An Innovation-Focused Client-Vendor Relationship Model for IT Outsourcing

While cost-reduction is the primary goal of most information technology outsourcing projects, the issue of innovation generation in such projects receives increasing attention. While past research acknowledges the link between quality of client-vendor relationships and innovation generation, a model of the factors composing it is still missing. In this study, we created such a model, comprising relevant factors from past research as well as expert experience from client and vendor perspective. It can be applied by practitioners to assess the innovation generation potential of their client- vendor relationships, while the identified factors can act as action items. Future research should use our model as a starting point to study the single factors, detect dependencies between them and find levers how to improve their influence on innovation generation