CCE Theses and Dissertations

Date of Award

2002

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Graduate School of Computer and Information Sciences

Advisor

Sumitra Mukherjee

Committee Member

Steven R. Terrell

Committee Member

John A. Scigliano

Abstract

Outsourcing is defined as the contracting out of all or parts of a company's functional work. While most outsourcing initiatives attempt to open a line of communication between upper management and affected employees, little effort is made to assess and incorporate employee perceptions into the outsourcing deal. Little research exists that addresses employee perceptions of outsourcing Information Technology (IT) functions and operations and the effects such outsourcing have on the employee. This study investigated the perceptions of employees directly involved in IT outsourcing deals in an effort to relate these perceptions to factors identified in earlier studies. The following human resource factors associated with outsourcing were evaluated: job security, benefits and compensation, morale, productivity, training and skills, and career opportunities. The study presented a set of four hypotheses that contended that transitioned employees benefited more from IT outsourcing. Results of this study, conducted via a survey, did substantiate the results from two previous employee perception studies of IT outsourcing. However, there was no statistical evidence to support the contention that transitioned employees benefit more from outsourcing than their counterparts. In order to assist management with addressing the issues from the employee's perspective, a Modified Management Outsourcing Adoption Model, based on an earlier employee perceptions study, is presented as a tool for use in a management plan of action to incorporate the employee perspectives into the outsourcing process and thus led to a more successful outsourcing venture. Keywords: Outsourcing, information technology, employee perceptions. John Ruskin, 1871: "In order that people may be happy in their work, these three things are needed: they must be fit for it; they must not do too much of it; and they must have a sense of success in it".

  Link to NovaCat

Share

COinS