Buyer–supplier relationships in IT outsourcing: consultants’ perspective

Abstract

Purpose Supply chain relationships have often been analysed from the macro-perspective of the companies involved, but there is less evidence of how relationships relate to the micro-perspective of persons involved. The purpose of this paper is to investigate, in IT outsourcing (ITO), how the buyer–supplier relationship type strengthens buyer performance from the perspective of consultants. Design/methodology/approach IT consultants were surveyed, and analysis was performed considering the aggregated values of variables that characterise buyer–supplier relationships adjusted to ITO. Findings The results show that strategic relationships are associated with higher supplier investment in relational management than in transactional ones. Similarly, in this type of relationship, higher levels of trust are linked to the recognition of more activities shared between parties involved than in transactional relationships. The improvement of supplier development by buyers was also found to improve buyers’ performance. Research limitations/implications The model proposed here was developed for nonspecific industries but tested in the context of ITO. Further research should be undertaken to broaden generalisability. Originality/value The paper provides an understanding of the influence of the buyer–supplier relationship type on buyer performance based both on relational management and, more specifically, how the formal dimension of supplier development can also contribute to performance. ITO is increasing worldwide, and relational management affects outsourcing outcomes in broad supply chain integration. This analysis is usually visited from buyer and supplier perspectives using decision makers. This paper assesses it from the perspective of consultants.

Systematic Literature Review of Supply Chain Relationship Approaches amongst Business-to-Business Partners

“…About 73.13% of the reviewed papers focused on collaborative relationships, 19.40% on cooperative relationships, 7.46% on transactional relationships, 2.99% on competitive and coopetitive relationships and 1.49% on coordination and adversarial relationships. x • [80] x • [81] x • [89] x • [82] x • [83] x • [84] x • [85] x • [78] x • [28] x • [87] x • [88] x • [90] x • [86] x • [91] x • [92] x • [93] x • [94] x • [96] x • [95] x • [97] x • [99] x • [98] x • [100] x • [18] x • [101] x • [19] x • [102] x • [27] x • [76] x • [103] x • [104] x • x • [107] x • [1] x • [74] x • [108] x • [109] x • [110] x • [26] x • [42] x • [112] x • [111] x • [113] x • [114] x • [115] x • [116] x • [45] x •…”

“…In IT industries, Cha and Kim [111] investigated the collaborative relationship with suppliers in a Korean IT outsourcing firm. Other researchers examined the buyer-supplier collaborative relationship in IT outsourcing [112] and Indian brand-reseller business collaborative relationship [113].…”

“…Social Economic [18] x x [75] x x x [74] x x x [119] x x x [80] x x x [81] x [121] x x x [117] x x [95] x [89] x x [82] x [83] x x x x x [85] x x [78] x [110] x x x [98] x [102] x x [87] x [112] x x x x [86] x x [100] x [122] x x 4.3.1. Financial, Operational, Environmental, Social and Economic Performance Sheu [83] surveyed retailers in FCEP brander-retailer distribution channels to examine the effect of retailers and the contracted branders' collaborative relationship towards green supply chain performance.…”

“…Martins et al [112] investigated the effect of buyer-supplier collaborative relationships on buyer performance in IT outsourcing businesses in Portugal. Their findings indicated that a collaborative relationship increased forecast precision, decreased workforce, improved delivery timeliness, increased profitability, improved processing precision and reduced costs and order cycle times.…”

Papers from the 22nd International Symposium on Logistics (ISL)

“…a make or buy decision is required. In the second paper, exploiting the perspective of the IT providers rather than those acquiring the service, Martins et al (2018) investigate relational forms for IT outsourcing, determining the extent to which strategic relationships require considerable effort on the part of the providers as opposed to relying on purely transactional processes.…”