Successfully Governing Business Process Outsourcing Relationships
By Deepa Mani, Anitesh Barua, Andrew Whinston
MIS Quarterly Executive | March 2006
DOI
http://misqe.org/ojs2/index.php/misqe/article/view/96
Citation
Mani, Deepa., Barua, Anitesh., Whinston, Andrew. Successfully Governing Business Process Outsourcing Relationships MIS Quarterly Executive http://misqe.org/ojs2/index.php/misqe/article/view/96.
Copyright
MIS Quarterly Executive, 2006
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Abstract
Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) has matured into a powerful organizational lever for achieving a variety of strategic business objectives. But despite BPO’s strategic promise, many organizations are unprepared for the governance of this new way of working. Thus, many outsourcing programs fall short. We suggest that insufficient attention to BPO governance is the main reason BPO relationships fail to deliver value. We present a governance model that increases the odds of BPO success. It is based on the premise that three key requirements of the outsourced process—its interdependence with other processes, its complexity, and its strategic importance to the enterprise—should determine three key BPO governance capabilities—the outsourcing contract, relationship management, and technical capabilities. When this alignment is explicit, the relationship will succeed. We have tested the model using survey data on 137 BPO relationships. We illustrate the model’s premise using the successful experiences of Merrill Lynch and Qatar Airways at governing very different business processes, one transformational and the other transactional.

Professor Deepa Mani is Professor of Information Systems and the Deputy Dean of Academic Programmes & Digital Learning at the Indian School of Business. Deepa’s research interests are at the intersection of technology, organisation, and society. She has demonstrated significant thought leadership on the business and policy implications of technological innovations and investments. Her research articles have been published in leading academic journals and extensively featured in refereed conference proceedings, edited book chapters, and popular media outlets. Deepa serves as a Senior Editor at Information Systems Research. Deepa’s research has also had widespread impact on business practice and policy. In recognition of her impact, she was awarded the prestigious INFORMS Information Systems Society (ISS) Practical Impacts Award in 2022.

Deepa has been appointed to serve on several expert committees of the Central and State governments to provide guidance on policies for the digital economy, digital interventions in key sectors, and catalyse grassroot impacts using technology. She also extensively coaches organizations, keynotes corporate leadership events, and conducts executive education in the areas of digital business models, digital transformation and technology product management.

Deepa completed her undergraduate education at St. Stephen’s College, Delhi University, Masters in Information Systems from Carnegie Mellon University, Pennsylvania, and her doctorate in Information Systems from the University of Texas, Austin.

Deepa Mani (1)
Deepa Mani