Impact IT sourcing on corporate social
responsibility
Jasper de Booy Student number: 10547878
University of Amsterdam Faculty of Science
Thesis Master Information Studies: Business Information Systems Final version: 06-06-2018
Supervisor: dhr. dr. D. (Dick) Heinhuis Examiner: dhr. Ir. A.M. (Loek) Stolwijk
Abstract. This thesis researches the relation between the information system sourcing strategy and corporate sustainable responsiblity. The hypothesis is based on the transaction cost theory and the resource based view, which shows that an insourcing strategy provide greater corporate responsibility performance. This hypothesis is tested through a questionnaire, distributed among ISS experts. The result of the thesis indicated a small relation between CSR and IS, and it can be assumed that insourcing will lead to higher CSR performance. Lastly the research showed that CSR should be incorporated within future ISS strategies. The results enables the resource based view and the transaction costs theory to be revised using the involvement of CSR within business strategy, furthermore decision factors for the IS sourcing strategy is extended using CSR as a decisive factor.
Keywords. Corporate social responsibility, insourcing, outsourcing, information systems sourcing strategy, transaction cost theory, resource based view
1- Introduction
Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is currently evolving as the basis of a modern business strategy (Ceglińska & Cegliński 2014). The past showed that the main goal of most organizations in recent decades was to maximize its profits, regardless of the potential impact their decisions had on both environment and social well-being. More recent years showed a shift in organizational thinking regarding maximizing profits at all costs (Piasecki & Gudowski 2017). Organizations became aware, due to pressure from value chain suppliers, customers and legislative bodies, of the need to consider both environmental and social impact of their actions (Butler, 2011). Negative consideration of the environment and social well-being is presented in every day news items. Moreover a large part of negative reporting is due to sourcing issues, which entails the process of using external suppliers for specific services (Khosrowpour, 2013). Recent examples include; Apple failing to protect their outsourced factory workers1 and Volkswagen manipulation of emission tests2. Which both resulted in a negative impact on their reputation and perception to customers.
Within the concept of CSR, five different dimensions are often used to describe this issue; social, environmental, voluntariness, stakeholder and economic. (Dahlsrud, 2006). Recent literature provided empirical evidence which showed an increase in business performance when organizations clearly communicated regarding their CSR towards the world. An increasing investment in CSR therefore resulted in stable growth over time (Kang, Germann, & Grewal, 2016; Lee & Maxfield, 2015; Zhao, Murrel, 2016).
Next to business performance, CSR is often researched within marketing, economics and business strategy science. Within the marketing domain, Kotler (2010) argues that customers nowadays choose brands based on their idealism. Furthermore literature showed a positive effect on marketing performance in advertising CSR (Rahman, Ángeles Rodríguez-Serrano & Lambkin, 2017). Next to marketing science, Ceglińska & Cegliński (2014) argue that if organizations uses CSR they will be able to quickly adjust to their environment and therefore achieve a sustainable competitive advantage. Lastly economic science explored the result of implementing a global CSR framework; which resulted (again) in a competitive advantage (Arevalo & Aravind, 2017). Next to the competitive advantage of a single organization, it is argued that economic development of a country will increase if organizations prioritize corporate responsibility (Li, Zéman, Li, 2016). Another interesting research showed how innovation makes a significant contribution to the relation of CSR and organization growth (Bocquet, Le Bas, Mothe, Poussing, 2015).
In more recent years researchers tried to show how information systems (IS) could be proven useful in one dimension of CSR, the environmental dimension, examples of researches include; the role of systems for green initiatives (Seidel et all, 2013), information systems for managing environmental compliancy issues (Butler, 2011) and environmentally design of information systems (Melville, 2010). While other management sciences provide insights into the relation between the dimensions and their respective topic, IS research only considers the environmental dimension. The discussion
1 Bilton, R. (2014, December 18). Apple: “failing to protect workers.” BBC News. Retrieved from http://www.bbc.com/news/business-30532463
2 Hotten, R. (2015, December 10). Volkswagen: “The scandal explained”. BBC News. Retrieved from http://www.bbc.com/news/business-34324772
of only one dimension within IS research is rather limited when compared to other management sciences and when considering the importance of this topic.
Since research on the relation between IS and CSR is generally limited, it would be interesting to further explore the effect on CSR when deciding on an IS strategy. The start of the introduction already mentioned one of the most important IS strategy questions, which could result in negative impact on CSR performance; “are we going to do this work ourselves, or are we going to let someone else do the work for us?” The possible negative CSR impact is shown within the case of Apple, which had a negative impact on their reputation. Therefore organizations need to carefully develop a sourcing strategy (Jia, Orzes, Sartor, & Nassimbeni, 2017).
Since the IS sourcing strategy could negatively influence levels of CSR, it would be interesting to understand the relation between CSR and IS sourcing (ISS). The establishment of this relation is not yet commonly researched and therefore this thesis will explore this phenomena and thus contribute to the literature with providing insights into the relation between IS sourcing and CSR. Alongside the scientific relevance, organizations will be able to use this research to further improve their CSR. The main research question therefore is; which information system sourcing strategy results in higher corporate social responsibility performance?
In order to answer these questions, multiple sub questions need to be answered;
1 Which competitive advantage is achieved through CSR? 2 What are the current strategies for an ISS decision?
3 What input variables are used to determine CSR performance? 4 What is the relation between CSR & ISS strategy?
5 Should CSR be used in future ISS decisions?
This research will start with providing a literature review for the first three questions, afterwards a quantitative research will be conducted to research the final questions. The thesis will end with concluding thoughts and inspiration for further research on this topic.
2- Literature review
While the previous chapter elaborated on the purpose of this thesis, this chapter will continue on the introduction of the literature review. The start of the literature review will provide insights into CSR and its potential benefits. After the review on CSR an analysis will be performed on current information system sourcing strategies which could enable the different benefits. The review will end in a framework, consisting of the theoretical relation between ISS strategies and CSR which provides a start for the empirical research.
