IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/infosf/v10y2008i2d10.1007_s10796-008-9068-5.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The impact of cultural differences in offshore outsourcing—Case study results from German–Indian application development projects

Author

Listed:
  • Jessica K. Winkler

    (University of Mannheim)

  • Jens Dibbern

    (University of Mannheim)

  • Armin Heinzl

    (University of Mannheim)

Abstract

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 developed based on both theoretical considerations and specific empirical observations from multiple case studies. The goal is to (1) explore the nature of cultural differences in offshore outsourcing arrangements in depth and to (2) analyze the relationship between those cultural differences and offshore outsourcing success. Based on the case findings, implications and practices for the management of offshore development projects are outlined. The results indicate that cultural differences in terms of power distance, IS designer values, and an active versus passive working attitude critically affect several dimensions of relationship quality, thereby influencing offshore outsourcing success. A clear definition of roles and mechanisms, strong leadership, and an active management of culture by adapting to either the client’s or the vendor’s national culture appeared to be effective ways to manage cultural differences.

Suggested Citation

  • Jessica K. Winkler & Jens Dibbern & Armin Heinzl, 2008. "The impact of cultural differences in offshore outsourcing—Case study results from German–Indian application development projects," Information Systems Frontiers, Springer, vol. 10(2), pages 243-258, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:infosf:v:10:y:2008:i:2:d:10.1007_s10796-008-9068-5
    DOI: 10.1007/s10796-008-9068-5
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10796-008-9068-5
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10796-008-9068-5?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Oded Shenkar, 2001. "Cultural Distance Revisited: Towards a More Rigorous Conceptualization and Measurement of Cultural Differences," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 32(3), pages 519-535, September.
    2. Anandasivam Gopal & Konduru Sivaramakrishnan & M. S. Krishnan & Tridas Mukhopadhyay, 2003. "Contracts in Offshore Software Development: An Empirical Analysis," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 49(12), pages 1671-1683, December.
    3. Rajiv Sabherwal & Vivek Choudhury, 2006. "Governance of Remotely Outsourced Software Development: A Comparison of Client and Vendor Perspectives," Springer Books, in: Rudy Hirschheim & Armin Heinzl & Jens Dibbern (ed.), Information Systems Outsourcing, edition 2, pages 187-222, Springer.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Lu, Lu & Gregory, Gary & Ngo, Liem, 2020. "Service offshoring fit from consumers’ perspective," Australasian marketing journal, Elsevier, vol. 28(2), pages 100-109.
    2. Bobby Swar & Junghoon Moon & Junyoung Oh & Cheul Rhee, 2012. "Determinants of relationship quality for IS/IT outsourcing success in public sector," Information Systems Frontiers, Springer, vol. 14(2), pages 457-475, April.
    3. I. Reay & P. Beatty & S. Dick & J. Miller, 2013. "Privacy policies and national culture on the internet," Information Systems Frontiers, Springer, vol. 15(2), pages 279-292, April.
    4. Lacity, Mary & Willcocks, Leslie P., 2017. "Conflict resolution in business services outsourcing relationships," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 69810, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    5. Chulhwan Chris Bang, 2015. "Information systems frontiers: Keyword analysis and classification," Information Systems Frontiers, Springer, vol. 17(1), pages 217-237, February.
    6. Dakshitha N. Jinasena & Konstantina Spanaki & Thanos Papadopoulos & Maria E. Balta, 2023. "Success and Failure Retrospectives of FinTech Projects: A Case Study Approach," Information Systems Frontiers, Springer, vol. 25(1), pages 259-274, February.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Rosalie L Tung & Günter K Stahl, 2018. "The tortuous evolution of the role of culture in IB research: What we know, what we don’t know, and where we are headed," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 49(9), pages 1167-1189, December.
    2. Shi, Wei & Tang, Yinuo, 2015. "Cultural similarity as in-group favoritism: The impact of religious and ethnic similarities on alliance formation and announcement returns," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 32-46.
