This thesis answers the research question: How do corporate social and environmental responsibilities (CSER) affect global IT outsourcing (GITO)? In answering this question we identified seven key trends that are directing CSER in GITO. We found that CSER in outsourcing is new and relevant, with growing interest from outsourcing providers and buyers. CSER will be driven by consumer concerns and employee expectations, which are particularly relevant for outsourcing buyers with a consumer oriented product or service, such as banks or retail organisations. The need to attract and retain employees will increase the need for CSER at outsource providers. Similarly, CSER is important to an organisation's brand reputation with consumers, employees and other stakeholders such as investors. Within CSER, environmental topics are a growing issue: the need to reduce power consumption and thereby reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from carbon-based power production. We learned of 'green-washing', the need to be suspicious of CSER claims that cannot be fully validated. This led us, and others, to suggest that due diligence is required to counter possible in-authentic CSER by GITO providers. As a method of validating CSER claims, we propose using global standards such as the Global Reporting Initiative and ISO 26000 when examining CSER at outsource providers. We examined CSER from a strategic perspective, to understand if CSER provides a long-term advantage to outsource providers. Directed by the research data and theoretical frameworks, we proposed a model of strategic and responsive CSER suggested by Porter and Kramer (2006). Responsive CSER describes the set of basic requirements that have become 'table-stakes' for GITO providers. Strategic CSER distinguishes outsource providers by providing long-term benefits that are not easily copied by competitors. By applying the strategic/responsive CSER model for GITO in a case study we developed a model that provides guidance to outsource buyers and their providers on when and how to share and collaborate on CSER projects. The key contribution of this research is a model that describes the characteristics for buyers and providers to collaborate on CSER projects to build trust in the outsourcing relationship and to create shared benefits for both parties and to society or the environment. This research applies the Porter and Kramer model to an outsourcing relationship to understand how CSER can be used to improve GITO.

Master´s thesis is focused on a presentation of entrepreneurial intention of corporate information strategy. The corporate information strategy is based on the analysis of current situation of the company and its environment which uses modern trends in IT business. It is about a complex solution which should help to the growth of turnover, strengthen of mark of company and stabilize the market position.

In the modern competive situation on globalized market it is extremely important to find a comparative advantage that could place the company on the edge of rivalry on the market, either internal or international. Many companies face the issue of the lack or unaccessibility of resources. In such circumstances companies can find appropriate solution in outsourcing or offshoring their processes. In addition, many companies not only adopt outsourcing into the working process, but also build their business around Information Technology Outsourcing (ITO) as a core competency of the company. Outsourcing in Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) Industry becomes a leading trend in many areas of economy enabled by fast development of communication technologies.      In this paper we studied outsourcing in general, outsourcing in ICT sector as well as the modern  position of Ukraine on the global ITO market and its perspective of cooperation with Nordic companies.     Theoretical data were analyzed in static, reflecting modern state of affairs in this industry branch, and dynamic way, showing the outcomes of development of the industry in the country during the last few years. Empirical study was fulfilled through a case study. Ukrainian ITO industry was shown as an attractive outsourcing destination for companies from Nordic region, with some drawbacks.

Globalization has affected the organizations in different aspects such as structure, architecture, internal/external strategies and sourcing management. Outsourcing is one of the recent business strategies used to provide IT needs via external agents. The relationship between the service buyer and provider companies is a constituent playing a significant role in IT outsourcing success or failure. The questions in this research is" what is the role of organizational culture in ITO (IT Outsourcing) relationships?" This research has a focus on the influence of organizational culture of buyer companies on the specific factors of trust, cooperation, communication and commitment in their relationship with the IT service provider. A qualitative approach has been used and six global companies using ITO are selected to have interviews with their relevant managers which revealed the presence of organizational culture effect. Particularly, being innovative, having open discussion as an organizational culture, looking for extending contracts with providers as a strategy in organizational structure and responsibility and roles clarifying after outsourcing, appeared as the major differences between the six companies organizational cultures which influence the focusing aspects of ITO relationships in this research. Additionally there were some external factors found after the analysis phase which were out of the scope of the research theoretical framework such as previous experience of buyer company in outsourcing, IT governance and the value of IT in the buyer company. These extra issues can be linked to the organizational culture of the buyer company and affect their IT outsourcing relationships.

