Jens Dibbern

University of Bern | UniBe · Departement of Business Administration

Information systems (IS) multisourcing—the practice of contracting interdependent IS services to two or more vendors (Bapna et al., Information Systems Research 21:785–795, 2010; Wiener and Saunders, The Journal of Strategic Information Systems 23:210–225, 2014a)—has become an increasingly popular sourcing model. This chapter together with Chapters...

As detailed in Chapter 2, in the information systems (IS) domain, multisourcing is viewed as the practice of procuring interdependent information technology (IT) and business services from external vendors to achieve optimal business goals (Bapna et al., Information Systems Research 21:785–795, 2010).

Advances in digital technologies have significantly increased the speed of digitalization in the new millennium. Such digitalization occurs across various levels, such as the individual, team, organization, and ecosystem levels. This paper seeks to provide an overview of how information systems (IS) research addresses digitalization phenomena acros...

Platform owners must ensure that the ecosystems around their platforms remain as innovative as possible to meet market needs and keep pace with competing platform ecosystems. To this end, platform owners either attract new complementors with innovative complements or foster innovation among existing complementors. This study takes the perspective o...

In software platform ecosystems, the technological and structural peculiarities vest the platform owner with an extremely powerful position that puts any complementor at the mercy of the platform owner's actions. Paradoxically, it is the self-determination and proactivity of the complementors that determine the ecosystem's success through their sur...

Dedicated complementors are devoted, faithful, and willing to invest in their partnership with a platform owner. Since such complementors promise continuous value co-creation, complementor dedication is an essential objective of platform governance. However, as dedicated complementors also increase their vulnerability vis-à-vis the platform owner,...

Software maintenance eats up the lion’s share of corporate software expenses, and many organizations attempt to reduce these costs through outsourcing and offshoring. A key challenge in these initiatives is to transfer knowledge to the new service delivery unit (a vendor or a captive center). Even though knowledge transfer plays a key role across t...

Innovation ecosystems are becoming increasingly important for the co-creation and modification of digital innovation by different and often competing organizational actors. However, how innovation ecosystems emerge between such organizational actors is yet unknown. This article addresses this gap by exploring how central organizational actors creat...

The implementation of software robots is based on the often time-consuming work carried out by the project team, which often leads to higher than expected costs and time delays. This can be made more efficient by scaling the extension of the robot’s functionalities. However, scaling can only take place once one has understood what can be scaled and...

This study seeks to explain the perplexing phenomenon that many software outsourcing projects drift, i.e., they enter into a creeping process of targeting emergent goals often at the expense of losing sight of initial goals. Such drift is difficult to reconcile with the traditional logic of control found in the literature. According to this logic,...

Software robots tend to increasingly take over organizational processes. However, little is known about principles of building and implementing as opposed to using robotic systems, such as bots for process automation (RPA) and chatbots. Therefore, based on an empirically illustrated theoretical conceptualization of routine automation and affordance...

This paper examines joint vendor performance in multi-sourcing arrangements. Using an Information Processing View, we argue that managing interdependencies between multiple vendors imposes substantial information processing (IP) requirements on clients. To achieve high joint performance, clients therefore need to possess sufficient IP capacity. We...

Bridging knowledge boundaries among project team members is essential to prevent delays or complete failure of software development projects. Prior researchers have reported that software prototypes can be used to help bridge knowledge boundaries between team members in traditional software development settings, yet their use in an agile developmen...

Software robots tend to increasingly take over organizational processes. However, little is known about principles of developing as opposed to using robotic systems, such as RPA robots and chatbots. Therefore, based on a comparative case study, this paper elaborates how different types of robots, due to distinguishing system attributes, relate to d...

Social media platforms bear the promise of enhancing interactions in collaborative learning. Yet, relatively little is known about how short-message feeds, a key feature in many social media platforms, affect collaborative learning. We report the results of a field experiment in which we manipulated the social media platform that 53 teams of four s...