Corporate sustainable responsibility dimensions
As briefly mentioned in the introduction, Dahlsrud (2008) defines the concept of CSR within five different dimensions. These different dimensions are most often used within the literature. The economic dimension shows results in social-economic and financial aspects, included in this dimension is CSR reporting. On the other hand, the social dimension determines the link between business and society. Furthermore the environmental dimension is used to determine impact on the natural environment while the stakeholder dimension contribute to interaction of an organization with their
employees, suppliers, customers and communities. Lastly the voluntariness dimension provide insights into actions which are not required by law, including ethical values. The combined dimensions lead to a definition which will be used in this thesis: “a concept whereby companies integrate social and environment concerns in their business operations and in their interaction with their stakeholders on a voluntary basis” (Dahlsrud, 2008, p. 7). In order to determine the definitions and dimensions, Dahlsrud compared 37 papers which all researched the CSR phenomena. The definition and dimensions will be used as the basis of this research.
Table 1. Dimension usage
Dimension Usage
Economic Social-economic and financial aspects Social Relationship business & society Environmental Natural environment
Stakeholder Interaction with stakeholders Voluntariness Actions not required by law
Competitive advantage corporate sustainable responsibility
Using CSR in an organization could provide organizations with different benefits, the first benefit of CSR is the increase in reputation (Baraibar-Diez, Sotorrio, 2017). Furthermore CSR increases the marketability in comparison with competitors, thus leading to a competitive advantage (Carnahan, Kryscynzki, Olson, 2017). On the other hand Hodinková & Sadovský, 2016 argue that even more benefits occur within three dimensions: the economic dimension provide organizations with benefits in investor attractiveness, strengthening market position and increasing resource efficiency. The social dimensions improves trust, stakeholder relations, employee motivation, attractiveness for future employees and strengthen employee loyalty. Lastly the environmental dimension shows a decrease in pollution and reduction in resource usage (Hodinková & Sadovský, 2016). The employee (social) benefits consists of improving personal growth when an organization is engaged in CSR planning, coordination and decision making (Stojanović-Aleksić & Bošković, 2017). The last benefit, as briefly mentioned in the introduction, is the increase in firm performance when organization enact on CSR. Both investor and non-investor stakeholder of an organization benefit from the increased value of an organization when investing in CSR (Kang, Germann, & Grewal, 2016; Lee & Maxfield, 2015).
Other positive benefits of CSR is the perception of customers for organizations; an outstanding CSR strategy even leads to a basis for product purchase decisions. Furthermore within the B2B market it is sometimes even required to be responsible to some extent in order to do business, on the other hand within the consumer market an organization is more preferred when a company positively contributes to CSR (Hildebrand at all, 2017). Accordingly products that are produced within well-performing CSR organizations are perceived to be of higher quality, this could potentially increase profits and is also proved within multiple articles (Chernev & Blair, 2015). In order for a customer to pay a premium price for a product which is associated with CSR it is necessary to provide information on this topic. It is shown that more information leads to an increase in willingness of a customer to pay a premium price (Calveras & Ganuza, 2016). On the other hand, organizations should be aware of the customer evaluation of price fairness, it is argued that customers only find the price fair
when organization are intrinsically motivated to work on CSR and organization should clearly communicate the benefit-cost ratio in order to stand out in a positive light (Habel, Schons, Alavi, & Wieseke, 2016).
In all, a visual presentation of the different benefits per dimensions is displayed below. It shows that CSR potentially leads to a range of benefits throughout the entire organization structure.
Figure 1. CSR dimensions and benefits
Strategies for information system sourcing decisions
Information systems (IS) are nowadays used for reaching different business objectives, consisting of; reaching operational excellence, enabler for creating products, services & business models, gatherings data on suppliers and customers, decision making process and business survival (Laudon & Laudon, 2014). Within the thesis context IS can be defined as: “a set of interrelated components that collect or retrieve, process, store and distribute information in order to support decision making and control in an organization” (Laudon & Laudon, 2014. p. 45). A more detailed description on information system is presented in appendix A.
Furthermore an ISS strategy can be defined as “the internal or external arrangements through which IS products and services are provided” (Wong, 2008, p. 103). An ISS strategy is a trade-off between internal (insourcing) and external (outsourcing) arrangements, this decision between sourcing methods might lead to different organizational performance. Choosing a strategy will result in different advantages and disadvantages for an organization. If an organization outsource their entire IS, they might lose their competencies needed for new innovative ideas, while on the other hand insourcing could lead to a risk of not being able to cope with the competitor’s phase of innovation (Rothaermel & Alexandre, 2009). Furthermore ISS strategies involve
lowering costs, degree of innovativeness and improving employee knowledge (Lacity, Yan, & Khan, 2017). Appendix B provide a more thorough discussion on advantages and disadvantages for both in-/ and outsourcing.
In order to understand decision factors for insourcing or outsourcing, the figure below presents the different decision criteria when deciding on a sourcing strategy. Since the chosen ISS strategy and its relation with CSR is the focus of this thesis, the existing model is simplified and extended. The entire decision parameter model can be found in appendix B and in the discussion section.
