Limitations of the Study and Areas for Future Research

The limitation of the Thesis and directions for future research are discussed in this section.

1.7.1 Limitations of the Study

There are six main overarching limitations of this Thesis:

There is sometimes a confusing and interchangeable use of terms such as outsourcing, domestic outsourcing, offshoring and offshore outsourcing. The academic and practitioner literature consulted for this Thesis spans over 10 years during which time consensus on the definition of terms has slowly emerged. In this Thesis, every endeavour has been made to apply these terms in a consistent manner.

As an aspiring researcher, this Thesis represents an account of my interpretation of reality adopting an interpretive research stance where a notion of objectivity does not apply (Sandberg, 2005). As an active participant and an offshore delivery manager, my biases and assumptions about the phenomenon under investigation may have influenced my interpretations. The analysis represents my thinking at a point in time, my major consideration being the notions of honesty to the experience of those whom I have interviewed.

As I had previously worked with both organisations and was known to some of the respondents, there may have been assumptions that, due to my involvement in the initial offshore processes, I knew more than I did and consequently they did not go into as much detail as they might have. I sometimes had to remind respondents that no previous knowledge should be assumed.

This study was undertaken in two global IT services organisations with captive operations in India; therefore, it is possible they share similar points of views about offshoring. Furthermore, given that this study is highly UK and India specific, caution is advised about generalising these results to a wider context.

In Project 3 I adopted template analysis (King, 2004) in which an initial outsourcing governance template (Simon et al., 2009) was used as a preliminary template for data collection and analysis; however, I always remained open to unexpected and emerging themes. I adopted this approach to extend the existing body of work on outsourcing governance to captive offshoring and also to provide a basis to compare the findings with the outsourcing literature. Had I adopted a more inductive approach to the data collection and analysis, without the use of a template, the results may have been different.

Finally, in resolving the opposing strands, results from studies from two different organisations were compared. These organisations may have different structures which may not have been considered as part of the study. More research could be done across other organisations to obtain more representative results.

1.7.2 Areas for Future Research

It is hoped that this study will offer the avenue for others to undertake further research which will extend the body of knowledge into the captive offshoring domain. There are several areas and directions for future research:

Further research could be undertaken to extend this notion of the mechanisms by which governance processes are developed. This study examined two cases within the IT services industry, in order to extend and test the validity of the findings in this study further research could be undertaken across a wider sample to provide more representative findings.

Parts of this study were conducted from the perspective of UK offshore managers; in order to gain a more balanced view, further research with managers from other offshore subsidiaries should be undertaken.

Further research could also benefit from investigating the misalignment between corporate governance and project governance, looking beyond the bounds and thereby the principles of “governance as coexistence” in other areas outside outsourcing experiencing similar tensions.

The sample sizes of the empirical studies were conducted within two global IT services organisation. To gain a more representative view, a study could be undertaken that included a greater coverage of several IT services industries.

Further research could extend this single case study to a wider group of organisations thereby presenting results that are representative of the captive offshoring industry. More research could be undertaken adopting a similar interpretive study with a larger

Page 46 Chapter 1 Linking Document sample size and the participation of a larger set of IT global organisations. Additional expansion of the proposed governance model through real-world cases that would provide verification.

1.7.3 Personal Learning and Reflections

The DBA process has been an enlightening and enjoyable journey. At the outset of the empirical research process in Project 2, I adopted a grounded theory approach unaware that the construct I was examining was governance; this was recognised later in the research process, at the point at which I engaged with the literature. The process was sometimes disorganised and demanded an advanced level of clarity of thought and focus which I sometimes feared that I had lacked. I have found the learning exercise a worthwhile endeavour that will see me in good stead for future qualitative research with a view to becoming a research professional. I have also learnt that it is important to establish my own identity, and to formulate my style, realising that the beauty of simplicity is imperative to my personal development.

1.7.4 End Note

Captive offshoring bears certain similarities to offshore outsourcing; however, as highlighted by this study, fundamental peculiarities remain which have not been apprised in the outsourcing literature to date. The novel findings of this Thesis support earlier studies that suggest that co-development of the process of governance, relationship and partnerships remains at the core of effective captive offshoring engagements. The study also supports the idea that changing how offshore projects are governed by taking into account the benefits of informal working practices thereby implementing people-centric process has a greater likelihood of achieving the team, project and organisational objectives. As Sharma et al. (2009, p.29) argue, “Whether this approach works or is advisable depends on the level of commitment and the stage at which this is implemented. This seems a better approach than relying on accidental success”.