Explaining Sourcing Motives from Sourcing Decisions: The Sourcing Motive Framework

It can definitely be said that information systems (IS) are of high importance in organizations today. However, the question is how this influences organizations when deciding on a specific sourcing option for IS-development. In other words what influence has availability of resources as well as the strategic value of such resources when deciding whether IS-development should be outsourced or not. To say something about this an investigation of sourcing motives is needed, which directs to the specific research question that is: How can motives for sourcing options of IS-development be explained? From an investigation of sourcing decisions in four banks we analyse their sourcing motives. The result from this investigation, and an additional literature review on sourcing decisions and sourcing options, ends in four propositions. These propositions are used in tandem with findings from the empirical data for initial development of the sourcing motive framework (SMF). The main contribution from the research is the framework (SMF) that from the initial development and the first test is seen as a fruitful framework which could be further developed into both a useful framework for analysing sourcing decisions but also as a guiding tool for decision-makers when deciding on sourcing options for IS-development.