O UTSOURCING CHARACTERISTICS AS ANTECEDENTS TO ROLE

competencies, client managerial persistent expectation, and relational norms

— are proposed as environmental stressors influencing a transplant’s percep-tion of role stress. These three stressors are discussed below in hypothesis 2, 3, and 4, respectively.

4.3.1 Complementary core competencies

Researchers have used a variety of different terms to talk about a firm’s re-sources, including competencies (Prahalad & Hamel, 1990), skills (Grant, 1991), capabilities (Van der Heijden, 2001), and assets (Ross, Beth, &

Goodhue, 1996). In this research we define complementary core competen-cies as the degree to which firms are able to eliminate deficiencompeten-cies in each other’s portfolio of resources by supplying distinct capabilities, knowledge, and other entities (Lambe et al., 2002). By this, client and vendor enhance each other’s ability to achieve business goals. According to Quinn and Hil-mer (1994), companies can substantially leverage their resources by devel-oping a few well-selected core competencies of significance to customers, focusing investment and management attention on them, and strategically outsource many other activities.

Levina and Ross (2003) have studied one long-term successful applications management outsourcing arrangement. They suggest that the vendor’s effi-ciency is based on the economic benefits derived from the ability to develop a complementary set of core competencies. Their study indicates that an IT application management vendor can deliver value to its clients by develop-ing a set of experienced based core competencies that (1) address client needs and markets conditions, (2) exhibit complementarities that result in efficient service delivery, and (3) depend on the vendor’s control over, and centralization of, decision rights on a large number of projects from multiple clients. This ability, to develop a complementary set of core competencies, is shared with clients through formal and informal relationship management structures.

As a consequence of outsourcing, transplants got transferred to the vendor company, a company which define IS/IT competencies as their core compe-tencies. This new organization of work and delivery of value, with comple-mentary core competencies, is proposed to have a positive effect on organ-izational work performance. Vendor organizations can pay attention to what they are best at, i.e. the sets of skills and capabilities that create high value services for client organizations.

But complementary core competencies may affect individual level work outcome as well. As transplants previously worked for the client company,

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they know which are the client’s core competencies and skills, and which are not. They also know the core competencies of their new employer, the ven-dor organization. As transplants perceive the two parties of the relationship as being able to eliminate deficiencies in each other’s portfolio of resources, this may contribute to a reduction of a transplant’s perceived role stress.

Expectations among different stakeholder are harmonized according to the new organization of work, and thus reducing a transplant’s role conflict. The given organization of competencies is clear and understood among the stakeholders, thus reducing a transplants role ambiguity. And thus it is pro-posed,

Hypothesis 2a: Complementary core competencies are nega-tively related to transplant’s role conflict.

Hypothesis 2b: Complementary core competencies are nega-tively related to transplant’s role ambiguity.

Demarcation of labor, in line with client and vendor companies’ core compe-tencies, will reduce transplants’ perception of role stress, and in turn increase their task performance. But there may be an alternative explanation. IT em-ployees are replaced according to their competencies. As they got transferred from client to vendor, transplants got the opportunity to specialize, and thus improve their efficiency. Thus a direct relationship is proposed:

Hypothesis 2c: Complementary core competencies are posi-tively related to transplant’s task performance.

4.3.2 Client managerial persistent expectations

Belief perseverance describes the tendency for prior beliefs and expectations to persevere, even in the face of new data or when the data that generated those beliefs and expectations are no longer valid (Anderson & Kellam, 1992). Applied to the IT outsourcing context, these socio-psychological find-ings lend weight to the notion that client managers do not change their old schemas and expectations regarding former subordinates, even though the managers may recognize that these ex-subordinates are no longer officially under their jurisdiction but are under the supervision of another organization.

According to Ho, Ang and Straub (2003), client managers found it both dif-ficult and awkward to manage former subordinates as external contractors.

