信息系统信息技术中英文对照外文翻译文献.docx

信息系统信息技术中英文对照外文翻译文献.docx

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信息系统信息技术中英文对照外文翻译文献

中英文资料外文翻译文献

InformationSystemsOutsourcingLifeCycleAndRisksAnalysis

1.Introduction

Informationsystemsoutsourcinghasobtainedtremendousattentionsintheinformationtechnologyindustry.Althoughthereareanumberofreasonsforcompaniestopursuinginformationsystems（IS）outsourcing,themostprominentmotivationforISoutsourcingthatrevealedintheliteratureswas“costsaving”.CostfactorhasbeenamajordecisionfactorsforISoutsourcing.

Otherthancostfactor,thereareotherreasonsforoutsourcingdecision.TheOutsourcingInstitutesurveyedoutsourcingend-usersfromtheirmembershipin1998andfoundthattop10reasonscompaniesoutsourcewere:

Reduceandcontroloperatingcosts,improvecompanyfocus,gainaccesstoworld-classcapabilities,freeinternalresourcesforotherpurposes,resourcesarenotavailableinternally,acceleratereengineeringbenefits,functiondifficulttomanage/outofcontrol,makecapitalfundsavailable,sharerisks,andcashinfusion.

Withinthesetoptenoutsourcingreasons,therearethreeitemsthatrelatedtofinancialconcerns,theyareoperatingcosts,capitalfundsavailable,andcashinfusion.Sincethephenomenonofwagedifferenceexistsintheoutsourcedcountries,itisobviousthatoutsourcingcompanieswouldsaveremarkableamountoflaborcost.AccordingtoGartner,Inc.'sreport,worldbusinessoutsourcingserviceswouldgrowfrom$110billionin2002to$173billionin2007,aproximately9.5%annualgrowthrate.

Inadditiontocostsavingconcern,thereareotherfactorsthatinfluenceoutsourcingdecision,includingtheawarenessofsuccessandriskfactors,theoutsourcingrisksidentificationandmanagement,andtheprojectqualitymanagement.Outsourcingactivitiesaresubstantiallycomplicatedandoutsourcingprojectusuallycarriesahugearrayofrisks.Unmanagedoutsourcingriskswillincreasetotalprojectcost,devaluatesoftwarequality,delayprojectcompletiontime,andfinallylowerthesuccessrateoftheoutsourcingproject.Outsourcingriskshavebeendiscoveredinareassuchasunexpectedtransitionandmanagementcosts,switchingcosts,costlycontractualamendments,disputesandlitigation,servicedebasement,costescalation,lossoforganizationalcompetence,hiddenservicecosts,andsoon.

Mostpublishedoutsourcingstudiesfocusedonorganizationalandmanagerialissues.WebelievethatISoutsourcingprojectsembracevariousrisksanduncertaintythatmayinhibitthechanceofoutsourcingsuccess.Inadditiontoserviceandmanagementrelatedriskissues,wefeelthattechnicalissuesthatrestrainthedegreeofoutsourcingsuccessmayhavebeenoverlooked.Thesetechnicalissuesareprojectmanagement,softwarequality,andqualityassessmentmethodsthatcanbeusedtoimplementISoutsourcingprojects.Unmanagedrisksgenerateloss.Weintendtoidentifythetechnicalrisksduringoutsourcingperiod,sothesetechnicalriskscanbeproperlymanagedandthecostofoutsourcingprojectcanbefurtherreduced.ThemainpurposeofthispaperistoidentifythedifferentphasesofISoutsourcinglifecycle,andtodiscusstheimplicationsofsuccessandriskfactors,softwarequalityandprojectmanagement,andtheirimpactstothesuccessofIToutsourcing.

Mostoutsourcinginitiativesinvolvestrategicplanningandmanagementparticipation,therefore,thedecisionprocessisobviouslybroadandlengthy.Inordertoconductacomprehensivestudyontooutsourcingprojectriskanalysis,weproposeanISoutsourcinglifecycleframeworktobeservedasayardstick.EachISoutsourcingphaseisnamedandallinheritedrisksareidentifiedinthislifecycleframework.Furthermore,weproposetousesoftwarequalitymanagementtoolsandmethodsinordertoenhancethesuccessrateofISoutsourcingproject.

ISO9000isaseriesofqualitysystemsstandardsdevelopedbytheInternationalOrganizationforStandardization（ISO）.ISO'squalitystandardshavebeenadoptedbymanycountriesasamajortargetforqualitycertification.OtherISOstandardssuchasISO9001,ISO9000-3,ISO9004-2,andISO9004-4arequalitystandardsthatcanbeappliedtothesoftwareindustry.Currently,ISOisworkingonISO31000,ariskmanagementguidancestandard.TheseISOqualitysystemsandriskmanagementstandardsaregenericinnature,however,theymaynotbesufficientforISoutsourcingpractice.Thispaper,therefore,proposesanoutsourcinglifecycleframeworktodistinguishrelatedqualityandriskmanagementissuesduringoutsourcingpractice.

