Outsourcing and information systems development: How complementary corporate cultures minimize the risks of outsourced systems projects

Many firms outsource creation of program code for management information systems, but not all experiences are successful. Although some researchers and practitioners are quick to blame failures on differing country cultures, this does not appear to be the reason. Rather it is the compatibility or differences in corporate cultures between the client company and the outsourcing partner that may help or hinder the development of quality systems. In this chapter we examine the metaphors found in the language of client corporations and outsourcing partners and explain how to look for compatibility when designing various types of information systems including traditional MIS, decision support systems, expert systems and AI, executive information systems, cooperative systems, and competitive systems. We explain how the development of certain types of systems can benefit from situations where more positive metaphors exist and offer some guidelines for the MIS practitioner, thereby minimizing risk and increasing the likelihood of a more successful client company-outsourcing partner relationship.