Figure 2. Simplified and extended sourcing decision model based on Lacity, Yan & Khan, 2017
Next to the decision parameters, it is important to consider the different resources which are available to an organization. Within the context of this thesis these are defined as; “resources can be assets, capabilities, and organizational processes that enable a firm to conceive of and implement strategies to improve its efficiency and effectiveness” (Watjatrakul, 2005, p. 392). It is argued that for each resource a different decision should be considered, therefore Watjatrakul, 2005 made a distinguishing between resources. Two views can be presented which enable organizations to further explore the basis of their IS strategy decision. The first view consists of the transaction cost theory (TCT), which enables organizations to define between two dimensions, asset specificity and uncertainty. Uncertainty can be divided into environmental and behavioral uncertainty, environmental considers an organization capability of predicting the future. Whereas the second consists of the evaluation of the performance of the provider (Watjatrakul, 2005). Recent discussions on RBV and TCT show that today’s high pace in environment change causes the uncertainty factor to be redundant (Dieduksman, 2014). Organizations are less likely to predict the future environment, for example robotics, internet of things & artificial intelligence might be causes of market disruptions3. Organizations are unsure when they have to adapt to the new technological advances. This also disables organizations to correctly predict a sourcing provider performance, even if an organization is a high performer today, they might not be able to adapt to new innovation and thus can change to a low performer in a short period of time. The second dimension, specificity: “refers to the transferability of the assets that support a given transaction, a specific asset is more valuable in a particular exchange than in an alternative exchange” (Watjatrakul, 2005, p. 391). In order to avoid this, organizations should insource the
3 KPMG. (2017, March 29). The changing landscape of disruptive technologies. Retrieved from https://home.kpmg.com/be/en/home/insights/2017/03/the-changing-landscape-of-disruptive-technologies.html
highly specific assets, while low specific assets can be more easily insourced (Yang, Wacker, & Sheu, 2012).
On the other hand the resource based view (RBV) leads to understanding of available resources; assets, competences and capabilities. Which all can be of strategic value to an organization (Barney, 1991; Peppard & Ward, 2004). Within the resource based view a distinguishing can be made between strategic resources and non-strategic resources, strategic resources can be characterized as; imitability, rare, non-substitutability and valuable. This resource leads to sustainable competitive advantage. If resources are of strategic value, an insourcing strategy is more useful, however if resources are non-strategic they can more easily be outsourced (Watjatrakul, 2005).
Watjatrakul, 2005 argued that the combination of both views would lead to a sufficient decision on the ISS strategy, the combination can be found in the table below, providing organizations with possible decision criteria. Combining both views with the sourcing decision parameters enables organizations to decide on their ISS strategy.
Table 2. Resource based view & transaction cost theory (Watjatrakul, 2005) Behavioral or environmental uncertainty
Specific & Strategic View Low High
Low-Specificity, Non-strategic resource (LSNR) TCT RBV Outsourcing Outsourcing Insourcing Outsourcing Low-Specificity, Strategic Resource (LSSR) TCT RBV Outsourcing Insourcing Insourcing Insourcing High-Specificity, Non-Strategic Resource (HSNR) TCT RBV Insourcing Outsourcing Insourcing Outsourcing High-Specificity, Strategic Resource (HSSR) TCT RBV Insourcing Insourcing Insourcing Insourcing
Theoretical relation between the information system sourcing strategy and corporate social responsibility resources
The transaction cost theory could lead to a sourcing decision based on the specificity of an asset and uncertainty. Organizations which operate in an uncertain environment should at all times insource its resources, whereas the environmental uncertainty in all industries is currently viewed as high due to the rapid innovations (Watjatrakul, 2005). Next to that the behavioral uncertainty is important within CSR, if an organization is not able to evaluate the sourcing provider it is difficult to predict future levels of CSR. Organizations are able to evaluate the performance of providers through monitoring, however this involves additional costs (Watjatrakul, 2005 & Yang et all. 2012).
The specificity of a resource determines whether a resource is more valuable to a specific organization if the resource was to be deployed within another organization (Watjatrakul, 2005). Since CSR resources provide a sustainable competitive advantage, they will be more valuable to a particular organization when compared to usage within other organizations. This is because CSR resources are implemented throughout the
entire organization and are build based on the strategy of a particular organization (Ceglińska & Cegliński, 2014).
The TCT shows that resources which are highly specific should always be insourced, no difference is found on the basis of uncertainty when a resource is specific. Since CSR resources are highly specific, an ISS strategy consisting of insourcing would increase the CSR performance (Watjatrakul, 2005).
On the other hand the resource based view could lead to a sourcing decision based on the strategic value of the resource for an organization. A resource is found strategic when the next criteria are met: valuable, rare, inimitable and non-substitutable (Talaja, 2012). CSR resources are valuable due to sustainable competitive advantage that is involved with high CSR performance. (Ceglińska & Cegliński, 2014) Furthermore the resources are rare since a well-defined CSR strategy is difficult to formulate4. The resources are inimitable due to different CSR strategies among organizations and lastly are non-substitutable since the loss of CSR resources could lead to a decrease in business performance (Barney, 1991; Peppard & Ward, 2004).
Thus, based on the resource based view, the CSR resources are strategic resources to an organization. The analysis of the framework leads to the conclusion that strategic resources could be either insourced or outsourced. This decision is based on whether the resource is also specific. If a resource is also specific, then an insourcing strategy is more useful. Whereas a low specific resource which is of high strategic value could be outsourced (Watjatrakul, 2005).
The conclusion of TCT shows that CSR resources are highly specific thus leading to an insourcing strategy. Combining the TCT with RBV shows another perspective on the ISS strategy decision. Within the RBV, CSR resource are considered of high strategic value, which could either be insourced or outsourced based on the specificity. Based on the combination of both views it shows that CSR should be insourced (Watjatrakul, 2005). The insourced resources would therefore lead higher CSR performance. In all the literature suggest that insourcing will lead to higher CSR performance based on the RBV & TCT. This theoretically constructed statement will be used as hypothesis within this research. Below a visual representation of the literature review conclusion is displayed.
Figure 2. Visual representation literature review conclusion
4 Keys, T., Malnightx , T. W., & Graaf, K. van der. (2009, December). Making the most of corporate social responsibility | McKinsey & Company. Retrieved May 4, 2018, from https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/leadership/making-the-most-of-corporate-social-responsibility
3- Methodology
The previous chapter explored the relation between ISS strategies and CSR based on existing literature. In order to further define this relation an empirical research was conducted. Since literature on the relation between ISS strategies and CSR is limited, it is evident that the current research will be of exploratory nature. In order to establish initial understanding of this relation a quantitative research method will be used. To answer the research question, the findings from the literature, including hypothesis, were tested among ISS experts.
