A Typology of Relational Attitude In Information Technology Outsourcing: An Analysis of The Contractors' Perspective

This paper explores relational attitudes in information technology outsourcing fo-cused on the contractors' perspective. The data were collected from companies that outsource information technology services. The results show that outsourced service can be traditional or custom depending on the relational governance with active or passive participation. A customer is classified according to different IT outsourcing attitudes: (a) conservative, (b) collaborative, (c) opportunistic, and (d) transformational. This paper presents a two-dimensional interaction to create the classification, supporting contractors and information technology managers to identify their relational attitude towards developing the outsourcing process and the dynamics of human relationships, and promoting integrated strategies and processes.