IS
6891
Spring 2013
Management of Global Sourcing of Business and IT Services
Prerequisites: Graduate students: IS 5800
Course Description:
Largely fostered by globalization,
the Internet, processing standards, and common software packages, organizations
now regularly source business and information technology (IT) services
globally. This course covers topics to help managers
source business and IT services from the initiation of a sourcing decision and
evaluation process through to service provider selection and transition to
outsourcing. The course also covers
the client and provider capabilities and contractual and relational governance
that are needed to ensure good outsourcing outcomes for both parties. The course focuses on global sourcing of
IT, financial and accounting services, human resource services, procurement,
real estate services, legal services, and other back office services. Students
will also investigate insourcing options such as shared services and captive
centers and other emerging sourcing topics such as cloud computing, impact
sourcing, crowd sourcing, and rural sourcing.
Course Instructor:
Dr. Mary C.
Lacity
233 Express Scripts Hall
(314) 516-6127
(314) 516-6827 (fax)
Email: Mary.Lacity@umsl.edu
Homepage: http://www.umsl.edu/~lacitym
Course Instructor:
Dr. Mary Lacity is Curators’ Professor of Information Systems and
an International Business Fellow at the University of Missouri-St. Louis. She is also Visiting Professor at the
London School of Economics, a Certified Outsourcing Professional ®,
Co-Chair of the IAOP Midwest
Chapter, Industry Advisor for the Outsourcing Angels, Co-editor of the
Palgrave Series: Work, Technology,
and Globalization, and on the Editorial Boards for Journal of Information Technology, MIS
Quarterly Executive, Journal of Strategic Information Systems, and Strategic Outsourcing: An
International Journal. Her research focuses on global
outsourcing of business and IT services. She has conducted case studies and surveys of
hundreds of organizations on their outsourcing and management practices. She
has given executive seminars world-wide and has served as an expert witness for
the US Congress. She was the recipient of the 2008 Gateway to Innovation Award
sponsored by the IT Coalition, Society for
Information Management, and St. Louis RCGA and the 2000 World Outsourcing Achievement
Award sponsored by PricewaterhouseCoopers and Michael Corbett and Associates. She has published 15 books, most recently Advanced
Outsourcing Practice: Rethinking ITO, BPO, and Cloud Services (Palgrave, 2012; co-author Leslie
Willcocks). Her publications have appeared in the Harvard Business Review,
Sloan Management Review, MIS Quarterly, IEEE Computer, Communications
of the ACM, and many other academic and practitioner outlets. She was
Program Co-chair for ICIS 2010. Before earning her Ph.D. at the
University of Houston, she worked as a consultant for Technology Partners
International and as a systems analyst for Exxon Company, USA.
This
course is cross-listed in the Outsourcing Professional Course Catalog (OPCC)
This course is worth 25 of the 150
points required to become a Certified Outsourcing Professional (COP).
The International Association of Outsourcing
Professionals (IAOP) offers a number of certifications, including the
COP-Certified Outsourcing Professional.
To become a Certified Outsourcing Professional (COP), an individual must
be able to demonstrate both the experience and knowledge needed to design,
implement, and manage outsourcing initiatives with a high probability of
achieving the organization's intended outcomes. The experience and knowledge
areas addressed by the certification cover the non-domain specific activities
common to outsourcing as a management practice irrespective of the individual's
role as a customer, provider, or advisor. In so doing, the certification
creates an experience and knowledge set common to and shared by all
professionals in the field.
What is the process for becoming a COP? Applicants will be asked to successfully demonstrate that they possess the necessary knowledge and experience to be considered a COP. This knowledge and experience can be demonstrated through a combination of the following:
Comprehensive Work
Experience in the field of outsourcing as demonstrated by
employment on one or more projects across one or more firms.
Knowledge Assessment through passing the multiple choice COP
Examination developed by the Standards Committee. The exam is taken online and
consists of 200 multiple choice questions, of which 70% of the questions must
be answered correctly to pass.
