Decomposing a partner: intraorganisational dynamics in inter-organisational relationships

Abstract

The research presented in this article is based on case study methodology. The data was acquired as part of a larger longitudinal study of four global software-outsourcing relationships in the software industry in India. Data on these four relationships have been acquired over a three-year period. A total of over 70 interviews ranging from one hour to three hours have been conducted. The first phase of interviews was conducted from end 1996-early 1997, the second phase began in mid 1998 and the last phase in mid 1999. The transcribed interviews provided the primary source of data. Informal conversations with the researchers and people from the concerned organisations and other people in the industry provided further insights. Publicly available news articles have also been used, particularly for data on recent developments in the relationships. For the purposes of this article, the data was analysed to understand the role of intra-organisational dynamics on the four inter-organisational relationships. The study was exploratory to the extent that no framework was developed to seek confirming evidence. A preliminary analysis of the interviews indicated that there were tremendous changes/issues within the nodal organisation that were, directly or indirectly, affecting the relationships. Hence, the data was formally examined to locate organisational phenomena internal to the nodal organisation (that would normally be neglected in traditional studies), which had an impact on the relation- ships. The article draws attention to some of these phenomena.