships: the roles of social capital, efficacy and outcome expectations. Information Systems Journal, 24 (2), pp.167-202.Publisher
© Wiley Publishing LtdVersion
- AM (Accepted Manuscript)
Publication date
2014Notes
This article was published in the serial Information Systems Journal [© Wiley Publishing Ltd]. The definitive version is available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/isj.12027ISSN
1350-1917Publisher version
Language
- en