Education including successful completion of the COP Master Class and/or holding a
relevant post-graduate degree.
http://www.iaop.org/content/23/193/1706/
Required Course Materials:
|
Outsourcing Professional Body of Knowledge, by International Association of Outsourcing Professionals (2010),
Van Haren Publishing |
|
The Outsourcing Enterprise: From Cost
Management to Collaborative Innovation (2011), by Leslie Willcocks, Sara Cullen, and Andrew Craig, Palgrave,
UK |
|
Additional
assigned readings and webinars as posted on MyGateway |
Course
Assessment Items:
|
Assessment Item |
Percentage of Grade |
Due Date |
Exam 1 (Take
Online)
|
20%
|
Wed, April 3 by 8:30am
|
Exam 2 (Take
Online)
|
20%
|
Wed, April 24 by
8:30am |
|
Group
Presentation |
35%
|
See Schedule
|
|
Exam
3 (Take Online) |
20%
|
Wed ,
May 15 by 8:30am
|
|
Class
Participation |
5%
|
Attendance and
active class participation |
Students
may drop the lowest exam score; Because students may drop an exam (or skip one
exam), the final average is calculated using the
following formula:
.80
Exams:
The purpose of the exams
is to make sure that you read, understood, and can apply material contained in
the readings and lectures. The exams are administered online. EXAMS ARE
POSTED IN THE ASSIGNMENT FEATURE IN MYGATEWAY. Complete all the required
readings and listen to all required webinars prior to opening the exam.
·
Exam 1 covers the following modules: Overview of
Outsourcing, What Providers Would Tell you if they Could, 20 years of Research,
Motivations to Outsource, Decision Process
·
Exam 2 covers the following modules: Theories of
Outsourcing, Transaction Attributes, Offshore Outsourcing and Rural/Impact
Sourcing.
·
Exam 3 covers the following modules: Client Firm
Capabilities, Supplier Firm Capabilities, Contractual Governance, and
Relational Governance
Please
note, ONCE YOU OPEN THE EXAM YOU ONLY HAVE 3 HOURS TO COMPLETE IT!
Grading Exams:
|
92.00 or above |
A |
|
90.00 to 91.99 |
A- |
|
88.00 to 89.99 |
B+ |
|
82.00 to 87.99 |
B |
|
80.00 to 81.99 |
B- |
|
78.00 to 79.99 |
C+ |
|
72.00 to 77.99 |
C |
|
70.00 to 71.99 |
C- |
|
Below 70.00 |
F |
Class
Participation:
The class only meets face-to-face a few times
so it is vital that students attend all classes. Students who must miss a class
must watch class recording and submitting short essays on missed material in order
to complete the class.
Oral
Group Presentation:
The class will be divided into six groups.
Each group is responsible for presenting a 50 minute presentation to the class.
Each group will be assigned a different ITO/BPO topic from among the following:
Group 1: BPO: Outsourcing Human Resources OR Financial & Accounting
Services
Group 3: Emerging ITO/BPO Trend: Cloud Computing
Group 4: Insourcing
Options: Shared Services or Captive
Centers
Group 5: Emerging ITO/BPO Trend:
Crowdsourcing!
Group 6: Political
View: Is Outsourcing Good or Bad for the US Economy?
Group 7: Offshoring: Continent & Country
Focus: (PICK ONE)
ITO and BPO in Europe/Africa or
ITO and BPO in Central/South America
RESEARCH
BASE:
Secondary Resources. Each group
should research at least 20 external
references such as journal articles, newspapers, short videos, or relevant
websites. Some excellent sources
that cover the ITO and BPO markets are:
Outsourcing Research & Professional Sites:
High Performance BPO website: http://www.accenture.com/Microsites/highperfbpo/Pages/home.aspx
AOP homepage: http://www.iaop.org/
IAOP Midwest Chapter:
http://www.outsourcingprofessional.org/content/23/162/1947/
Everest Research Institute http://www.everestresearchinstitute.com/
Technology Partners International: http://www.tpi.net/
LSE Outsourcing Unit: www.outsourcingunit.org
Horses for Sources: http://www.horsesforsources.com/
Journals devoted to outsourcing:
Academic Journal: Strategic
Outsourcing: An International Journal
Globalization Today: http://www.globalizationtoday.com/
HRO Today Journal: http://www.hrotoday.com/
FAO Today Journal: http://www.faotoday.com/
Outsource Magazine http://www.outsourcemagazine.co.uk/
At least 10 of these references must be from refereed journals or academic journals for
practitioners, such as Sloan Management Review, Harvard Business Review,
Academy of Management Perspectives. Refereed
journals assure some level of validation.
