Exploring constructs and indicators influencing information system outsourcing performance in Taiwan's market

Abstract

This work employed performance measurement questionnaire (PMQ) approach to investigate types of information system (IS) outsourcing, the constructs and practical indicators used to evaluate IS outsourcing performance. The differences among perceptions of the performance of IS outsourcing among various organizational characteristics are also considered. The result of a survey reveals that most large corporations develop and maintain their own IS; the next largest group delegate initial IS development to software companies and take over IS development later, implying that the IS outsourcing market still has growth potential. With regard to performance evaluation, most the majority of the large Taiwanese corporations do not perform evaluations on a regular basis while some other corporations evaluate performance every six to 12 months. Apparently, evaluating the performance of IS outsourcing it is not common practice among large corporations in Taiwan. Even companies who do evaluate performance tend to do so on an irregular basis, implying that large domestic corporations tend to evaluate IS outsourcing as required. Additionally, MANOVA testing showed the following six organizational characteristics significantly influence perceptions of IS outsourcing performance by: 1. education level of evaluator, 2. types of industry, 3. degree of IS outsourcing, 4. frequency of evaluation of performance of IS outsourcing, 5. style of communication between the outsourcer and the contractor, 6. competency of the evaluators involved in IS outsourcing decision making.