Abstract
Recently, innovative changes in information technology (IT) trends, such as cloud computing and deep learning, have led IT companies to focus on collaboration for sustainable growth. This paper investigates collaboration strategies and success factors for IT service companies via a survey-based empirical study of Korean leading IT firms. Four types of collaboration were identified by considering the types of customer relationship and the target market: offshore, joint venture, collaboration with small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and partnership with major local firms. Then, based on a Plan-Do-See management activity process, this paper considers success factors in the planning process and collaboration process, and analyzes an impact of these factors on collaboration performance such as financial performance, process innovation, improving competitiveness, and technology acquisition. As a result, the success factors differ according to the types of performance measures as well as the collaboration types. In particular, the characteristics of partners positively influence competitiveness in captive and global markets, while they improve process innovation in open and domestic markets. This study attempts to provide insight for companies in the IT service industry about how collaboration activities could enhance performance, depending on the alliance types.
Highlights
Companies are increasingly cultivating collaborative relationship with a variety of external partners such as customers, suppliers and competitors to integrate value creation processes for sustainable growth [1,2]
This study identified success factors according to the types of performance measures and collaboration types seen in the information technology (IT) service market, as well as according to customer relationship types, including those with the captive markets, which defines the Korean IT service firm
Independent variables are two types of success factors based on the Plan-Do-See management activity process: success factors in the planning process and the collaboration process
Summary
Companies are increasingly cultivating collaborative relationship with a variety of external partners such as customers, suppliers and competitors to integrate value creation processes for sustainable growth [1,2]. While some studies have investigated internal organization for innovation, other researchers concentrate on inter-organizational forms of collaboration in the development and commercialization of new products and services [3]. External collaboration is a critical means to augment the internal value creation activities of an organization and reinforce its competitive advantages because the locus of innovation lies not inside the firm but in the spaces between the firm and its external partners [4,5]. Collaboration in various functions such as R&D activities, design, marketing and production is at the center of the recent changes for sustainable growth in the IT service industry across the globe. It has become clear that such changes in large industries should not be led by only one company, but should only occur when several market players and stakeholders collaborate in order to maximize the performance of resource utilization for long-term sustainability [8]
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