Input variables corporate social responsibility
In order to measure corporate social responsibility performance within this research, the Dow Jones sustainability index (DJSI) is used. This index tracks the CSR performance of organizations within their specific market sector. The score is established through a questionnaire, which has to be cross checked with internal documents. The DJSI is currently the most frequently used measurement method within large corporates and therefore chosen as tool within this thesis (Hopkins, 2005).
The DJSI uses input variables within three CSR dimensions, while some variables differ among industries, several criteria are used for all industries. The table below presents the different input variables per dimension. Based on these input variables, a total CSR score can be measured (RobecoSam, 2017).
Table 3. DJSI input variables (RobecoSam, 2017)
Economic Social Environmental
Codes of business conduct
Corporate citizenship & philanthropy
Environmental policy & management systems Corporate governance Labor practice indicators &
human rights
Environmental reporting Risk & crisis management Human Capital development
Social reporting Talent attraction & retention
Questionnaire analysis, samples & argumentation
In order to determine the minimum amount of respondents, both the effect size and power are used. First the effect size is determined to be d ≤ 0.3, which results in a small effect size. The power used within this research is p ≥.8, if the power is higher than .8, there is a lower chance of wrongfully not rejecting the null hypothesis. Both analysis are performed a-priori, the combined calculation shows that a minimum of 90 samples are required in order to meet the criteria as stated above. In total 78 respondents filled in the questionnaire, 71 of the questionnaires were acceptable to be used within the research (Field, 2013).
The questionnaire was distributed among different experts, the expert qualification for this research consisted of information system sourcing involvement within their profession. The questionnaire was distributed within profit and non-profit organizations, after the first expert within an organization had been identified, they could provide the researcher with additional experts on this topic. The questions used in the questionnaire were the same for each participant, and can be found in appendix C.
The provided questionnaire is divided into four different sections, the first section is used to discover the background of each respondent. Furthermore the first section is used
to discover whether respondents are favorable towards CSR and lastly the current status of CSR & IS is examined.
The second section is used to tests overall statements discussed within the theoretical framework. Firstly IS theory is tested, followed with CSR theory and lastly the RBV & TCT is tested among respondents.
The third section is used for questions regarding the TCT & RBV for CSR resources, it tests whether CSR resources are specific and strategic. This information is used to find out whether a CSR resource is actually strategic and specific as proposed within the theoretical framework.
The last section will provide insights into the relation between the ISS strategy & CSR. Firstly this section uses the input variables for establishing levels of CSR and combines those with the ISS strategy. The questions determine which sourcing strategy relates to higher CSR performance. The final questions will contribute to the overall relation between CSR and IS. This section tests three different means, first the potential relation, secondly the hypothesis whether insourcing will result in higher CSR performance, and lastly whether CSR should be used within future IS sourcing strategy decisions.
Overall the four sections provide answers into both the hypothesis and testing of the existing literature. Based on the literature review the next hypothesis will be used within this research:
H0: Insourcing IS will not result in higher CSR performance
As mentioned above the hypothesis will be tested through the DJSI input variables. The hypothesis, combined with the different input variables are visually presented below. Table 4. Research hypothesis
In order to establish an initial relationship a 7-point Likert scale is used, the analysis of the questionnaire was conducted through SPSS. The analysis method within SPSS consisted of the principal component analysis, Cronbach’s alpha, one sample T-test & correlation among questions means.
4- Results
The results chapter is divided within four sections, the first section is used to find variables through a principal component analysis, whereas the second section is used to measure reliability and validity of the found components. Afterwards the hypotheses is tested through a one sample t-test, while lastly a correlation matrix is presented. Appendix D presents the entire questionnaire results.
Levels of CSR
Sourcing degree Lower Higher
Insourcing H0
Outsourcing H1
H1 H0
Principal component analysis & internal consistency
This first section is used to reduce the question variables to principal components. The analysis converts possible related question variables into principal components. The components reduce the amount of variables used for further analysis later on in this research (Field, 2013). The principal components analysis (PCA) is conducted on 28 question variables and Varimax rotation. The Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin measure verified the sample, KMO = .7, furthermore the Bartlett’s test of sphericity was significant p=.00. Seven components had eigenvalues above 1 and in combination explained 74.5% of the variance. The analysis suggest that respectively the next components should be used: CSRsourcingstrategy, CSRstrategicspecific, NonspecificstrategicIn, TrustCSR, CSRusage, SpecificStrategicIn, and RelationCSRandIS. On the other hand three question variables could not be merged into a principal component, and will therefore be treated separately; FutureISandCSR, StatusISandCSR and InsourcingPerformance.
Table 4. Rotated component matrix
While the PCA shows insight into the variable relation, it does not provide understanding in the specific component mean score and will therefore only be used to establish principal components. In order to determine mean scores, the component means are calculated in SPSS, therefore the second section is used to measure internal consistency among the mean variables, in order to ensure question means can be established.
The Chronbach’s alpha among mean variables are displayed below. In all it shows that six mean variables are internally consistent among each other. The minimum alpha used for this thesis is a ≥ .5, while this is usually represents a poor internal consistency, it is necessary in order to establish relations among variables. (Field, 2013).
Therefore within the established variables one variable does not meet the minimum requirements established for this thesis; RelationCSRandIS. The input variables will therefore be treated separately.
Table 5. Cronbach’s alpha and establishment of means
Variable Chronbach’s Alpha
CSRstrategicspecific 0,81 NonspecificstrategicIn TrustCSR CSRusage SpecificStrategicIn RelationCSRandIS 0,90 0,61 0,52 0,57 0,31
Significance testing through one sample t-test
The third section measures whether the variable means are significant. Which indicates if the mean can be used within the research and which variable score is established. Within this thesis three levels of means can be established. Ranging from (1-3), (3-5) and (5-7). The first range is 1-3, this indicates that respondents disagree with the statement. Low mean scores originally ranges from the 1 to 3 (strongly disagree to somewhat disagree) on the Likert scale. The second range is originally related to the 3-5 range on the Likert scale (somewhat disagree to somewhat agree), this range shows a low disagreeability (3-4) or a low agreeability (4-5). Whereas the last range is established on the 5-7 range (strongly disagree to strongly agree), which indicates agreeability with the statement.