    3. Andersson, Ulf & Dasí, Àngels & Mudambi, Ram & Pedersen, Torben, 2016. "Technology, innovation and knowledge: The importance of ideas and international connectivity," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 51(1), pages 153-162.
    4. Ye, Silin & Zhou, Jing & Jiang, Yunwen & Liu, Xiaming, 2023. "Managers as the bridge: How cultural friction influences the integration of cross-border mergers and acquisitions," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 32(4).
    5. Conti, Claudio Ramos & Parente, Ronaldo & de Vasconcelos, Flávio C., 2016. "When distance does not matter: Implications for Latin American multinationals," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 69(6), pages 1980-1992.
    6. Di Guardo, Maria Chiara & Marrocu, Emanuela & Paci, Raffaele, 2016. "The effect of local corruption on ownership strategy in cross-border mergers and acquisitions," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 69(10), pages 4225-4241.
    7. Wang, Daojuan & Hain, Daniel S. & Larimo, Jorma & Dao, Li T., 2020. "Cultural differences and synergy realization in cross-border acquisitions," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 29(3).
    8. Beugelsdijk, Sjoerd & Slangen, Arjen & Maseland, Robbert & Onrust, Marjolijn, 2014. "The impact of home–host cultural distance on foreign affiliate sales: The moderating role of cultural variation within host countries," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 67(8), pages 1638-1646.
    9. Boateng, Agyenim & Du, Min & Bi, XiaoGang & Lodorfos, George, 2019. "Cultural distance and value creation of cross-border M&A: The moderating role of acquirer characteristics," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 285-295.
    10. Krane, Ronja & Eulerich, Marc, 2020. "Going global: Factors influencing the internationalization of the internal audit function," Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation, Elsevier, vol. 41(C).
    11. Kai-Lung Hui & Ping Fan Ke & Yuxi Yao & Wei T. Yue, 2019. "Bilateral Liability-Based Contracts in Information Security Outsourcing," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 30(2), pages 411-429, June.
    12. Emanuele Bacchiega & Olivier Bonroy & Emmanuel Petrakis, 2018. "Contract contingency in vertically related markets," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(4), pages 772-791, October.
    13. Palmero, Alfredo Jiménez & Herrera, Juan José Durán & Sabaté, Juan Manuel de la Fuente, 2013. "The role of psychic distance stimuli on the East-West FDI location structure in the EU. Evidence from Spanish MNEs," Journal of East European Management Studies, Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG, vol. 18(1), pages 36-65.
    14. Christian Cordes & Stephan Müller & Georg Schwesinger & Sarianna M. Lundan, 2022. "Governance structures, cultural distance, and socialization dynamics: further challenges for the modern corporation," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 32(2), pages 371-397, April.
    15. John Cantwell, 2014. "A commentary on Grazia Ietto-Gillies' paper: 'The Theory of the Transnational Corporation at 50+'," Economic Thought, World Economics Association, vol. 3(2), pages 1-58, September.
    16. Schmid, Stefan & Schurig, Andreas, 2003. "The development of critical capabilities in foreign subsidiaries: disentangling the role of the subsidiary's business network," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 12(6), pages 755-782, December.
    17. Kotler, Philip & Manrai, Lalita A. & Lascu, Dana-Nicoleta & Manrai, Ajay K., 2019. "Influence of country and company characteristics on international business decisions: A review, conceptual model, and propositions," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 28(3), pages 482-498.
    18. Fuentelsaz, Lucio & Garrido, Elisabet & Maicas, Juan P., 2020. "The effect of informal and formal institutions on foreign market entry selection and performance," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 26(2).
    19. Del Bosco, Barbara & Cristina Bettinelli, 2020. "How Do Family SMEs Control Their Investments Abroad? The Role of Distance and Family Control," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 60(1), pages 1-35, February.
    20. Lazarova, Mila & Peretz, Hilla & Fried, Yitzhak, 2017. "Locals know best? Subsidiary HR autonomy and subsidiary performance," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 52(1), pages 83-96.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:infosf:v:10:y:2008:i:2:d:10.1007_s10796-008-9068-5. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.