Service companies’ offshoring practices in the IT and construction industries, A comparative study

Abstract

of how firms, through their strategy, handle existing challenges on the path towards competitive advantage and success. Beyond the typical offshoring drivers, this study examines the methods and practices in service offshoring in the construction and telecom industries. Based on two case studies, the paper explores the impact in terms of trust and communication of the firm’s offshoring methods as well as integration approach. Interviews with the involved firms as well as integration modes are used in order to obtain field results and provide their adequate assessment. While one of the two implicated firms shows a people-based approach, going alongside what available academic theory suggests, the study shows that the other firm goes against what is usually practiced in the field and recommended theoretically. As a paradox, the interview results show how successful the latter firm is, despite the use of a centralized integration approach.