The academic articles don’t have to be limited to just your narrow
topic (such as Egypt), but can include academic articles on outsourcing in
general, surveys of outsourcing, theories or outsourcing, literature reviews on
outsourcing, etc.
The best source to find refereed journal
articles is ABI-INFORM, available online to UMSL students. To find refereed articles, simply tick
the box for “Scholarly journals,
including peer-reviewed ” while in ABI inform. Professor
will show you how to conduct a search if you need help.
Many students liven up their presentations by including short video
clips about their topic (such as a youtube video).
Primary Resources. Students should conduct at least two original
interviews for their group projects.
Another potential source of primary data is an
original survey. For example, a
past group surveyed 35 lawyers to see if they would outsource any legal
work. Another group surveyed
graduate students to assess their level of participation in crowdsourcing.
PRESENTATION TIMING:
Each group should only plan 40 minutes of content to
allow 10 minutes of audience interaction during the presentation. Think
of yourselves not as formal speakers, but as teachers. You should incorporate
the audience during the entire presentation. In the past, students have done very
creative things for audience participation including a short Jeopardy game, a
bingo game, a short survey, a guess the provider logo game, etc.
PRESENTATION
MATERIALS:
Each group will develop power point slides.
On the day of your presentation, please provide a STAPLED, hardcopy set the slides for
your instructor. Please print only 2 slides per page.
Please load your final power point slides in GROUP X Group Pages under
FILE EXCHANGE.
Please name the final version of your power point slides exactly as
indicated below:
|
Group |
Oral
Presentation File Name File names are case sensitive |
|
G1spring13.pptx |
|
|
Group 2: |
G2spring13.pptx |
|
Group 3: |
G3spring13.pptx |
|
Group 4: |
G4spring13.pptx |
|
Group 5: |
G5spring13.pptx |
|
Group 6: |
G6spring13.pptx |
|
Group 7: |
G7spring13.pptx |
CITATIONS:
Make sure
that every slide appropriately credits sources, be it an interview,
printed material, or web site. Printed material should be referenced with Author,
Year, Title, Journal (if appropriate), Volume, Number, and page numbers. For
example:
Book:
Lacity, M., and Willcocks, L. (2001), Global Information Technology
Outsourcing: Search For Business Advantage, John Wiley & Sons,
Journal Article:
Rottman,
J., and Lacity, M. (2008), “A US Client’s Learning from Outsourcing
IT Work Offshore,” Information
Systems Frontiers, Vol. 10, No. 2, pp. 259-275.
If your slides get too busy, then simply use end notes,
such as embedding (1) on actual slide and attaching a list with numbers:
(1) Lacity, M., and
Willcocks, L. (2001), Global Information Technology Outsourcing: Search For
Business Advantage, John Wiley & Sons,
(2) Rottman, J., and Lacity, M. (2008), “A US Client’s Learning from Outsourcing IT Work Offshore,”
Information Systems Frontiers, Vol.
10, No. 2, pp. 259-275.
(3) Ibid, p. 184.
Websites:
Please indicate full URL for web site references,
and date viewed. For example:
www.umsl.edu/~lacity/ms480sum.htm, viewed August 1, 2012.
Interviews:
Please indicate name (if not anonymous), title of
interviewee, type of interview (in person, phone, videoconference), name of
students at the interview, and date of interview. For example:
John Smith, CIO of BigCompany,
interviewed in person by Jane Doe and Fred Davis, September 6, 2012.
Ian Jones, Director of Applications,
BigCompany, interviewed by phone by Jane Doe and Fred Davis, September 8, 2012.
DO
NOT PLAGERIZE!!!!
You may not copy directly from sources unless you indent
the text and put it in quotes. This
would normally be reserved for a few sentences of specific quotations.
