Ethical considerations

This research project is interpretive and exploratory. It does not aim to create action in the researched organisations nor to make public judgements as to their

effectiveness in managing IT outsourcing. Therefore any possibility of harm to these organisations as a direct consequence of action initiated by the research is very limited.

To ensure open participation at both organisational and individual levels the key ethical concern was one of anonymity. Organisations like the Bank have a

competitive position to protect and I could not allow my research to compromise this. Hence I decided early I the process to conceal participants’ identity and to minimise specific description of their activities, doing this only where it was needed to

contextualise the social and knowledge related issues that were of most interest to me. Anonymity also helped to secure open participation from the individuals I interviewed although I was surprised at how open people were prepared to be with their views on the situations we discussed. This was possibly a reflection of their relative seniority in the organisations they represented and that the discussion points reflected real internal debates. Had I conducted interviews with staff at a working level in the organisations the willingness to contribute freely might have been more limited.

To understand any ethical issues that might emerge from this research, I used the ESRC Framework for research ethics (Economic and Social Research Council, 2015). I chose this because of its currency and its relevance both to potential further research and to the University of Exeter Business School’s ethical policies; this framework being cited in these as a source of detail on ethics principles and of practical guidance for their use in practice. The framework specifies six key

principles of ethical research which the ESRC expects to be addressed in research proposals. Below I will address each of these and describe my response and, where appropriate, the actions I have taken.

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1. Research participation should be voluntary

In both the case study exercises I conducted, my lead contact in the organisation gave me a list of interviewees to contact. This was in response to an initial discussion between us about my areas of research interest. All the interviewees were senior managers in either the client or vendor organisations. In both cases the lead contact also offered administrative help in setting up meetings. I contacted the participants individually several days before each meeting, providing an introduction to myself, a description of the proposed research study and my intentions for the interview. In no case was the interviewee reluctant to be interviewed or surprised when I arrived to interview them.

2. Research should be worthwhile and provide value that outweighs any risk or harm

Taken as a whole, my research aims to deepen understanding of a widely used IT management method. It could provide insights for practitioners that would allow more effective outsourcing arrangements to be made, leading to improved innovation and thus commercial or service results. There was no intention to achieve this goal at the level of the individual case, I made no specific recommendations as a

consequence of my work. Each lead contact was provided with the case document for their organisation (which form chapters 4 and 5 of this thesis) and will receive a summary of my overall conclusions when this thesis is finalised. Hence I believe the risk or harm to the organisations involved is minimal. Participants’ risks are

protected by the voluntary nature of their contribution and by the anonymity attached to this.

3. Participants should be given appropriate information about the purpose, methods and intended uses of the research.

As discussed above, this was provided in advance of the interview. Its receipt was confirmed at the outset of the meeting and an opportunity to ask further questions was offered.

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4. Participants’ preferences regarding anonymity and confidentiality should be respected.

All contributions to the research, both at organisation and individual level were anonymous. No names or roles are identified in the case studies or the analysis of these. Interview data was recorded and transcribed but these transcripts remain in my possession only, have not been shared with the participants or their

organisations and are not part of this thesis. Interviewees were asked explicitly for content to record conversations at the outset of each, this was given in all but one case. In this case I made interview notes. During the interviews I took care not to reflect on or introduce the views I had heard others express, protecting their

anonymity and ensuring that each interview was as isolated a data collection activity as possible.

Vendor protocol was slightly different as I was conscious that the research could potentially reveal information from vendor to client, especially where a single vendor was involved whose anonymity would be impossible to secure. In all interviews with vendors I sent them a more detailed description of the specific topics I wanted to cover before the meeting. This gave them an opportunity to talk more generally about the topics if they did not want to focus on their specific client. In the case where only a single vendor was used, the vendor was sent the relevant section from the case study for approval before the whole document was shared with the client organisation. This was secured with no need to make revisions.

As a final check, the completed case study chapter was sent to the organisational sponsor for approval before incorporation into this thesis. I held a meeting with each sponsor to secure this approval and answer any questions they might have about the case. Only minor factual revisions were made as a consequence of these meetings.

5. Research should be designed, reviewed and undertaken to ensure recognised standards of integrity are met and quality and transparency are assured.

My research design, field protocols and interview scripts were all discussed with one or both of my thesis supervisors and their views and feedback taken into account. Through their experience they provided a valuable reference to accepted standards of research and a check of my compliance to these. I maintained a good contact

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with the lead participants from the case organisations throughout and their review of the final case document provided further assurance of quality from a different

perspective.

6. The independence of research should be clear, and any conflicts of interest or partiality should be explicit.

As a university based researcher I have no formal links to organisations that provide services in the IT outsourcing industry. My research is funded exclusively by the university. Hence there are no formal conflicts of interest of which I am aware. My previous work experience as an IT practitioner who was involved with outsourcing does introduce an aspect of partiality, at least in my approach to data collection and analysis. I have openly discussed this in this document and was clear to my

research participants that I was Director of IT for a large organisation in the early 2000s. This organisation (which no longer exists as an independent firm) had no competing interest or overlap with the organisations I researched.