of 3 - Center for Global Outsourcings

Survey Method
To test our research model and hypotheses, we surveyed IS vendors in China and India. Within the
vendor firm, we examined one representative project in order to focus the vendor’s experience with the
client. We defined the IS vendors for our study as companies located in China and India that develop,
maintain and/or support IS functions and/or services to overseas clients. Questionnaires were pilot tested
with select vendors before the full administration of the survey. The response rates in China and India
were 18.9% and 16.9% respectively.
CONCLUSION
Overall, with the exception of Hypothesis 7 regarding the relationship between partnership quality and
strategic performance, all of the other ten hypotheses were supported by our empirical data analyses.
The results provide strong evidence that supports the notion suggested by our CQP model. The extent of
vendor capabilities influences the quality that it provides to the clients which in turn affect the vendor’s
performance. The findings have implications for both client companies which are searching for potential
IT vendors and vendor companies which are searching for ways to strengthen their outsourcing
capabilities to win over more clients and more contracts. While the vendor management can benefit
directly from our findings, the client management can also apply these findings to select vendors who can
demonstrate the desired capabilities and competencies.
With respect to ranking of critical issues, Our findings suggest that the most critical issues are not related
to cultural, language and time zone differences as publicized by the popular press; rather, the most
critical concerns IS vendors experienced can be categorized as issues dealing with relationships and
work arrangements with the client, and issues related to the client’s organizational readiness for
offshoring their IS activities. The pyramid in Figure 1 aptly represents the nature of the vendor issues
and their relative importance.
Client Relationship, e.g.,
Communication, involvement
Client Readiness, e.g.,
Expertise, staffing, roles
International Barriers, e.g.,
Language, culture, time zone
Figure-1: Relative Importance of Critical Vendor Issues
References and more details will be provided on request.
Tenth Annual International Daejeon, South Korea P a g e | 70
Smart Sourcing Conference June 28-29, 2012