Determinants of relationship quality for IS/IT outsourcing success in public sector

Abstract

Relationship has become an influential aspect for the success of IS/IT outsourcing projects. Although some studies have explored the issues of IS/IT outsourcing relationship in the past, these studies are limited to the private sectors. Whereas, studies implicate that the issues related to private and public sectors should be addressed differently. Therefore the main purpose of this study is to examine the IS/IT outsourcing relationship in the public sector by determining relationship quality factors. Based on the social exchange and the relational exchange theories a relationship model is proposed and hypotheses are tested. Ninety three IS/IT outsourcing projects in the public sector of Korea are examined and the results indicate that the outsourcing success is greatly determined by relationship quality. This study will serve as useful guidelines in understanding how to develop a successful IS/IT outsourcing relationships for IT practitioners in the public sector and the vendors undertaking those outsourced projects.