Journal article

Publication year: 2019

Pages: 81-100

Journal: Journal of International Management

Volume number: 25

Issue number: 1

ISSN: 1075-4253

eISSN: 1873-0620

DOI Link: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.intman.2018.08.001

Publisher: Elsevier

Abstract: 
Although a substantial body of research has analyzed the overall impact of outsourcing on firm performance measured in shareholder value, a major portion of the between-study variance remains unexplained. Asset specificity related to the outsourcing category (e.g., a business process versus information technology) alone can explain only some of the observed differences in stock market reactions. By integrating insights from transaction cost economics and outsourcing research, we first explain how expected buyer opportunism negatively affects the overall performance of the outsourcing relationship and ultimately, the buyer's own shareholder value. We further argue that this opportunism can be predicted by national culture. We test this hypothesis by applying meta-analytic techniques to compare 4216 outsourcing announcements of firms from 19 cultural backgrounds. The results reveal that an opportunistic culture, represented by a high level of assertiveness combined with a low level of institutional collectivism, is a highly statistically significant predictor of stock market reactions to outsourcing announcements. When further integrating the outsourcing category, the meta-analytic weighted least squares regression becomes a strong predictor of stock market reactions to an outsourcing announcement.

Harvard Citation style: Dahlgruen, P. and Bausch, A. (2019) How Opportunistic Culture Affects Financial Performance in Outsourcing Relationships: A Meta-Analysis, Journal of International Management, 25(1), pp. 81-100. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.intman.2018.08.001

APA Citation style: Dahlgruen, P., & Bausch, A. (2019). How Opportunistic Culture Affects Financial Performance in Outsourcing Relationships: A Meta-Analysis. Journal of International Management. 25(1), 81-100. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.intman.2018.08.001