Organizational Readiness for Business Process Outsourcing: A Model of Determinants and Impact on Outsourcing Success

Abstract

In innovation adoption literature, the important role of the organizational context as a determinant of information systems (IS) success has long been pointed out. Various factors such as top management support, process formalization, and availability of resources have been shown to contribute to the successful implementation of new information systems. By drawing on relevant insights from IT innovations literature, our conceptual piece of research aims at identifying organizational context factors which are critical for the success of business process outsourcing (BPO) as part of a firm's overall business process management activities. More specifically, process readiness, IT readiness and business management readiness are proposed to be important dimensions of organizational readiness for BPO. Furthermore, IT business alignment, as a routine-based process of knowledge sharing and creation, is proposed to be a driver of organizational readiness for BPO.