ThefollowingsectionsstartwithneededtheoreticalfoundationstoISoutsourcing,includingeconomictheories,outsourcingcontractingtheories,andrisktheories.TheISoutsourcinglifecycleframeworkisthenintroduced.Itcontinuestodiscusstheriskimplicationsinprecontract,contract,andpost-contractphases.ISOstandardsonqualitysystemsandriskmanagementarediscussedandcomparedinthenextsection.Aconclusionanddirectionforfuturestudyareprovidedinthelastsection.

2.Theoreticalfoundations

2.1.Economictheoriesrelatedtooutsourcing

AlthoughthereareanumberofreasonsforpursuingISoutsourcing,thecostsavingisamainattractionthatleadscompaniestosearchforoutsourcingopportunities.Inprinciple,fiveoutsourcingrelatedeconomictheoriesthatlaythegroundworkofoutsourcingpractice,theyare:

（1）productioncosteconomics,

（2）transactioncosttheory,（3）resourcebasedtheory,（4）competitiveadvantage,and（5）economiesofscale.

ProductioncosteconomicswasproposedbyWilliamson,whomentionedthat“afirmseekstomaximizeitsprofitalsosubjectstoitsproductionfunctionandmarketopportunitiesforsellingoutputsandbuyinginputs”.Itisclearthatproductioncosteconomicsidentifiesthephenomenonthatafirmmaypursuethegoaloflow-costproductionprocess.

TransactioncosttheorywasproposedbyCoase.Transactioncosttheoryimpliesthatinaneconomy,therearemanyeconomicactivitiesoccurredoutsidethepricesystems.Transactioncostsinbusinessactivitiesarethetimeandexpenseofnegotiation,andwritingandenforcingcontractsbetweenbuyersandsuppliers.Whentransactioncostislowbecauseofloweruncertainty,companiesareexpectedtoadoptoutsourcing.

Thefocusofresource-basedtheoryis“theheartofthefirmcentersondeploymentandcombinationofspecificinputsratherthanonavoidanceofopportunities”.Connersuggestedthat“Firmsasseekersofcostly-to-copyinputsforproductionanddistribution”.Throughresource-basedtheory,wecaninferthat“outsourcingdecisionistoseekexternalresourcesorcapabilityformeetingfirm'sobjectivessuchascost-savingandcapabilityimproving”.

Porter,inhiscompetitiveforcesmodel,proposedtheconceptofcompetitiveadvantage.Besankoetal.explicatedthetermofcompetitiveadvantage,througheconomicconcept,as“Whenafirm（orbusinessunitwithinamulti-businessfirm）earnsahigherrateofeconomicprofitthantheaveragerateofeconomicprofitofotherfirmscompetingwithinthesamemarket,thefirmhasacompetitiveadvantage.”Outsourcingdecision,therefore,istoseekcostsavingthatmeetsthegoalofcompetitiveadvantagewithinafirm.

Theeconomiesofscaleisatheoreticalfoundationforcreatingandsustainingtheconsultingbusiness.Informationsystems（IS）andinformationtechnology（IT）consultingfirms,inessence,beartheadvantageofeconomiesofscalesincetheiraveragecostsdecreasebecausetheyofferamassamountofspecializedIS/ITservicesinthemarketplace.

2.2.Economicimplicationoncontracting

Anoutsourcingcontractdefinestheprovisionofservicesandchargesthatneedtobecompletedinacontractingperiodbetweentwocontractingparties.SincemostIS/ITprojectsarelargeinscale,avaluablecontractshouldlistcompletesetoftasksandresponsibilitiesthateachcontractingpartyneedstoperform.Thestudyofcontractingbecomesessentialbecauseacompletecontractsettingcouldeliminatepossibleopportunisticbehavior,confusion,andambiguitybetweentwocontractingparties.

Althoughcontractingpartiesintendtoreachacompletecontract,inrealworld,mostcontractsareincomplete.Incompletecontractscausenotonlyimplementingdifficultiesbutalsoresultinginlitigationaction.Businessrelationshipmayeasilyberuinedbyholdingincompletecontracts.Inordertoreachacompletecontract,thecontractingpartiesmustpaysufficientattentiontoremoveanyambiguity,confusion,andunidentifiedandimmeasurableconditions/termsfromthecontract.AccordingtoBesankoetal.,incompletecontractingstemsfromthefollowingthreefactors:

boundedrationality,difficultiesonspecifyingormeasuringperformance,andasymmetricinformation.

Boundedrationalitydescribeshumanlimitationoninformationprocessing,complexityhandling,andrationaldecision-making.Anincompletecontractstemsfromunexpectedcircumstancesthatmaybeignoredduringcontractnegotiation.Mostcontractsconsistofcomplexproductrequirementsandperformancemeasurements.Inreality,itisdifficulttospecifyasetofcomprehensivemetricsformeetingeachparty'srightandresponsibility.Therefore,anyvagueoropen-endedstatementsincontractwilldefinitelyresultinanincompletecontract.Lastly,itispossiblethateachpartymaynothaveequalaccesstoallcontract-relevantinformationsources.Thissituationofasymmetricinformationresultsinanunfairnegotiation,thusitbecomesanincompletecontract.

2.3.Riskinoutsourcecontracting

Riskcanbeidentifiedasanundesirableevent,aprobabilityfunction,varianceofthedistributionofoutcomes,orexpectedloss.Riskcanbeclassifiedintoendogenousandexogenousrisks.Exogenousrisksare“ris