El texto completo de este trabajo no está disponible en el Repositorio Académico UPC por restricciones de la casa editorial donde ha sido publicado. / In the current market, small- and medium-sized companies (SMEs) face losses due to poor process control. The core activities of information technology (IT) outsourcing service companies are to provide outsourcing services related to technology and information control, which is why it is crucial to work with standardized, efficient processes, to not affect the main process and resources involved. In this document, a case study of an SME is evaluated, related to a deficient billing process, which is not able to fulfill all of its orders. To solve the problem, we propose an IT outsourcing service model, based on the management of processes, knowledge, and change. After the model was validated, it was evidenced that it allowed the integration and finalization of the services provided by the company, increasing the monthly income by 80%.

No description available.

This thesis investigates large private companies in Sweden that have outsourced their information technology (IT). A considerable proportion of IT outsourcing (ITO) is unsuccessful. For IT service buyers, this could cause IT that does not fully work, entailing problems with the network, application, infrastructure and security, with serious consequences such as a loss of customers’ confidence and significantly increased costs. Therefore, the main research goal was to analyse and define ways to improve ITO for buyer organizations. This main research goal was accomplished through three research goals that are the followings: 1) To develop a method for risk assessment in IT outsourcing; 2) To identify the important factors in IT outsourcing relationship; and 3) To identify the success factors in IT outsourcing.                       The research strategies applied in conducting this research were design science research and survey research. To achieve the first research goal, a method was developed for assessing the ITO risks, including support for mitigating these risks. This method could help both researchers and practitioners in estimating the ITO risks and in this way improve ITO. An application based on the developed method was used to facilitate the testing of this method by several ITO decision makers in large companies concerning its usability, correctness and functionality. Moreover, a study was performed to explore ITO decision makers’ acceptance of the developed method and their use of it for assessing the ITO risks.             The second research goal investigated how to improve service buyers’ ITO relationship with their providers. A well-working ITO relationship is a critical determinant of successful ITO and is relevant to the whole ITO life cycle. This research goal was achieved by identifying and analysing the most important factors in ITO relationships, including a prioritized list of those factors that are highly recommended for use in creating and maintaining a good ITO relationship.                       The third research goal examined how to improve ITO by identifying and prioritizing the success factors (SFs) in ITO. This research identified the ITO SFs in large companies and provided a prioritized list of them to be applied in these companies with a description of the value that they could create from implementation during the ITO life cycle. Moreover, the SFs identified in large companies were compared with those identified in medium-sized companies, which could give an indication to the researchers in this field that company size matters in regard to the implementation order of the identified SFs.               In summary, the research presented in this thesis contributes with: 1) a method for assessing the risks of outsourcing IT and, in the case that IT has been outsourced, suggested ways to mitigate them; 2) the important factors that could improve ITO relationships and 3) a prioritized list of success factors that could improve IT outsourcing. / Denna avhandling undersöker stora privata företag i Sverige som har outsourcat sin IT verksamhet. Som vi uppmärksammade har en stor del av IT-outsourcingen (ITO) misslyckats. För köparen av IT-tjänsten kan det leda till bristande IT funktionalitet med allvarliga konsekvenser som i värsta fall leder till förlorade kunder och betydande kostnadsökningar. Därför är det övergripande forskningsmålet är att analysera och fastställa hur ITO:n för köparen av IT tjänsten kan förbättras. För att lösa det övergripande forskningsmålet forskningen undersökte: 1) Utvecklingen av en metod för att bedöma riskerna med IT-outsourcing; 2) Identifiering av de viktiga faktorerna inom IT-outsourcingsrelationer; och 3) Identifiering av en lista över framgångsfaktorer i IT-outsourcing. De använda forskningsstrategierna för att genomföra forskningen var ”design science research" och kartläggning. För att uppnå först huvudforskningsmålet, har en metod tagits fram för att bedöma riskerna och vägleda hur man kan minska dem. Den här metoden kan hjälpa både forskare och de som utövar IT-outsourcing med att bedöma ITO-riskerna och på så sätt förbättra sina IT-outsourcing.  En programvara baserad på den metoden har utvecklats för att underlätta testningen av metoden vilket har genomförts med IT beslutsfattare på stora organisationer, beträffande användbarhet, korrekthet och funktionalitet. Dessutom har en studie utförts för att bedöma om programvaran kan accepteras av IT beslutsfattare och få reda på om de skulle använda metoden för att bedöma ITO riskerna. Det andra forskningsmålet har undersökt hur köparna av den outsourcade IT-tjänsten kan förbättra relationen med sina leverantörer. En bra ITO-relation är en avgörande faktor för en framgångsrik ITO och den är viktig för hela livscykeln. Forskningsmålet har uppnåtts genom analys för att hitta de viktigaste faktorerna ITO-relationsfaktorer, som studien rekommenderar för att skapa och underhålla en bra ITO relation. Det tredje forskningsmålet har undersökt hur ITO kan förbättras genom att identifiera och prioritera framgångsfaktorerna i ITO. Studien har identifierat framgångsfaktorerna i stora företag och tagit fram en lista med prioriterade framgångsfaktorer som bör implementeras i de undersökta företagen. Dessutom så har nyttan av dessa framgångsfaktorer beskrivits under ITO livscykeln. Dessutom har de identifierade framgångsfaktorerna från stora företag jämförts med framgångsfaktorerna som har identifierats för medelstora företag. Denna jämförelse ger en indikation till forskarna på det här området att prioriteringen av framgångsfaktorerna är beroende av företagsstorlek. Sammanfattningsvis, den beskrivna forskningen i den här uppsatsen bidrar med: 1) En metod för att bedöma risker och förslag på hur minska dessa risker; 2) En lista med de viktiga faktorerna för att förbättra ITO relationen inom IT-outsourcing och; 3) En prioriterad lista av framgångsfaktorer som kan förbättra IT outsourcing.