Organizations benefit from malleable IT only if users perceive the affordances that malleable IT provides for their work. However, theoretical explanations and empirical evidence related to affordance perception are scarce. In this paper, we develop a theoretical framework based on Social Cognitive Theory to explain two different types of affordanc...

The emergence of software platforms and ecosystems has led platform owners to create the new role of the partnership manager—responsible for putting their partner programs into practice. However, there is little guidance as to what the required competences for this new role are. Based on studying a multitude of partnerships in different software ec...

Project teams increasingly rely on computer-mediated communication. In this paper, we propose that communication within these teams benefits from a communication-awareness feature that summarizes communication at one common place. We argue that such a feature pays out specifically during action episodes, when team members engage in taskwork. We con...

Multisourcing has become a common sourcing model in recent outsourcing practice. Yet, the extant and relevant IS literature has so far offered limited insight into how to stipulate both individual (i.e., individual vendor) and joint (the entire vendor network) performance while ensuring governance efficiency. Our study set about addressing this gap...

The success of collaboration platforms depends on the degree to which users incorporate generic platform features into their particular collaborative actions. Yet, little is known about the processes through which users perceive and actualize the potentials for action, or affordances, offered by collaboration platforms. We report the results of an...

Based on an exploratory multiple-case study in two platform ecosystems, we develop a process theory that explains how and why different ways of practicing ecosystem-wide governance are more or less successful in navigating the tension between cocreated value and governance costs. Our process theory shows that how ecosystem-wide rules and values are...

Transaction cost economics (TCE) is the most prominent theory for studying questions surrounding information systems (IS) outsourcing. Its most widely tested argument is that client-specific services are rather kept in-house due to the high transaction costs which arise for safeguarding against opportunistic behavior. However, empirical support for...

This paper examines the effect of modularity, architectural knowledge and joint measurability on joint supplier performance in multisourcing settings. In particular, we examine these relationships by assuming a moderating role for the guardian supplier. The limited, though growing, IS literature on multisourcing has hinted at the central role that...

Many technological developments of the past two decades come with the promise of greater IT flexibility , i.e. greater capacity to adapt IT. These technologies are increasingly used to improve organizational routines that are not affected by large, hard-to-change IT such as ERP. Yet, most findings on the interaction of routines and IT stem from con...

Knowledge processes are critical to outsourced software projects. According to outsourcing research, outsourced software projects succeed if they manage to integrate the client's business knowledge and the vendor's technical knowledge. In this paper, we submit that this view may not be wrong, but incomplete in a significant part of outsourced softw...

Information systems (IS) outsourcing projects often fail to achieve initial goals. To avoid project failure, managers need to design formal controls that meet the specific contextual demands of the project. However, the dynamic and uncertain nature of IS outsourcing projects makes it difficult to design such specific formal controls at the outset o...

The existing literature suggests that transitions in software-maintenance offshore outsourcing projects are prone to knowledge transfer blockades, i.e. situations in which the activities that would yield effective knowledge transfer do not occur, and that client management involvement is central to overcome them. However, the theoretical understand...

This book attempts to synthesize research that contributes to a better understanding of how to reach sustainable business value through information systems (IS) outsourcing. Important topics in this realm are how IS outsourcing can contribute to innovation, how it can be dynamically governed, how to cope with its increasing complexity through multi...

Offshored, distributed teams increasingly use agile software development methodologies. Since agile software development practices were originally developed for co-located teams, distributed teams are required to use tools in order to achieve agility. This study is the first to adopt the lens of effective use theory in order to explore the role of...

IS outsourcing projects often fail to achieve project goals. To inhibit this failure, managers need to design formal controls that are tailored to the specific contextual demands. However, the dynamic and uncertain nature of IS outsourcing projects makes the design of such specific formal controls at the outset of a project challenging. Hence, the...

With the availability of lower cost but highly skilled software development labor from offshore regions, entrepreneurs from developed countries who do not have software development experience can utilize this workforce to develop innovative software products. In order to succeed in offshored innovation projects, the often extreme knowledge boundari...

