Vendor and Client Project managers: Exploring the Complementary Competencies

摘要

This study addresses the question, "How do managerial competencies in client and vendor project managers complement each other in influencing the success of an Information System outsourcing (ISO) project?" We utilized the Social Exchange Theory to theoretically ground this study, keeping in mind the possible contradictions between domain and cross domain knowledge. We conducted a multiple case study of two ISO projects. We analyzed the business and Information Technology (IT) competence of client and vendor project managers. The results shed several insights including the importance of (1) having business-IT pairings for client-vendor project managers; (2) knowing the organizational impact of each user requirement for vendor project managers; and (3)having access to business and IT knowledge in client project managers. We conclude that it is important to examine the knowledge dimensions at a granular level and some knowledge can be compensated.