A Systematic Literature Review on IT Outsourcing Decision and Future Research Directions

During the recent decades, some academic research on the subject of information technology outsourcing (ITO) decision has appeared in different outlets, which may impede the use of such resources and as a result, repetition of research by various researchers is very likely. The purpose of this paper is then to conduct a systematic literature review (SLR) pertaining to research on ITO decision. Then, this review intends to 1) classify ITO decision literature, 2) provide a list of factors affecting ITO decision, and 3) identify ITO strategies. To this end, 91 ITO articles published between 2000 and 2018 in 51 unique journals were reviewed. The results yielded three kinds of descriptive, relational, and comparative ITO decision studies. The determinants of ITO decisions are classified into technological, organizational, environmental and user adoption factors. Furthermore, the trend of studied ITO strategies in the reviewed literature is analyzed, and future sourcing varietals are proposed. Finally, some insights and future research directions are proposed based on the review results.

A Systems Dynamics Simulation Study of Network Public Opinion Evolution Mechanism

The factors that affect formation and dissemination of public opinion have been studied for a long time. However, the findings are disparate and fragmented, given the characteristics of netizens and new media in the Big Data era. To this end, this article introduces eight mechanisms working on formation and dissemination of public opinion on network. Based on system dynamics, this article further proposes a comprehensive causal relationship model to explore the factors affecting the consequence of public opinion on network. Particularly, the role of government is taken into consideration in this model. A simulation with Vensim PLE is conducted. The results of the simulation indicate that group polarization among netizens, opinion leaders, the quantity of media audience, the frequency of media report, government attention, and warning mechanism for public opinion crisis affect the consequence of public opinion on network significantly. Implications of the findings are discussed.

Determinant Factors of Cloud-Sourcing Decisions: Reflecting on the IT Outsourcing Literature in the Era of Cloud Computing

Cloud computing (CC) is an emerging form of IT outsourcing (ITO) that requires organizations to adjust their sourcing processes. Although ITO researchers have established an extensive knowledge base on the determinant factors that drive sourcing decisions from various theoretical perspectives, the majority of research on cloud-sourcing decisions focuses on technological aspects. We reviewed the CC and ITO literature and systematically coded the determinant factors that influence sourcing decisions. We show that most determinant factors of sourcing decisions in the ITO context remain valid for the CC context. However, the findings for some factors (i.e., asset specificity, client firm IT capabilities, client firm size, institutional influences, and uncertainty) are inconclusive for the CC and ITO contexts. We discuss how the peculiarities of CC can explain these inconclusive findings. Our results indicate that CC researchers should draw from research on ITO decision making but re-examine ITO concepts in the light of the peculiarities of CC, such as the differences between software and infrastructure services, the self-service procurement of cloud services, or the evolving role of IT departments. By summarizing determinant factors of cloud-sourcing decisions for consideration in future research, we contribute to the development of endogenous theories in the IS domain.