This book attempts to synthesize research that contributes to a better understanding of how to reach sustainable business value through information systems (IS) outsourcing. Important topics in this realm are how IS outsourcing can contribute to innovation, how it can be dynamically governed, how to cope with its increasing complexity through multi...

This paper develops a process model of how and why complementarity and substitution form over time between contractual and relational governance in the context of IS outsourcing. Our analysis identifies four distinct process patterns that explain this formation as the outcome of interaction processes between key elements of both contractual and rel...

Individual learning is central to the success of the transition phase in software maintenance offshoring projects. However, little is known on how learning activities, such as on-the-job training and formal presentations, are effectively combined during the transition phase. In this study, we present and test propositions derived from cognitive loa...

This paper explores how and why contractual and relational governance evolve over time in information systems (IS) outsourcing projects. Governance is broken down into its foundation and action dimension resulting in four governance parameters: trust /norms and informal control representing relational governance; contract and formal control reflect...

The practice of information systems (IS) outsourcing is widely established among organizations. Nonetheless, evidence suggests that organizations differ considerably in the extent to which they deploy IS outsourcing. This variation has motivated research into the determinants of the IS outsourcing decision. Most of this research is based on the ass...

The usage of social media in leisure time settings has become a prominent research topic. However, less research has been done on the design of social media in collaboration settings. In this study, we investigate how social media can support asynchronous collaboration in virtual teams and specifically how they can increase activity awareness. On t...

In the enterprise software industry, large providers (hubs) are fostering partner networks with smaller companies (spokes) that complement their platforms. This study takes the perspective of these spokes and seeks to understand their motivation to partner. It is the first to simultaneously examine two theoretical perspectives that help explain par...

The increasing practice of offshore outsourcing software maintenance has posed the challenge of effectively transferring knowledge to individual software engineers of the vendor. In this theoretical paper, we discuss the implications of two learning theories, the model of work-based learning (MWBL) and cognitive load theory (CLT), for knowledge tra...

In recent years scholars have discussed the relationship between contractual and relational governance in information systems (IS) outsourcing. Findings regarding this relationship are still mixed. Some hint at a substitutional relationship, others at a complementary relationship. Moreover novel investigations favor another argument: relational and...

Next to the extensive use of social networking platforms (SNPs) for communication and relationship building with friends and relatives, SNPs are also increasingly used for enhancing collaboration at work. SNP usage at the workplace is fundamentally different and it is unclear how SNPs can improve collaboration as well as in what way their designs s...

For a long time research on the management of IS outsourcing projects viewed relational and contractual governance as substitutes. However, subsequent studies provided empirical evidence for the complementary view. Recently, some authors supported the notion that relational and contractual governance mechanisms can simultaneously be complements and...

Studies investigating the question whether contractual and relational governance are substitutes or complements have been based on contradictory conceptualizations and have produced conflicting research results. This caused a controversial debate in the field of IS outsourcing concerning the relationship of governance mechanisms. Thus, the goal of...

The term "ubiquitous technology" refers to any technology that extends common objects with data processing capabilities, e.g. RFID systems, wireless sensor networks or networked embedded systems. In this study, we uncover the mechanisms by which these technologies contribute to an increased business process performance. We apply the theory of task-...

To date, multi-group comparison of Partial Least Square (PLS) models where differences in path estimates for different sampled populations have been relatively naive. Often, researchers simply examine and discuss the difference in magnitude of specific model path estimates from two or more data sets. When evaluating the significance of path differe...

Microblogging is the new Web 2.0 hype in the media. Techies, politicians, family members and many more use Twitter to keep in touch with their interest groups, their voters or their friends and relatives. We wanted to know whether Twitter can also keep us aware about our team colleagues, how this improves teamwork and finally why Twitter is accepte...

