Institute of Information Systems

IT Outsourcing and IT Offshoring

Knowledge Transfer in IT Outsourcing

Knowledge Transfer in IT Outsourcing

Many organizations outsource IT services, such as software development and maintenance, to external service providers in Switzerland and remote countries such as India. They hope for cost savings and flexbility, but often face extra costs and inertia. Research suggests that these problems are due to the service providers' lack of client-specific knowledge. To mitigate these gaps, many projects make significant efforts to transfer knowledge from the client to the vendor at the outset of projects -- often with mixed success.

In this research project we investigate how to effectively design and control knowledge transfer in outsourcing projects. We examine how Indian vendor engineers learn to develop and maintain complex software and how client managers can control this process.

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Publications

Krancher, Oliver (2018). Zwei Fallstudien zu begleitetem Wissenstransfer im Outsourcing: Implikationen für die Praxis. In: Ackermann, Benno; Krancher, Oliver; North, Klaus; Schildknecht, Katrin; Schorta, Silvia (eds.) Erfolgreicher Wissenstransfer in agilen Organisationen (pp. 159-181). Wiesbaden: Springer Gabler 10.1007/978-3-658-19468-0_10

Krancher, Oliver; Dibbern, Jens (2015). Knowledge in software-maintenance outsourcing projects: beyond integration of business and technical knowledge. In: 48th Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (pp. 4406-4415). IEEE Computer Society

Krancher, Oliver; Dibbern, Jens (23 March 2014). Does the dichotomy of technical and business knowledge apply to software-maintenance outsourcing? (Unpublished). In: The 8th Global Sourcing Workshop. Val d’Isère, France. 23.-26.03.2014.

Krancher, Oliver; Dibbern, Jens (2014). Managing Knowledge Transfer in Software-Maintenance Outsourcing Transitions: A System-Dynamics Perspective. In: Information Systems Outsourcing: Towards Sustainable Business Value. Progress in IS (pp. 223-243). Heidelberg: Springer

Krancher, Oliver (2013). Knowledge transfer in software-maintenance offshore outsourcing. (Dissertation, Universität Bern, Wirtschafts- und Sozialwissenschaftliche Fakultät, Institut für Wirtschaftsinformatik)

Krancher, Oliver; Munz, Kathrin; Dibbern, Jens; Knolmayer, Gerhard (11 March 2013). Media performance during knowledge transfer in application offshoring: the perspectives of media synchronicity and cognitive load (Unpublished). In: The 7th Global Sourcing Workshop. Val d'Isère. 11.-14.03.2013.

Krancher, Oliver; Slaughter, Sandra (2013). Governing individual learning in the transition phase of software maintenance offshoring: a dynamic perspective. In: 46th Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (3543 -3552). IEEE Computer Society

Krancher, Oliver; Dibbern, Jens (2012). Learning software-maintenance tasks in offshoring projects: a cognitive-load perspective. In: The 2012 International Conference of Information Systems. Orlando, USA. December 16-19, 2012.

Krancher, Oliver; Dibbern, Jens (2012). Learning Software-Maintenance Tasks in the Transition Phase of Offshore Outsourcing Projects: Two Learning-Theoretical Perspectives. In: Kotlarsky, Julia; Oshri, Ilan; Willcocks, Leslie P. (eds.) The Dynamics of Global Sourcing. Perspectives and Practices. 6th Global Sourcing Workshop 2012, Courchevel, France, March 12-15, 2012. Lecture Notes in Business Information Processing: Vol. 130 (pp. 105-125). Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer 10.1007/978-3-642-33920-2_7

Krancher, Oliver; Dibbern, Jens (2011). Knowledge Transfer Processes in the IS Offshore Outsourcing Transition: A Conceptual Model. Sprouts : working papers on information environments, systems and organizations, 11(145). Information Systems Department in Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University