Effects of Relationships Networks of Structural Embeddedness in Information Outsourcing: An Empirical Study

[[abstract]]資訊科技的快速變遷，企業為了快速地回應市場變化維持競爭力，紛紛尋求外力支援，此即形成資訊委外策略，而經營環境快速變遷與資訊技術快速發展是造成資訊委外不斷成長的原因。過去在資訊委外研究議題相當豐富，但多以經濟性觀點來探討資訊科技之交易成本，比如從資源基礎理論、資源依賴理論、交易成本理論及代理理論來探討委外，然而對許多資訊科技的投資來說，並無法用經濟上的角度去衡量資訊科技所帶來的經濟效益，且委外商與承包商之間的委外關係本質已由90年代廠商與顧客之間買賣契約關係逐漸改變為長期合作的夥伴關係，此種夥伴關係無法完全以純經濟性觀點代表資訊科技效益，傳統的經濟學說無法完全解釋此經濟性活動。 資訊科技成效與組織環境、結構及策略習習相關。委外個體與個體之間連結即形成結構，社會結構為經濟活動持續運行所形成的情境，關係結構即為夥伴、合夥、聯盟等連結，組織會依社會結構的狀態產生不同的效果。據此，本研究以資訊委外之關係網絡，從組織層級探討鑲嵌於組織結構之關係網絡與委外成效之關連，並從鑲嵌觀點將鑲嵌機制運作效果塑形化，研究中亦以組織情境為分野找出鑲嵌效果之影響因子。在本研究模式中，清楚地以關係網絡為中心架構，鑲嵌理論為主要觀點，並以理論基礎建構一完整影響資訊委外成效之研究模式。 本研究依據社會資本理論與夥伴關係品質文獻探討，提出資訊委外關係網絡與委外成效之關連研究議題，並依文獻建構出研究假說與研究模式，研究模式主要分四部份，包括社會資本構面、夥伴關係構面、影響因子及委外成效。研究方法採行調查研究，以問卷量表為工具進行實證性驗證，所蒐集之資料以驗證性結構方程模式詳細地檢視模式並檢定假說，並針對研究結果做進一步的探討，研究中亦就研究貢獻、對實務之意涵、研究限制及未來研究方向提出說明。[[abstract]]Information technology changes rapidly, enterprises have to substain their competitive advantages outside the environment to response the changing market, that performs the information outsourcing strategies as a reslut. Studies about outsourcing occurs recently, but most studies performs in a economic viewpoint, say resource-base theory、resource-dependency theory、transaction cost theory and agent-cost theory. However, economic approaches failed to address the fact that the economies of scale and scope achieved by information outsourcing may vary significantly depending on the environment, structure, and strategy factors. There have been many studies focusing on information outsourcing in social perspective, most common studies are about the partnership field. From a embeddedness perspective , this study propose a exploratory method and confirmation method for relationship networks base on social capital and partnership literature. We identify the effects of relationship network from the relevant literature and clarify the concept of relationship network and network precedents. The research model and hypothesis were proposed from relevant literature also. The model is composed of four parts: social capital theory, partnerships, network precedents, and outsourcing effectiveness. We examine the impact of network effects on outsourcing effectiveness in quantitative method, using questionnaire to collect the empirical data. Hypothesis were tested for 105 service receivers in Taiwan top 1000 enterprises in structural equation modeling(SEM) method. Finally we proposed an integrated analysis results, some implications, limitations, and future directions