Relative Efficiency of IT Outsourcing Global Delivery Models: a Resource-Based Perspective

In the face of rising customer sophistication, changing industry economics, and intensified competitive pressures, common IT service delivery strategies are outdated these days. IT providers increasingly shift from traditional point-to-point offshore outsourcing to sourcing from a range of global locations. Within just a few years, delivery centres have been built up in multiple geographically dispersed countries. This determines the development of a business strategy referred to as global delivery model (GDM). Despite the emergence of GDM to become a preferred strategy in IT outsourcing, little is known about the performance of these relatively novel network structures. Against this background, we aim to examine the relative efficiency of GDMs offered by IT providers. This paper presents the results of the first stage of a two-stage research project. Drawing upon the resource-based view of the firm, we developed a conceptual framework of how providers’ GDM-related resources impact market performance. Furthermore, we introduce data envelopment analysis (DEA) as a methodology to assess relative efficiency in global delivery. Finally, we conducted a preliminary study to test the appropriateness of DEA for our endeavour and to provide first insights into global delivery