In their research Ho et al. (2003) found a positive relationship between client managers’ persistence of expectations and their perceived performance of IT outsourcers. The researchers offer two alternative explanations for the posi-tive relationship. First, client managers’ perceptions are influenced by prior expectations; people construct their perceptions to be aligned with their prior expectations. The second alternative explanation lies in the research on

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havioral confirmation. It was found that people’s expectations have an effect on their own behavior, which in turn elicits expectation congruent behavior in others.

From their prior experience in supervising the transplants (as subordinates), client managers have developed clear expectations about what the trans-plants should provide to the organization, such as a requisite level of work, effort, and commitment. Evidence from social psychology suggests that ex-pectations and beliefs are not readily subject to change, even in the face of disconfirming evidence. Hence, if prior expectations persist into the IT out-sourcing relationship, client managers would tend to think of these trans-plants as if they still were subordinates, imposing on them role expectations that are not appropriate under the new contractual relationship. Likely, ven-dor managers are also imposing on them role expectations. And thus client managerial persistent demands and expectations may take the form of per-ceived stressors, when a transplant believes there is role conflict and ambi-guity.

Hypothesis 3a: Client managerial persistent expectations are positively related to transplant’s role conflict.

Hypothesis 3b: Client managerial persistent expectations are positively related to transplant’s role ambiguity.

Client managerial persistent expectations will increase transplants’ percep-tion of role stress, and in turn decrease their task performance. An alternative explanation lies in the line of behavioral confirmation. Client managers’

expectations have an effect on their own behavior, which in turn elicits pectation congruent behavior in transplants; meaning, transplants who ex-perience persistent client manager expectation will deliver according to cli-ent manager expectations. Thus, a direct effect is proposed:

Hypothesis 3c: Client managerial persistent expectations are positively related to transplant’s task performance.

4.3.3 Relational norms

The potential beneficial effect of relational norms has been recognized for some time. Research conducted by Heide and John (1992); Artz & Brush (2000), among others, suggests that as relational norms become more preva-lent, we will observe the following three behaviors: co-operation will replace competition as the norm, opportunistic behavior will decline, and relation-ship adaptability will increase. It has been proposed that relational norms are a higher order construct consisting of three dimensions (Heide & John, 1992). First is flexibility, which defines a bilateral expectation of the will-ingness to make adaptations as circumstances change. Second is information

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exchange, which defines a bilateral expectation that parties will proactively provide information useful to the partner. Third is solidarity, which defines a bilateral expectation that a high value is placed on the relationship, and pre-scribes behaviors directed specifically towards relationship maintenance.

As transplants previously were a part of a client organization, and now are a part of a vendor organization, they get affected by two different corporate cultures and different types of work behavior. Due to history, both parties might serve as role senders, imposing on transplants different demands and expectations. Creating and maintaining relational norms for the outsourcing relationship might reduce the probability of inconsistent expectations. Rela-tional norms prescribe stewardship behavior among parties. Although rela-tional norms are designed to enhance the wellbeing of the relationship as a whole, such norms may as well serve as a role sender reducing transplants’

perceived role ambiguity and conflict. Thus it is proposed:

Hypothesis 4a: Relational norms are negatively related to transplant’s role conflict.

Hypothesis 4b: Relational norms are negatively related to transplant’s role ambiguity.

The existence of relational norms will decrease a transplant’s perception of role stress, and in turn increase his/her task performance. Another alternative explanation exists. Transplants of IT outsourcing experience several changes, e.g., organizational, personal relationships, and work practice.

From a transplant’s perspective, flexibility represents insurance that change of work practice will be subject to good-faith. Information exchange repre-sents a safeguard to the transplant in the sense that both client and vendor managers can be expected to provide him/her with all necessary information to do a good job. As solidarity prescribes behavior directed specifically to-ward relationship maintenance, it represents a safeguard to the transplants because it deters both client and vendor from using decision control in a way that would be detrimental. As norms serve as a general protective device against deviant behavior, a particular property is their prescription of behav-iors promoting the goals of the individual parties. Client managers, vendor managers, and transplants’ behavior are prescribed. Hence, we propose that the presence of normative structures will increase transplants’ work out-come.

Hypothesis 4c: Relational norms are positively related to trans-plant’s task performance.

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