In order to measure mean significance, a one sample t-test is used. The one sample t-test determines whether the sample mean is statistically different than a known hypothesized mean. Since the questionnaire is based on a 7-point Likert scale, the hypothesized mean is 4 (middle point of the scale) (Field, 2013).
The t-test shows that nine variables are found to be significant p ≤ .05 which is used as a minimum reliability in this thesis. The hypothesis variable, is found not to be significant (p=.90, M=4.02). Therefore based on this test the hypothesis failed to be rejected. Closely related to the hypothesis is the relation between CSR and IS; RelationCSRandIS (M=4.79) show that there is small relation between CSR and IS.
Next to that the existing literature control questions indicates that the current literature on resources and CSR is also found to be significant in this research, since TrustCSR (M=6.12), ISSinfluenceperformance (M=6.01) and InsourcingandPerformance (M=4.79) have a positive mean.
The positive mean of SpecificStrategicInsourcing (M=5.44) and NonSpecificStrategicInsourcing (M=4.51) indicates that specific and strategic resources should be insourced. Closely related is CSRstrategicspecific (M=4.60), which shows that CSR resources are specific and strategic.
Lastly it is interesting to mention that FutureISandCSR (M=5.43) has a positive mean, which indicates that CSR should be included in ISS strategies. Furthermore CSRusage (M=4.61) indicated that CSR is currently already part of the working routine. Table 6. One sample t-test
Variable Mean Std. deviation Significance
CSRsourcingstrategy 4,02 1,42 0,897 CSRstrategicspecific 4,60 1,06 0,000 NonspecificstrategicIn TrustCSR CSRusage SpecificStrategicIn ISSinfluenceperformance RelationISandCSR StatusISandCSR InsourcingandPerformance FutureISandCSR 4,51 6,12 4,61 5,44 6,01 4,79 4,20 4,79 5,43 1,36 0,68 0,98 0,93 0,77 1,46 1,47 1,48 1,11 0,002 0,000 0,000 0,000 0,000 0,000 0,262 0,000 0,000
Correlation between research variables
Since the research hypothesis cannot be rejected, it is interesting to further analyze the questionnaire. Therefore the fourth section measures correlation between the research variables, the correlation indicates whether variables are related among each other.
Within this thesis only large correlation effects will be taken in consideration. Large effects range from r ≥ .5 with a significance level of p ≤ .05 (Field, 2013). In the table below only the highly correlated significant variables are shown. The entire overview of the correlation can be found in Appendix D.
The correlation factors show one interesting relation: when a respondent believes that insourcing will lead to higher organizational performance, they also prefer using an insourcing strategy for CSR resources. Since the variable; InsourcingPerformance (r=.6) is related to the CSR sourcing strategy.
Table 7. Correlation between research variables
Variable pairs Correlation Significance
CSRsourcingstrat & InsourcingandPerformance 0,600 0,00 CSRusage & StatusISandCSR 0,518 0,00
5- Conclusion and implications
This thesis is conducted in order to answer the research question; which information system sourcing strategy results in higher corporate responsibility performance? In order to establish initial meanings, the RBV & TCT were used to theoretically support the foundations of this research.
The literature review showed that CSR resources were strategic and specific, which therefore should be insourced based on the RBV & TCT. Furthermore it resulted in the decision parameters for deciding on an ISS strategy. The research showed that both the RBV & TCT and decision parameters for ISS strategies should be adapted to the new basis of business strategy; CSR.
Within the RBV & TCT it was found that the uncertainty factor did not play a dominant role in the current organization environment. Therefore this factor should be replaced with involvement of CSR within business strategy. The research indicated that CSR resources are specific and strategic. Accordingly, organizations which have high involvement of CSR within their business strategy should insource their specific resources and strategic resources while outsourcing all other resources. Furthermore the research showed that current decision parameters should be expanded with CSR involvement. If organizations want to increase their performance in this area, they should involve this factor in their decision.
To answer the research question, it is shown that currently there is a small relation between the ISS strategy and corporate responsibility, however the most sufficient strategy is not found. The research did show that, when there would be a relation, insourcing IS would result in higher performance.
The last interesting conclusion is that currently CSR is not incorporated into the ISS strategy, however the results indicated that future strategies should involve CSR.
The entire conclusion could lead to an extension and revision of the presented theoretical framework. The next part of the thesis will therefore expand the RBV & TCT and the decisions parameters for an ISS strategy. Lastly the effect of the research results will be more thoroughly discussed.
Reshaping the resource based view and transaction cost theory
As stated within the literature review, the uncertainty part of the TCT & RBV should be neglected. Instead a new factor should be used to extend the current model. The new factor relates to the involvement of CSR within the business strategy. Since CSR nowadays is used as the basis of business strategy, it should be incorporated within this model.
The sourcing decision based on the CSR involvement in business strategy is extracted from this research. First it is shown that CSR resources are specific and strategic. Furthermore it shows that strategic and specific resources should always be insourced. Therefore the model shows an insourcing strategy when dealing with specific resources. On the other hand, when CSR is not highly involved within business strategy, different criteria occur. This part is based on the presented RBV & TCT literature. In the table below the reshaped version is displayed.
Table 8. Reshaped resource based view & transaction cost theory
Corporate responsibility involvement in business strategy
Specific & Strategic View Low High
Low-Specificity, Non-strategic resource (LSNR) TCT RBV Outsourcing Outsourcing Outsourcing Outsourcing Low-Specificity, Strategic Resource (LSSR) TCT RBV Outsourcing Insourcing Insourcing Insourcing High-Specificity, Non-Strategic Resource (HSNR) TCT RBV Insourcing Outsourcing Insourcing Insourcing High-Specificity, Strategic Resource (HSSR) TCT RBV Insourcing Insourcing Insourcing Insourcing
Extension on the decision parameters for deciding on an information system outsourcing decision
The current debate on parameters when deciding for an IS sourcing strategy consist of seven different subjects on which strategies should be weighed against (Lacity, Yan & Khan, 2017). The results of this research show that decisions for an ISS strategy should incorporate CSR. If combined with the involvement of CSR as a business strategy component it leads to an extended version on the existing model. Based on the results it can be assumed that insourcing leads to higher CSR performance, therefore the - displays lower CSR performance when IS are outsourced, which is presented in figure 4.
