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Task attributes and process integration in business process offshoring: A perspective of service providers from India and China

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  • Yadong Luo

    (1] Department of Management, School of Business Administration, University of Miami, Coral Gables, Florida, USA[2] Sun Yat-Sen Business School, Sun-Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China)

  • Stephanie Lu Wang

    (Department of Management, School of Business Administration, University of Miami, Coral Gables, Florida, USA)

  • Qinqin Zheng

    (Department of Management, School of Management, Fudan University, Shanghai, China)

  • Vaidyanathan Jayaraman

    (Department of Management, School of Business Administration, University of Miami, Coral Gables, Florida, USA)

Abstract

This study addresses an important issue in designing and managing business process offshoring (BPO): process integration between an offshore service provider and its global BPO client. We applied the information-processing lens in global BPO and developed the logic that internationally disaggregated process integration requires a fit between process integration and BPO's task characteristics (i.e., task complexity and security) and task interdependence (task connectivity, stickiness, and dependency). This alignment is further moderated by the task context, such as the geographic dispersion of the global client's end-customers and the type of offshore provider (independent vendor vs captive and joint venture). Finally, we suggest that process integration has a positive but curvilinear relationship with the economic returns achieved by offshore providers. Our analysis of 308 BPO companies in India and China supports our propositions. We conclude that international managers monitoring and integrating globally disaggregated activities in BPO should establish a proper alignment with the BPO project's task traits and task interdependence, and look closely at the conditioning effect of external complexity. By redressing the paucity of research on governing global BPO, this study offers some insights into the integration–externalization dynamics for growing business/knowledge process offshoring.

Suggested Citation

  • Yadong Luo & Stephanie Lu Wang & Qinqin Zheng & Vaidyanathan Jayaraman, 2012. "Task attributes and process integration in business process offshoring: A perspective of service providers from India and China," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 43(5), pages 498-524, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:pal:jintbs:v:43:y:2012:i:5:p:498-524
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Niccolò Pisani & Joan Enric Ricart, 2016. "Offshoring of Services: A Review of the Literature and Organizing Framework," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 56(3), pages 385-424, June.
    2. Yadong Luo & Huan Zhang & Juan Bu, 2019. "Developed country MNEs investing in developing economies: Progress and prospect," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 50(4), pages 633-667, June.
    3. Luo, Yadong & Wang, Stephanie Lu & Jayaraman, Vaidyanathan & Zheng, Qinqin, 2013. "Governing business process offshoring: Properties, processes, and preferred modes," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 48(3), pages 407-419.
    4. Liu, Zuoming & Jayaraman, Vaidy & Luo, Yadong, 2017. "The unbalanced indirect effects of task characteristics on performance in professional service outsourcing," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 193(C), pages 281-293.
    5. Mukherjee, Debmalya & Kumar, Satish & Mukherjee, Deepraj & Goyal, Kirti, 2022. "Mapping five decades of international business and management research on India: A bibliometric analysis and future directions," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 145(C), pages 864-891.
    6. Presbitero, Alfred, 2021. "Communication accommodation within global virtual team: The influence of cultural intelligence and the impact on interpersonal process effectiveness," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 27(1).
    7. Huang, Qiuping & Zhao, Xiande & Yeung, KwanHo & Ma, Lijun & Yeung, Jeff Hoi-yan, 2021. "Effects of information-processing mechanisms on Internet-based purchase order financing," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 146(C).
    8. Mukherjee, Debmalya & Gaur, Ajai S. & Datta, Avimanyu, 2013. "Creating value through offshore outsourcing: An integrative framework," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 19(4), pages 377-389.
    9. Stephanie Lu Wang & Qian Gu & Mary Ann Glinow & Paul Hirsch, 2020. "Cultural industries in international business research: Progress and prospect," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 51(4), pages 665-692, June.
    10. Patel, Pankaj C. & Parida, Vinit & Jayaram, Jayanth & Oghazi, Pejvak, 2018. "Task equivocality and process modularity in R&D offshore collaboration projects," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 93(C), pages 12-22.
    11. Zimmermann, Angelika & Ravishankar, M.N., 2016. "A systems perspective on offshoring strategy and motivational drivers amongst onshore and offshore employees," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 51(4), pages 548-567.
    12. Mukherjee, Debmalya & Lahiri, Somnath & Ash, Steven R. & Gaur, Ajai S., 2019. "Search motives, local embeddedness, and knowledge outcomes in offshoring," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 103(C), pages 365-375.
    13. Yee, Rachel W.Y. & Miquel-Romero, Maria-Jose & Cruz-Ros, Sonia, 2021. "Why and how to use enterprise social media platforms: The employee’s perspective," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 137(C), pages 517-526.
    14. Mol, Michael J. & Brandl, Kristin, 2018. "Bridging what we know: The effect of cognitive distance on knowledge-intensive business services produced offshore," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 27(3), pages 669-677.
    15. Vaidyanathan Jayaraman & Zuoming Liu, 2019. "Aligning governance mechanisms with task features to improve service capabilities---an empirical study of professional service outsourcing in India," Operations Management Research, Springer, vol. 12(1), pages 19-39, June.
    16. Prior, Daniel D. & Keränen, Joona, 2020. "Revisiting contemporary issues in B2B marketing: It's not just about artificial intelligence," Australasian marketing journal, Elsevier, vol. 28(2), pages 83-89.
    17. Sukruth Suresh & T. Ravichandran, 2022. "Value Gains in Business Process Outsourcing: The Vendor Perspective," Information Systems Frontiers, Springer, vol. 24(2), pages 677-690, April.
    18. Schmeisser, Bjoern, 2013. "A Systematic Review of Literature on Offshoring of Value Chain Activities," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 19(4), pages 390-406.
    19. Liena Kano, 2018. "Global value chain governance: A relational perspective," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 49(6), pages 684-705, August.
    20. Denitsa Hazarbassanova Blagoeva & Peter D. Ørberg Jensen & Hemant Merchant, 2020. "Services in International Business Studies: A Replication and Extension of Merchant and Gaur (2008)," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 60(3), pages 427-457, June.

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