IS Development and Project Management
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Paper Type
Short
Paper Number
2616
Description
The practical challenges of IT multisourcing (ITM) have prompted the client organizations to adopt the Guardian model, wherein a vendor (the ‘Guardian’) takes over the responsibility of managing the multiple vendors. Literature broadly refers to the Guardian’s role in ITM governance, yet the Guardian role is under-theorized. The practical manifestation of the Guardian’s role, the core activities and influence of the Guardian is a black box. The paper provides a novel conceptualization of the Guardian’s core activities as the exercise of ‘decision rights’ related to contractual and ex-post governance. In-depth exploratory interviews of the key stakeholders of the Guardian model across multiple ITM engagements are carried out to draw from practical knowledge. Preliminary findings reveal the various decision rights and the patterns of their allocation to the Guardian. The study offers potential insights for both theory and practice. The current status and future research plan are discussed.
Recommended Citation
Peapully Shroff, Bhavya and Bandi, Rajendra K., "A 'Linking Pin' or Beyond? A Decision Rights Perspective of the Guardian Vendor Role in IT Multisourcing" (2020). ICIS 2020 Proceedings. 11.
https://aisel.aisnet.org/icis2020/is_development/is_development/11
A 'Linking Pin' or Beyond? A Decision Rights Perspective of the Guardian Vendor Role in IT Multisourcing
The practical challenges of IT multisourcing (ITM) have prompted the client organizations to adopt the Guardian model, wherein a vendor (the ‘Guardian’) takes over the responsibility of managing the multiple vendors. Literature broadly refers to the Guardian’s role in ITM governance, yet the Guardian role is under-theorized. The practical manifestation of the Guardian’s role, the core activities and influence of the Guardian is a black box. The paper provides a novel conceptualization of the Guardian’s core activities as the exercise of ‘decision rights’ related to contractual and ex-post governance. In-depth exploratory interviews of the key stakeholders of the Guardian model across multiple ITM engagements are carried out to draw from practical knowledge. Preliminary findings reveal the various decision rights and the patterns of their allocation to the Guardian. The study offers potential insights for both theory and practice. The current status and future research plan are discussed.
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