<p>IT-services outsourcing from Sweden to India has increased in the last few years and it is often regarded as a strategic measure to handle the increasing costs of IT-related development and maintenance operations. There are a number of advantages of outsourcing however, there are many challenges that outsourcing initiatives face. One of the challenges mentioned by many researchers is the cultural differences between the Swedish culture and the Indian culture. At the same time there is not enough research done about these cultural differences in the context of IT-services outsourcing from Sweden to India. It creates difficulties for the partners involved in an IT services outsourcing initiative to achieve the desired results.</p><p>In this work we have researched these problems by sending questionnaire to IT-outsourcing companies in Sweden. The questionnaire was prepared after a thorough literature review. The participants were asked if they are still facing the problems identified in the literature review and to also mention any other cultural problems faced by them. The questionnaires were analysed and the results obtained are presented in this work. The results show that the practitioners were still facing the problems. This thesis identifies the root causes, the negative effects and also suggests ways for handling the problems. This research will help the IT-services outsourcing practitioners to manage these problems for achieving better result.</p>

A Computação em Nuvem (CN) é um dos temas mais abordados por profissionais de TI atualmente. Com um forte apelo econômico, a CN torna possível a ideia da computação como uma utilidade, na qual recursos computacionais (processamento e armazenamento, por exemplo) podem ser consumidos e pagos com a mesma conveniência que a energia elétrica. Com este novo paradigma, uma empresa, ao iniciar suas atividades, não necessita mais investir antecipadamente um alto capital em equipamentos de TI. Os recursos computacionais são adquiridos conforme são necessários e o consumidor paga apenas pelo que utiliza. Esta pesquisa traz uma contribuição para as organizações e para o meio acadêmico, uma vez que analisa a adoção da CN por empresas brasileiras. A pesquisa abrange empresas privadas de diversos portes e setores que tenham adotado pelo menos um serviço de TI no modelo de CN. O modelo de pesquisa foi elaborado com base nos objetivos específicos, os quais se originaram das lacunas existentes sobre o uso de serviços de CN no Brasil. A pesquisa utilizou uma amostra não probabilística contendo 96 casos, os quais contemplaram aspectos do respondente, da organização e do serviço de CN mais importante para a organização. Os dados foram coletados por meio de um questionário e tratados estatisticamente usando técnicas não paramétricas e Análise de Agrupamentos. A pesquisa se caracteriza por ser exploratória, verificando frequências e ligações entre as características organizacionais e os serviços de CN. A pesquisa identificou as características dos serviços de CN utilizados no Brasil e o grau de aderência de cada serviço à definição de CN proposta. Adicionalmente, foram apresentadas as relações entre as características organizacionais e as características dos serviços de CN. Além disso, foi possível identificar três grupos distintos de empresas, em relação às características dos serviços de CN utilizados, e descrever às características organizacionais e dos serviços associados a cada grupo. Finalmente, a CN foi discutida à luz das Teorias de Terceirização. / Cloud Computing (CC) is one of the most discussed topics among IT professionals today. With a strong economic appeal, CC makes possible the idea of computing as a utility, in which computing resources (processing power and storage, for example) can be consumed and paid with the same convenience as electricity. In this new paradigm, a startup company does not need up-front capital to invest in advanced IT assets. The computing resources are acquired as needed and the customer pays only for what is used. This research makes an important contribution to organizations and academia, since it analyzes CC adoption by Brazilian companies. The survey covers private companies of all sizes and sectors that have adopted at least one IT service in CC model. The research model was designed based on the research specific objectives, which were made from the gaps of CC services usage in Brazil. This paper used a not randomly picked sample with 96 cases, which specified aspects of the respondent, organization and the most important CC service to the organization. Data was collected through a questionnaire and statistically analyzed using nonparametric techniques and Cluster Analysis. This research is characterized as exploratory, checking frequencies and links between organizational characteristics and CC services characteristics. This research identified the characteristics of CC services used in Brazil and the compliance degree of each service to the proposed CC definition. Additionally, we presented and discussed the relationships between organizational characteristics and characteristics of CC services. Furthermore, it was possible to identify three distinct groups of companies in relation to the characteristics of CC services they use, and describe organizational characteristics and services associated with each group. Finally, CC was discussed in the light of the Outsourcing Theories.

