The Antecedents and Synergistic Effect of Internal & External Knowledge Integrations on Performance in Offshore Professional Service Outsourcing

Abstract

This study investigates how the PSO firm’s external knowledge integration with global clients, internal integration across various functional units, and the synergistic effects between them in improving PSO performance. The antecedents of these two types of integration are also explored. Drawing on the theory of organizational learning and knowledge-based view, a conceptual framework is proposed and empirically tested by using survey data from 192 Indian professional service providers. This study contributes to the much-needed efforts in studying PSO, a new and fast growing cross-border professional service activity, and provides helpful managerial implications to practicing global clients and offshore PSO service providers on how to successfully manage and govern the outsourcing process to achieve expected benefits