Document Type
Article
Language
eng
Format of Original
22 p.
Publication Date
2011
Publisher
Association for Information Systems (AIS)
Source Publication
Communications of the AIS
Source ISSN
1529-3181
Abstract
Developing Information Systems (IS) skills for a company’s workforce has always been challenging, but global sourcing growth has caused the determination of needed IS skills to be more complex. The increased use of outsourcing to an IS service provider and from high-wage regions to low-wage regions has affected what IS skills are required globally and how to distribute the workforce to meet these needs. To understand what skills are needed in locations that seek and those that provide outsourcing, we surveyed IS service provider managers in global locations. Results from 126 reporting units provide empirical evidence that provider units in low-wage regions value technical skills more than those in high-wage regions. Despite the emphasis on commodity skills in low-wage areas, high- and low-wage providers value project management skills. Low-wage regions note global and virtual teamwork more than high-wage regions do. The mix of skills and the variation by region have implications for domestic and offshore sourcing. Service providers can vary their staffing models in global regions which has consequences for recruiting, corporate training, and curriculum.
Recommended Citation
Kaiser, Kate, "Information Systems Skills Differences between High-Wage and Low-Wage Regions: Implications for Global Sourcing" (2011). Management Faculty Research and Publications. 216.
https://epublications.marquette.edu/mgmt_fac/216
Comments
Published version. Communications of the AIS, Vol. 29 (2011): 605-626. Permalink. © 2011 Association for Information Systems (AIS). Used with permission.
Copyright (2011), by the Association for Information Systems. Permission to make digital or hard copies of all or part of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and full citation on the first page. Copyright for components of this work owned by others than the Association for Information Systems must be honored. Abstracting with credit is permitted. To copy otherwise, to republish, to post on servers for commercial use, or to redistribute to lists requires prior specific permission and/or fee. Request permission to publish from: AIS Administrative Office, P.O. Box 2712 Atlanta, GA, 30301-2712, Attn: Reprints, or via e-mail from: publications@aisnet.org.