A Computação em Nuvem (CN) é um dos temas mais abordados por profissionais de TI atualmente. Com um forte apelo econômico, a CN torna possível a ideia da computação como uma utilidade, na qual recursos computacionais (processamento e armazenamento, por exemplo) podem ser consumidos e pagos com a mesma conveniência que a energia elétrica. Com este novo paradigma, uma empresa, ao iniciar suas atividades, não necessita mais investir antecipadamente um alto capital em equipamentos de TI. Os recursos computacionais são adquiridos conforme são necessários e o consumidor paga apenas pelo que utiliza. Esta pesquisa traz uma contribuição para as organizações e para o meio acadêmico, uma vez que analisa a adoção da CN por empresas brasileiras. A pesquisa abrange empresas privadas de diversos portes e setores que tenham adotado pelo menos um serviço de TI no modelo de CN. O modelo de pesquisa foi elaborado com base nos objetivos específicos, os quais se originaram das lacunas existentes sobre o uso de serviços de CN no Brasil. A pesquisa utilizou uma amostra não probabilística contendo 96 casos, os quais contemplaram aspectos do respondente, da organização e do serviço de CN mais importante para a organização. Os dados foram coletados por meio de um questionário e tratados estatisticamente usando técnicas não paramétricas e Análise de Agrupamentos. A pesquisa se caracteriza por ser exploratória, verificando frequências e ligações entre as características organizacionais e os serviços de CN. A pesquisa identificou as características dos serviços de CN utilizados no Brasil e o grau de aderência de cada serviço à definição de CN proposta. Adicionalmente, foram apresentadas as relações entre as características organizacionais e as características dos serviços de CN. Além disso, foi possível identificar três grupos distintos de empresas, em relação às características dos serviços de CN utilizados, e descrever às características organizacionais e dos serviços associados a cada grupo. Finalmente, a CN foi discutida à luz das Teorias de Terceirização. / Cloud Computing (CC) is one of the most discussed topics among IT professionals today. With a strong economic appeal, CC makes possible the idea of computing as a utility, in which computing resources (processing power and storage, for example) can be consumed and paid with the same convenience as electricity. In this new paradigm, a startup company does not need up-front capital to invest in advanced IT assets. The computing resources are acquired as needed and the customer pays only for what is used. This research makes an important contribution to organizations and academia, since it analyzes CC adoption by Brazilian companies. The survey covers private companies of all sizes and sectors that have adopted at least one IT service in CC model. The research model was designed based on the research specific objectives, which were made from the gaps of CC services usage in Brazil. This paper used a not randomly picked sample with 96 cases, which specified aspects of the respondent, organization and the most important CC service to the organization. Data was collected through a questionnaire and statistically analyzed using nonparametric techniques and Cluster Analysis. This research is characterized as exploratory, checking frequencies and links between organizational characteristics and CC services characteristics. This research identified the characteristics of CC services used in Brazil and the compliance degree of each service to the proposed CC definition. Additionally, we presented and discussed the relationships between organizational characteristics and characteristics of CC services. Furthermore, it was possible to identify three distinct groups of companies in relation to the characteristics of CC services they use, and describe organizational characteristics and services associated with each group. Finally, CC was discussed in the light of the Outsourcing Theories.