You must RE-WORD sources! You are using external references as
INPUT to your originally created OUTPUT.
Professor takes plagiarism very seriously and any student
who copies directly from the web or printed sources will be turned over to
Academic Affairs.
I am very happy to work with groups on their specific
topic. I strongly suggest that I meet with your groups several
times. At a MINIMUM, I want to review your power point slides at least a week
before your presentation. Please feel free to email me to make an
appointment in person, or we can do it over the phone or online as well.
Advice for Oral Group Presentation:
My aim is to have the
best possible group presentations.
Based on vast experience with group assignments, keys to success
include:
·
Start
your group project as soon as groups are assigned.
·
Start
exploring your topic by gathering general statistics about your topic and start
answering the questions: Why is your
topic important to general managers? How much money do companies spend on your
topic? What are the promised benefits of this topic if properly managed? What are the potential pitfalls if
mis-managed?
·
Identify
early the original sources of data you want to collect (interviews, case study
materials, original surveys)
·
Read
entire syllabus regarding the group project
·
Be sure
to get the best, most current, most relevant sources of content available
·
Have
content completed one week prior to presentation to have time to incorporate
professor’s feedback.
·
DO NOT
HAVE MORE THAN 50 POWER POINT SLIDES (excluding references).
·
Meet
with group to practice oral presentation (this is the only way to get the
timing correct!)
·
When
speaking in the front of the class, do not use notes. Your power point slides serve as your
notes.
·
The best
presentations pass control many times among group members. You should not organize the speaking as
four 10-minute, independent speeches.
The presentation should be integrated
so that every person speaks several times.
·
To form
a cohesive group, do not think that an individual “owns” a certain
part of a presentation. It is quite
natural for one member to gather data and another member may actually present
the data.
·
The
audience gets tired and cannot absorb too much information at one time. Groups are more effective when
they deliver less information in a relaxed, effective manner rather than trying
to rush through too much information. Usually, as the group presentation
approaches, groups realize they have too much information! The group should keep the best
content. No individual should feel
bad if the information they collected is not all used. Again, each member needs to abandon the
idea that they “own” content.
The content is group owned.
·
Remember to have about 10 minutes of audience interaction. Do not rely on
“Does anyone have any questions?” to fill up your ten minutes of
class participation. In the
past, students have done very creative things for audience participation.
· BE SURE TO SEE HOW THE ORAL PRESENTATIONS ARE GRADED
Oral Group Presentation Grades:
Oral presentations
are graded as a group grade rather than as individual grades.
GROUPS 1-6: Oral
group presentations will be graded using the following form: oral group
grade form
GROUP 7: Oral group
presentation will be graded using the following form: oral group grade
form
Individuals in a
group never contribute the exact equal amounts of time, content, and value.
This often leads to some people feeling they worked more than others, and some
people feeling left out. Usually a leader emerges, one who will hopefully help
find the gifts of each individual. Unfortunately, I cannot effectively
intervene in these matters, and rely on you as adults to ensure that all
members of your group meaningfully contribute to the data gathering,
interviewing, analysis, slide design, and presenting the final project.
All group members will receive the same grade for the
oral presentation, provided that all members agree that each individual made a
significant contribution. If a group member has not meaningfully or fully
participated, I will assume that group member was legitimately distracted by
other life issues such as illness or heavy work travel. I do expect that
members who do not fully participate show their integrity by willingly reducing their percentage of contribution.
It is no shame to not fully participate because of legitimate reasons. It is a great shame to expect other
group members to falsely report contribution percentages.
In order to provide some accountability, albeit
imperfect, I will ask that each group fill in the following form and each group
member must sign it. This form is due on the day of presentation.
Please print, fill
in, and have every member sign a copy of: group contribution form .