.
Figure 4. Extension on decision parameters for ISS strategy decision based on Lacity, Yan & Khan, 2017
Effect research results on the information system sourcing strategy and corporate sustainable responsibility
The research shows that future ISS strategies should include CSR involvement. This corresponds with the TrustCSR variable within the research, both concepts indicates that organizations want to use CSR within their ISS strategies. However this is contradicting with the current situation within organizations, since StatusISandCSR is found not to be significant.
Furthermore, based on the CSRsourcingstrategy variable, it can be assumed that insourcing IS results in higher CSR performance, organizations which involve CSR within their business strategy, should rethink their initial IS sourcing strategy. The meaning of these results will lead to rethinking the different ISS strategies which enables a sustainable competitive advantage through CSR.
If the presented findings are used in a real-life case, it would result in higher CSR performance. If overall CSR score is increased throughout an organization, the different benefits such as resource efficiency and increased public trust will occur. The above presented figures should be used within organizations to determine their ISS strategies. First an organization should determine whether CSR should be involved within their business strategy, afterwards the different ISS decisions parameters need to be consulted to define priority parameters within the organization.
The findings of the research are valuable in two ways, first the findings can be used within organizations to reach the different benefits which occurs when high CSR performance is achieved. Secondly the findings create awareness for researchers to further elaborate on CSR within different management sciences, the defined relations could result in further research on this topic. Which again could result in a sustainable competitive advantages within organizations.
Corporate responsiblity:
Increase performance ( - )
6- Limitations & future research
Part of conducting research is explaining the limitations which occurred during the research process. The first limitation within this research is the number of respondents, 78 respondents were able to fill out the questionnaire. This number did not represent the proposed sample size based on the effect size and power, therefore the result cannot be generalized to the entire population. Next to the limited respondents, the respondent group can be found homogeneous. Since the respondents were found through a snowball effect, they are likely to have similar ideas on this topic. Therefore the findings in this research might not be generalizable among the entire population, however it does give an indication into the direction of the possible relation between CSR & ISS strategy. Next to that the questionnaire was distributed in different IS sourcing networks, while the target group of the research was IS sourcing experts, it cannot be guaranteed that everyone involved in the questionnaire was an actual expert on this topic.
Furthermore the CSR performance measurement method can be doubted. In order to measure the level of CSR within an organization different methods can be used. Hopkins (2005), argues that the different indexes available for measuring the level of CSR, such as the Dow jones sustainability index (DJSI), have problems with
consistency of measurement and are therefore unreliable. Furthermore it is argued that a measurement index covers an organization entire value chain, including the entire life cycle of products and services (Bendoraitienė & Gaigalienė, 2015). On the other hand, Pérez & Bosque, 2013 argue that a scale method, based on the advantages it might receive from the involved stakeholders, is more reliable. As showed above it seems difficult to establish one universal method for the measurement of CSR within an organization (Hopkins, 2005).
Besides the limitations of the research different approaches could be considered to determine the same relation. The next section will elaborate on different research approaches which might lead to the same result, this can also be considered as future research.
The presented limitations should be adjusted in order to generalize the findings among the entire population. Therefore further research should use a random sample within the information system sourcing professional pool. This would enable the research to not be homogeneous, furthermore future research should include a larger sample size. The larger sample size will result in the establishment of the preferred ISS strategy, since it currently cannot be proven. The combination of the larger sample size and the random sample will enable the findings to be generalized among the population.
Besides the sample size, future research should account for the limitations within the DJSI. The research should firstly establish a CSR measurement method which is unbiased and to be used in the research.
Furthermore the different input variables only contained variables in three dimensions, neglecting the stakeholder and voluntariness dimension. Future research should also explore the other dimensions.
The last goal of this thesis was to inspire researchers to further incorporate the topic of CSR within their specific knowledge fields. The field of IS and CSR might seem far-fetched however, as proved within this thesis, any research field is able to include CSR within their line of thought. It might even be urgent to change organizations in order to provide a sustainable future for the next generations.
7- References
Arevalo, J., & Aravind, D. (2017). Strategic Outcomes in Voluntary CSR: Reporting Economic and Reputational Benefits in Principles-Based Initiatives. Journal of Business Ethics, 144(1), 201–217.
Baraibar-Diez, E., & Luna Sotorrío, L. (2018). The mediating effect of transparency in the relationship between corporate social responsibility and corporate reputation. Review of Business Management, 20(1), 5–21.
Barney, J. (1991). Firm Resources and Sustained Competitive Advantage. Journal of Management, 17(1), 99–120.
Beaumont, N., & Sohal, A. (2004). Outsourcing in Australia. International Journal of Operations & Production Management, 24(7), 688–700.
Bendoraitienė, E., & Gaigalienė, A. (2015). Analysis of CSR Measurement Criteria of Social Ratings System. Applied Economics: Systematic Research, 0(9.1), 61–75.
Bocquet, R., Le Bas, C., Mothe, C., & Poussing, N. (2017). CSR, Innovation, and Firm Performance in Sluggish Growth Contexts: A Firm-Level Empirical Analysis. Journal of Business Ethics, 146(1), 241–254.
Butler, T. (2011). Compliance with institutional imperatives on environmental sustainability: Building theory on the role of Green IS. The Journal of Strategic Information Systems, 20(1), 6–26.
Calveras, A., & Ganuza, J.-J. (2016). the Role of Public Information in Corporate Social Responsibility. Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, 25(4), 990–1017. Carnahan, S., Kryscynzki, D., & Olson, D. (2017). When Does Corporate Social Responsibility
Reduce Employee Turnover? Evidence from Attorneys Before and After 9/11. Academy of Management Journal, 60(5), 1932–1962.
