A process explanation of the effects of institutional distance between parties in outsourced information systems development projects
基于制度理论，提出一个过程模型解释外包信息系统开发项目中双方差异如何通过制度距离、冲突性制度要求和战略响应影响项目结果，对研究者和项目经理有参考价值。
Outsourced information systems development (OISD) projects are challenging endeavors, and the literature suggests differences between the parties involved as critical hinderers of such projects. Using institutional theory as a foundational theory, we propose a process explanation of the effects of differences between parties in OISD projects. Our explanation relies on the interaction of four components: (1) the IS development and project management institutional profiles of the parties involved; (2) the institutional distance between practices within these profiles; (3) instances of conflicting institutional demands when institutional distance becomes salient; and (4) the repertoire of institutional strategic responses available to parties to address those instances. We suggest that the constitutive elements of institutional distance and the degree to which parties envision their collaboration beyond the project at hand contribute to explaining the enactment of strategic responses. Accounting for the fact that practices, as well as the institutional logics that drive their enactment, may differ between parties, we make a theoretical contribution to the literature on OISD by building a fine-grained explanation of the effects of differences between parties in OISD projects.