Course
Schedule:
|
DATE: |
Time |
Activity/Module |
Learning Objectives |
Readings/Webinars |
|
CLASS Saturday, March 9 |
1:30pm to 4:00pm |
Overview of Global Outsourcing |
Understand
definition of global sourcing; Understand
challenges facing back office managers; Understand
the major transformation approaches; Understand
size of global outsourcing markets; Understand
outsourcing success rates; Understand
why outsourcing is so challenging to client organizations; Learn
what clients need to master to achieve global sourcing objectives |
|
|
Do on your own |
|
What Providers Would Tell Customers if They
Could |
Understand that most of what ITO/BPO
providers say is supported by research and will ultimately benefit the
customer if they understand the provider perspective. |
Listen to the Webinar recording OPTIONAL
SUPPLEMENTAL READINGS: Lacity, M.,
and Willcocks, L. (2011), “PART 1: What Suppliers Say
About Clients: Establishing the Outsourcing Arrangement,” Cutter Consortium Sourcing & Vendor
Relationships Executive Report, Vol. 12, 2. Lacity,
M., and Willcocks, L. (2011), “PART II: What Suppliers Say
About Clients: Managing the Outsourcing Arrangement,” Cutter Consortium Sourcing & Vendor
Relationships Executive Report, Vol. 12, 3. |
|
Do on your own |
|
20 Years of Outsourcing Research Summarized |
Understand the determinants of outsourcing decisions; Understand the determinants of outsourcing outcomes |
Read: REQUIRED:
Lacity, M., and Willcocks, L. (2012), Chapter 1, “Robust Practices from
Two Decades of ITO and BPO Research,” from Advanced Outsourcing Practice: Rethinking ITO, BPO, and Cloud
Services, Palgrave, London listen to the Webinar recording |
|
Do on your own |
|
Motivations to Outsource: Moving to the
Strategic Agenda |
Understand most common motives driving ITO and BPO decisions; Understand five reasons why CEOs should pay attention to ITO and BPO |
Read: REQUIRED: Outsourcing
Professional Body of Knowledge, IAOP, Van Haren Publishing, CHAPTER 1 Read: REQUIRED: The
Outsourcing Enterprise: From Cost Management to Collaborative Innovation (2011), CHAPTER 1 Listen to the Webinar recording |
|
Do on your own |
|
Decision Process |
Understand importance of a detailed
evaluation process Understand nine building blocks of the
outsourcing life cycle. Ability to
identify top global ITO and BPO providers; |
Read: REQUIRED:
Outsourcing Professional Body of Knowledge, IAOP, Van Haren Publishing,
CHAPTERS 5 and 6. (Also from previous Reading: The Outsourcing Enterprise: From Cost Management to
Collaborative Innovation (2011),
CHAPTER 1 IAOP
Lists of top providers/advisors listed in mygateway. Listen to the Webinar recording: Decision Process |
|
Due by Wed April 3 8:00am |
|
EXAM I |
|
This will give me enough time to grade before our next
face-to-face meeting |
|
IN-CLASS Friday April 5 |
1:30pm to 2:30pm |
Shane Mayes |
Founder, CEO Onshore Outsourcing |
Rural/Impact sourcing guest speaker |
|
2:30 pm to 3:30pm |
Rich Etzkorn |
Executive Managing Director,
Cassidy Turley |
Real estate services outsourcing guest speaker |
|
|
3:30 to 4:30 |
Transaction Cost Economics and other Theories
of Outsourcing as they relate to practice; |
Understand
how well TCE explains ITO; Understand
other outsourcing theories and how these relate to ITO and BPO |
|
|
|
IN-CLASS Saturday April 6 |
1:30pm to 2:30pm |
Dan Schulte |
Executive Vice President, Revenue Cycle Solutions The Outsource Group |
Healthcare services outsourcing guest speaker |
|
2:30pm To 3:30pm |
Transaction Cost Economics and other Theories
of Outsourcing as they relate to practice; |
Understand
how well TCE explains ITO; Understand
other outsourcing theories and how these relate to ITO and BPO |
|
|
|
Do on your own |
|
Transaction Attributes |
Understand three main transaction
attributes—Asset Specificity, Frequency, and Uncertainty—and how
these relate to outsourcing choices. Understand two behavioral assumptions of TCE—bounded rationality
and vendor opportunism. Understand main benefits and limitations of three governance choices:
hierarchy, hybrid, and market. |
Read REQUIRED: Practitioner Friendly Version of Transaction Cost Economics: “Oliver’s Twist” in
Globalization Today (2010) Read: OPTIONAL Williamson, O.