Ceglińska, Marta, & Cegliński, Pawel. (2014). Motives for consideration of CSR concept assumptions for building a business strategy. Journal of Corporate Responsibility and Leadership, 1(1), 9–20.
Charles Kang, Germann, F., & Grewal, R. (2016). Washing Away Your Sins? Corporate Social Responsibility, Corporate Social Irresponsibility, and Firm Performance. Journal of Marketing, 80(2), 59–79.
Chernev, A., & Blair, S. (2015). Doing Well by Doing Good: The Benevolent Halo of Corporate Social Responsibility. Journal of Consumer Research, 41(6), 1412–1425. Dahlsrud, A. (2008). How corporate social responsibility is defined: an analysis of 37
definitions. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 15(1), 1– 13.
Dibbern, J., Goles, T., Hirschheim, R., & Jayatilaka, B. (2004). Information Systems Outsourcing: A Survey and Analysis of the Literature. SIGMIS Database, 35(4), 6–102. Dieduksman, T. (2014) IT outsourcing of business critical and business specific IT services:
risks and risk mitigation. University of Amsterdam.
Djavanshir, G. R. (2005). Surveying the risks and benefits of IT outsourcing. IT Professional, 7, 32–37.
Dolgui, A., & Proth, J.-M. (2013). Outsourcing: definitions and analysis. International Journal of Production Research, 51(23/24), 6769–6777.
Field, A. (2013). Discovering Statistics Using IBM SPSS Statistics. SAGE.
Habel, J., Schons, L. M., Alavi, S., & Wieseke, J. (2016). Warm Glow or Extra Charge? The Ambivalent Effect of Corporate Social Responsibility Activities on Customers’ Perceived Price Fairness. Journal of Marketing, 80(1), 84–105.
Hildebrand, D., DeMotta, Y., Sen, S., & Valenzuela, A. (2017). Consumer Responses to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Contribution Type. Journal of Consumer Research, 44(4), 738–758.
Hirschheim, R., & Lacity, M. (2000). The Myths and Realities of Information Technology Insourcing. Communications of the ACM, 43(2), 99–107.
Hodinková, M., & Sadovský, Z. (2016). The benefits of corporate social responsibility introduction in small and medium-sized enterprises: a systematic review of the literature. Business: Theory & Practice, 17(4), 345–352.
Hopkins, M. (2005). Measurement of corporate social responsibility. International Journal of Management and Decision Making, 6(3–4), 213–231.
Jia, F., Orzes, G., Sartor, M., & Nassimbeni, G. (2017). Global sourcing strategy and structure: Toward an integrated conceptual framework. International Journal of Operations & Production Management, 37, 840–864.
Kakabadse, A., & Kakabadse, N. (2005). Outsourcing: Current and Future Trends. Thunderbird International Business Review, 47(2), 183–204.
Khosrowpour, M. (2013). Dictionary of Information Science and Technology (Vol. 2nd Ed). Hershey, PA: IGI Global.
Kotler, P., Kartajaya, H., & Setiawan, I. (2011). Marketing 3.0: From Products to Customers to the Human Spirit. John Wiley and Sons.
Lacity, M., Yan, A., & Khan, S. (2017). Review of 23 Years of Empirical Research on Information Technology Outsourcing Decisions and Outcomes.
Laudon, K. C. & Laudon, P. (2014). Management Information Systems: managing the digital firm / Kenneth Laudon, Jane P. Laudon (13th ed., Global ed). Harlow: Pearson Education Limited.
Lee, J., & Maxfield, S. (2015). Doing Well by Reporting Good: Reporting Corporate Responsibility and Corporate Performance. Business & Society Review (00453609), 120(4), 577–606.
Li, M., Zéman, Z., & Li, J. (2016). The Impact of CSR on Chinese Economic Development. Public Finance Quarterly (0031-496X), 61(4), 500–515.
Melville, N. P. (2010). Information Systems Innovation for Environmental Sustainability. MIS Quarterly, 34(1), 1–21.
Peppard, J., & Ward, J. (2004). Beyond strategic information systems: towards an IS capability. The Journal of Strategic Information Systems, 13(2), 167–194.
Pérez, A., & Bosque, I. R. del. (2013). Measuring CSR Image: Three Studies to Develop and to Validate a Reliable Measurement Tool. Journal of Business Ethics, 118(2), 265–286. Piasecki, R., & Gudowski, J. (2017). Corporate Social Responsibility: the Challenges and
Constraints. Comparative Economic Research, 20(4), 143–157.
Rahman, M., Rodríguez-Serrano, M., & Lambkin, M. (2017). Corporate Social Responsibility and Marketing Performance: The Moderating Role of Advertising Intensity. Journal of Advertising Research, 57(4), 368–378.
Rajaeian, M. M., Cater-Steel, A., & Lane, M. (2017). A systematic literature review and critical assessment of model-driven decision support for IT outsourcing. Decision Support Systems, 102, 42–56.
RobecoSam. (2017). Measuring Intangibles; RobecoSam corporate sustainability assessment methodology. RobecoSam AG, 1-20.
Rothaermel, F. T., & Alexandre, M. T. (2009). Ambidexterity in Technology Sourcing: The Moderating Role of Absorptive Capacity. Organization Science, 20(4), 759–780.
Seidel, S., Recker, J., & vom Brocke, J. (2013). Sensemaking and Sustainable Practicing: Functional Affordances of Information Systems in Green Transformations. MIS Quarterly, 37(4), 1275-A10.
Stille, R., & Narayanan, S. (2016). Bringin’ it all back home. Supply Chain Management Review.
Stojanović-Aleksić, V., & Bošković, A. (2017). What Really Drives Corporate Social Responsibility? Management: Journal of Sustainable Business & Management Solutions in Emerging Economies, 22(3), 75–87.
Talaja, A. (2012). Testing VRIN framework: Resource value and rareness as sources of competitive advantage and above average performance. Management : Journal of Contemporary Management Issues, 17(2), 51–64.
