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Eleni Lioliou
Eleni
Lioliou
Angelika Zimmermann
Angelika
Zimmermann
Leslie Willcocks
Leslie
Willcocks
Lan Gao
Lan
Gao
Formal and relational governance in IT outsourcing: substitution, complementarity and the role of the psychological contract
Loughborough University
2017
IT outsourcing
Outsourcing governance
Contracts
Relational governance
Psychological contract
Case studies
Information Systems
Business and Management not elsewhere classified
2017-02-14 16:38:57
Journal contribution
https://repository.lboro.ac.uk/articles/journal_contribution/Formal_and_relational_governance_in_IT_outsourcing_substitution_complementarity_and_the_role_of_the_psychological_contract/9497297
This study aims to contribute to the literature on IT outsourcing governance
by advancing our understanding of mechanisms of substitution and complementarity
between formal and relational governance. Our study illustrates certain conditions
under which substitution and complementarity can occur and depicts a two-way
causal relationship between them. Our examination further provides a more indepth
assessment of relational governance by using the concept of the psychological
contract. Our results demonstrate that the psychologically binding nature of the psychological
contract makes it a particularly forceful substitute to formal governance,
while its associations with other relationship aspects make it a forceful complement.