Home // eKNOW 2020, The Twelfth International Conference on Information, Process, and Knowledge Management // View article
Authors:
Kerstin Felser
Martin Wynn
Keywords: Backsourcing; digitalization; digital transformation; German automotive industry; conceptual model.
Abstract:
Many organisations are now confronted with the new phenomenon of digitalization and are faced with the challenge of formulating and implementing a company-wide digital transformation strategy. Digitalization is associated with significant and extremely rapid change, and, in some cases, even the replacement of established business models. In manufacturing companies, this transformation is part of what is often termed Industry 4.0 and, in large companies, where the provision of information technology (IT) has hitherto been outsourced (in whole or in part), the introduction of these new technologies may be the catalyst for IT backsourcing. This entails bringing previously outsourced activities back in-house to regain ownership and control, in order to be more flexible and respond more effectively to rapidly changing demands. This study reviews the extant literature to assess existing thinking on the motivation for backsourcing, and then examines the potential role of digitalization in driving IT backsourcing in the German automotive industry. A provisional conceptual framework for subsequent research is put forward, using a knowledge-based view of the firm. The study is in its initial stages, but the model is being developed through more in-depth interviews to provide operational guidance for practitioners and subsequent research studies.
Pages: 7 to 16
Copyright: Copyright (c) IARIA, 2020
Publication date: March 22, 2020
Published in: conference
ISSN: 2308-4375
ISBN: 978-1-61208-765-8
Location: Valencia, Spain
Dates: from November 21, 2020 to November 25, 2020