Abstract
AbstractIn the business research literature, e-business is considered to be a type of sourcing option of information systems outsourcing (ISO) if it is external to the firm and the renting supplier-owned resource delivers the solution over the internet. As the term “e-business” is conceptually included in ISO, this chapter seeks to investigate the factors that affect the adoption of ISO in general by comparing the effect across five business areas: human resources, finance, logistics, sales, and marketing. Based on the combination of a technology-organization-environment (TOE) framework and the diffusion of innovation (DOI) theory, the authors develop a conceptual model to study the determinants of ISO adoption by business area. This handbook chapter is one of the first to examine ISO adoption in these five business areas and to use a research model that combines the TOE framework and the DOI theory. Data collected from 261 firms in Portugal were used to test the proposed model. Based on a logistic regression, top management was found to be supportive and perceived benefits to be determinants of ISO adoption in all business areas defined. Moreover, other significant factors used to determine ISO included: complexity in human resources, finances and logistics; relative advantages for finance, logistics, and sales; firm size (logistics only); and competitive pressure for business areas (except marketing). Furthermore, attitudes toward change were found to have opposite effects—it is positive for sales and negative for human resources, finance, and logistics.KeywordsInformation systems outsourcing (ISO)Technology-organization-environmentDiffusion of innovationsHuman resources ISO adoptionFinance ISO adoptionLogistics ISO adoptionSales ISO adoptionMarketing ISO adoption
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