Enterprise application software (EAS) is often developed organizationally distributed in hub-and-spoke networks. From a theoretical point of view the specific structure of these networks is characterized by tensions: While on the one hand trust as well as informal control is of high importance in hub-and-spoke networks, on the other hand structural...

We developed a model of the adoption of business process outsourcing (BPO) based on risk–benefit analysis. The model was tested in the German banking industry in four areas of transaction processing. Our results showed that, in general, perceived BPO benefits have a substantially stronger impact on intention to increase the level of BPO than percei...

In this paper determinants of information systems (IS) outsourcing are deduced from transaction cost economic theory, resource-based theory and power theory. They are summarized in a theoretical framework which is tested using a sample of small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) in Germany. The results show that internal performance and know-how d...

Facilitated by new standards and middleware technologies, enterprise application software is increasingly characterized by a high degree of modularity. On an organizational level, this is reflected by the goal of dominant system vendors (hubs) to form loosely-coupled hub-and-spoke networks with smaller niche players (spokes) that complement their s...

When entering foreign markets, software firms need to make a fundamental choice on the distribution arrangements for software and related services. This choice may involve contracting with local partners or entering foreign markets through company-owned channels. This study focuses on analyzing such boundary choices of software product firms in int...

The notion of outsourcing — making arrangements with an external entity for the provision of goods or services to supplement or replace internal efforts — has been around for centuries. Kakabadse and Kakabadse (2002) track one of the earliest occurrences of outsourcing to the ancient Roman Empire, where tax collection was outsourced. In the early y...

The notion of outsourcing - making arrangements with an external entity for the provision of goods or services to supplement or replace internal efforts - has been around for centuries. The outsourcing of information systems (IS) is however a much newer concept but one which has been growing dramatically. This book attempts to synthesize what is kn...

In the enterprise application software industry, dominant system vendors (hubs) have formed strategic partnerships with small software companies (spokes), resulting in the emergence of hub-and-spoke networks. Based upon the concept of software stacks, we argue that the governance mechanisms applied by hub and spokes depend on the complementarity be...

Within the IS development industry, incumbent system developers (hubs) are increasingly embracing partnerships with less well established companies acting in specific niches (spokes). This paper seeks to develop a better understanding of the motives for this strategy. Relying on existing work on strategic alliance formation, it is argued that partn...

Information systems (IS) sourcing refers to the entire set of processes ranging from initiating and preparing the decision to provide an organization's IS functions. IS sourcing is closely related to the steady change and provides a collection of research studies that have either addressed one or more of the research gaps in traditional IS outsourc...

Offshore outsourcing to vendors in foreign countries causes unique challenges which need to be understood and managed effectively. This paper explores cultural differences in IS offshoring arrangements involving German client organizations that outsource application development activities to Indian vendors. For this purpose, a research framework is...

The IS development industry is currently undergoing profound changes. The well established, large system developers (hubs) take the lead in establishing partner networks with much smaller, often young companies (spokes). This paper takes the perspective of these spokes and seeks to understand their motivations for entering into such partner network...

Kernpunkte Dieser Beitrag zeigt auf der Basis von sechs Anwendungsentwicklungsprojekten in Indien, welche kulturellen Einflussgrößen bei der Auslagerung von IT-Projekten einzubeziehen sind, wie diese Determinanten den Projekterfolg beeinflussen und durch welche Maßnahmen von Seiten des Managements kulturelle Herausforderungen zur Sicherung des Proj...

Offshore outsourcing to vendors in foreign countries causes unique challenges which need to be understood and managed effectively. This paper explores cultural differences in IS offshoring arrangements involving German client organizations that outsource application development activities to Indian vendors. For this purpose, a research framework is...

Die Verbreitung des Internets hat in den 90er Jahren zu tief greifenden Veränderungen der Geschäftsmodelle von Unternehmen geführt (vgl. Stähler 2001). Das Internet ermöglichte es Unternehmen, eine Vielzahl ihrer Geschäftstransaktionen zu digitalisieren und eröffnete ihnen einen völlig neuen Absatzkanal. Der Electronic Commerce führte zu tief greif...