(1991), “Comparative Economic Organization: The Analysis of Discrete
Structural Alternatives,” Administrative Science Quarterly, Vol.
36, 2, pp. 269-296. |
|
Do on your own |
|
Sourcing Destinations: Offshore Outsourcing |
Ability to
identify major countries competing in ITO and BPO; Understand how offshore outsourcing is different than onshore
outsourcing in terms of risks and additional costs; Best practices associated with engaging offshore providers. |
Read:
REQUIRED: Rottman, J., and
Lacity, M. (2006), “Proven Practices for Effectively Offshoring IT
Work,” Sloan Management Review,
Vol. 47, 3, pp. 56-63 Read: REQUIRED:
Rottman, J., and Lacity, M. (2008), “A US Client’s Learning from
Outsourcing IT Work Offshore,” Information
Systems Frontiers, Special Issue on Outsourcing of IT Services, Vol. 10,
2, pp. 259-275. Listen to Webinar Recording |
|
Do on your own |
|
Rural and Impact Outsourcing |
Understand how rural providers select locations, attract, develop and
retain human capital, and create value; |
Read: REQUIRED: Lacity, M., Rottman,
J., and Carmel, E. (2012), Emerging
ITO and BPO Markets: Rural Sourcing and Impact Sourcing, IEEE
Readynotes, IEEE Computer Society, forthcoming Listen to the Webinar recording |
|
Due by Wednesday April 24 by 8am |
|
EXAM II |
|
This will give me enough time to grade before our next
face-to-face meeting |
|
CLASS: Friday April 26 |
1:30 pm to 2:20pm |
Group
Presentation (BPO) |
||
|
2:30 pm to 3:20pm |
Group
Presentation (Political View) |
|||
|
3:30 pm to 4:20pm |
Group
Presentation (Continent Focus) |
|||
|
OPTIONAL CLASS Tuesday April 30 |
3:30pm to 6:30pm |
Attendance is optional; Earn 1 extra class participation point. Instead of Saturday class, you
are invited to attend a presentation by the CEO of Edward Jones who will speak
about strategic sourcing of business services. Registration is free, but registration
is required to get a parking pass to the Washington University campus. Click here for details.
|
||
|
Do on your own |
|
Client Firm Capabilities |
Identify the most studied and most frequently reported important client
capabilities Understand nine core client capabilities model Understand evolution of back office functions |
Read: The Outsourcing
Enterprise: From Cost Management to Collaborative Innovation (2011), CHAPTER 4 Listen to the Webinar recording |
|
Do on your own |
|
Provider Firm Capabilities |
Identify the most studied and most frequently reported important provider
capabilities Understand twelve core
provider capabilities model Understand emerging provider capabilities |
Read: The Outsourcing Enterprise: From Cost
Management to Collaborative Innovation (2011),
CHAPTER 3 Listen to the Webinar recording |
|
Do on your own |
|
Contractual Governance |
Understand how to develop the financial case and pricing; Understand the governance charter; Understand contract management |
Read: Outsourcing Professional Body of Knowledge, IAOP, Van Haren Publishing,
CHAPTERS 6, 7 and 8 Read: The Outsourcing Enterprise: From Cost
Management to Collaborative Innovation (2011), CHAPTER on Governance 6. |
|
Do on your own |
|
Relational Governance |
Understand what is meant by relational governance; Understand Social Capital Theory and how it relates to ITO |
Read: Lacity, M. and Rottman, J. (2008), Offshore
Outsourcing of IT Work, Palgrave, United Kingdom, Chapter 4. Listen to the Webinar recording |
|
Due by Wednesday May 15 8:00am |
|
EXAM III |
|
This will give me enough time to grade before our next
face-to-face meeting |
|
CLASS: Friday May 17 |
1:30 am to 2:20pm |
Group
Presentation (Cloud) |
||
|
2:30 am to 3:20pm |
Group
Presentation (Shared Services) |
|||
|
3:30 am to 4:20pm |
Group
Presentation (Crowdsourcing) |
|||