This paper is based on the view that the adoption of service oriented architectures (SOA) by large information system (IS) vendors might push software development towards an industrialized mode of operation. The emergence of such a software ecosystem is analyzed through an innovation perspective. The special nature of software as an intellectual te...

Historically, software application systems have been produced either individually tailored for the specific customer, or they have been adapted from standardized packages. This paper proposes that component based software development could provide a synthesis of both approaches, combining the best aspects of each of the other two paradigms. Taking...

Gaining economic benefits from substantially lower labor costs has been reported as a major reason for offshoring labor-intensive information systems services to low-wage countries. However, if wage differences are so high, why is there such a high level of variation in the economic success between offshored IS projects? This study argues that offs...

The notion of outsourcing making arrangements with an external entity for the provision of goods or services to supplement or replace internal efforts has been around for centuries. Kakabadse and Kakabadse (2002) track one of the earliest occurrences of outsourcing to the ancient Roman Empire, where tax collection was outsourced. In the early years...

The notion of outsourcing a' making arrangements with an external entity for the provision of goods or services to supplement or replace internal efforts a? has been around for centuries. The outsourcing of information systems (IS) is, however, a much newer concept, but one which has been growing dramatically. This book attempts to synthesize what...

Within the past three years, the global outsourcing market has saturated at a level of around €57 billion (TPI 2005). When taking a closer look, however, one may observe that the outsourcing market is by no means a steady one. Interestingly, the share of the United States in the global outsourcing market which has so far been predominant has declin...

This paper has focused on the situation of IS outsourcing in a specific manufacturing industry with a relatively high amount of SMEs. The results have shown that the SMEs spent relatively little money on IS and that the degree of outsourcing is moderate. The majority of companies that opted for outsourcing did so selectively. Whereas application se...

Seit geraumer Zeit wird die Frage kontrovers diskutiert, unter welchen Umständen es für ein Unternehmen vorteilhaft ist, bestimmte Funktionen der Informationsverarbeitung fremd zu beziehen. Während die einen die Risiken des Outsourcings betonen, indem sie auf den Verlust strategischer Potenziale und erhöhter Transaktionskosten verweisen, sprechen a...

The question concerning the circumstances under which it is advantageous for a company to outsource certain information systems functions has been a controversial issue for the last decade. While opponents emphasize the risks of outsourcing based on the loss of strategic potentials and increased transaction costs, proponents emphasize the strategic...

In the last fifteen years, academic research on information systems (IS) outsourcing has evolved rapidly. Indeed the field of outsourcing research has grown so fast that there has been scant opportunity for the research community to take a collective breath, and complete a global assessment of research activities to date. This paper seeks to addres...

In the last fifteen years, academic research on information systems (IS) outsourcing has evolved rapidly. Indeed the field of outsourcing research has grown so fast that there has been scant opportunity for the research community to take a collective breath, and complete a global assessment of research activities to date. This paper seeks to addres...

The building of a theoretical framework may be viewed as a preliminary state of model building. It comprises statements about relations among broadly defined concepts within a set of boundary assumptions and constraints. The model building refines the theoretical framework and puts it into concrete terms, so that it can be examined empirically. Tog...

Having presented the findings of the model testing, the next step is to interpret the findings. First, the smallest common denominator from the survey results for the six sub-samples will be extracted. This will crystallize out those findings that appear to be most generalizable for a larger population. Second, the group results will be examined mo...

In this Chapter, the mid-range theoretical framework on IS sourcing will be tested empirically. This requires to transform the theoretical language into an observable language (Fornell, 1989). In other words, the constructs have to be operationalized as measurable variables. In doing so, it is necessary to satisfy both the theoretical and the empir...

The objective of this research was to find answers to the question why organizations behave so different in IS sourcing. More specifically, the sourcing of two IS functions was addressed: the development and maintenance of software applications. In order to understand the reasons and wider implications of the sourcing decision of these two IS funct...