Watjatrakul, B. (2005). Determinants of IS sourcing decisions: A comparative study of transaction cost theory versus the resource-based view. The Journal of Strategic Information Systems, 14(4), 389–415.
Wong, S. F. (2008). Drivers of IT Backsourcing Decision. Communications of the IBIMA, 2. Yang, C., Wacker, J. G., & Sheu, C. (2012). What makes outsourcing effective? A
transaction-cost economics analysis. International Journal of Production Research, 50(16), 4462– 4476.
Zhao, X., & Murrell, A. J. (2016). Revisiting the corporate social performance-financial performance link: A replication of Waddock and Graves. Strategic Management Journal, 37(11), 2378–2388.
Appendix A- Information systems
IS nowadays is used for reaching different business objectives, consisting of; reaching operational excellence, enabler for creating products, services & business models, gatherings data on suppliers and customers, decision making process and business survival (Laudon & Laudon, 2014). On this basis of this context IS can be defined as a set of interrelated components that collect or retrieve, process, store and distribute information in order to support decision making and control in an organization. Within IS three different dimensions can be identified which enables solutions to challenges and problems within the business environment. Since IS are part of organizations, this is the first dimension. This dimensions consist of an organizations people, structure, business processes and culture. The next dimension, management, consist of making decisions and actions plan’s in order to deal with organizational problems. Within this dimension IS are used to help managers in decision making and convey new products and services. The last dimensions consist of the technical aspect, information technology, which is the technical backbone of both the organizational and management dimensions. It, for example, consists of software, data technology and networks (Laudon & Laudon, 2014).
While the dimensions and its components are the basic structure for designing IS, different types of IS provide a more technical foundation for implementing for the correct situation in an organization. There are different types of systems that can be distinguished in current literature; the first system consist of transaction processing systems (TPS). This type of system provides managers with a tracking system on elementary on, for example, sales and flow of material. It performs and records the everyday transactions. This type of system can be classified as a registration system. The next system type consists of management information systems (MIS), which enables managers with information on the performance of the organization, the MIS uses input from the TPS in order to generate periodic information. While the main goal of MIS is to generate reports for everyday questions, the third type of system enables managers in decisions making for no ordinary questions. The problems used in this type of systems are rare and fast changing, this decision-support system (DSS) uses TPS and MIS but also involve information from external resources such as competitor prices. The last type of system involving business intelligence is the executive support system (ESS), this system enables managers to gather data which focus on strategic long-term problems. These systems deliver insights into non-ordinary questions which do not have a common agreed solution and must use evaluation and judgement in order to make a decision. In all this section can be described as types of information systems which are provide output in order to make decisions. These systems can be described as the so-called business intelligence systems (Laudon & Laudon, 2014).
The next type of systems are called enterprise application, these systems enable organizations to use systems for executing business processes. It is used for organizations to become more flexible and productive. Within the enterprise applications four different system can be distinguished; enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems, which are used for accommodating processes in different branches of an organization. These branches include; production, manufacturing, sales, finance, marketing and human resources. Furthermore supply chain management (SCM) system can be used to share information with suppliers, purchasers, distributors and logistic company’s. On the other hand the customer relation management (CSRM) system are used to provide sharing of information with customers of the organization (Laudon & Laudon, 2014).
In all three different types of system can be distinguished which can be used for CSR, TPS, which performs and records everyday transactions. Furthermore MIS provides information for managers in order to make decisions (based on TPS). And lastly the enterprise application which are used for executing business processes. The different systems can potentially be used for applying them in increasing CSR performance (Laudon & Laudon, 2014).
Table 9. Types of information systems
Types Usage
Transaction Processing systems
Performs and records everyday transactions
Management Information Systems
Provide information in order to make decisions
Enterprise Applications
Appendix B – IS sourcing advantages and disadvantages
Outsourcing could provide organizations with different advantages, within the current literature four advantages are most often described. The first advantage that outsourcing provides is the reduction of costs; labor costs in combination with improved efficiency leads to a better business performance (Rajaeian, Cater-Steel, & Lane, 2017; Kakabadse & Kakabadse, 2005). Furthermore outsourcing can save expenses in operational costs, however it must be noted that this is mostly a short term benefit (Kakabadse & Kakabadse, 2005). Next to that outsourcing provides an organization with access to external expertise, skills and technology. This will result in more innovative organizations (Rajaeian et all. 2017; Dolgui & Proth, 2013). Furthermore outsourcing could lead to an increase in productivity, outsourcing could make an organization more flexible and agile (Rajaeian et all, 2017). Lastly due to outsourcing an organization will be able to focus on its core competencies, so all resources can be dedicated to the focus activities (Rajaeian et all, 2017). While outsourcing could lead to different advantages, disadvantages are also present within this strategy, organizations loses control over certain components, unexpected costs may occur, next to that security could potentially be at risk if other organizations have access to certain secrets and lastly it could lead to less motivated employees. If an outsourcing strategy is commonly present, the employees are more uncertain regarding their job and are less likely to innovative and produce more for their organization (Rajaeian et al., 2017; Dolgui & Proth, 2013; Djavanshir, 2005).
Table 10. Advantages & disadvantage outsourcing for making decisions
Advantage Disadvantage
Cost reduction Loss of control Improved efficiency Unexpected costs Innovativeness Security at risk
Improved productivity Lesser employee motivation Core competencies focus
On the other hand insourcing could also lead to different advantages for an organization. The main question regarding the decision on IS insourcing is whether an organization is able to achieve similar results as an outsourcing party may achieve (Hirschheim & Lacity, 2000). The first advantage of insourcing consists of loss reduction on distinctive resource, as an organization will not lose motivated employees (Beaumont & Sohal, 2004). Furthermore insourcing leads to greater deal of flexibility as an organization is able to quickly adjust to the ever changing environment, without having to renegotiate an outsourcing contract. Next to that organization which have an insourcing strategy will have less issues with cultural problems (Beaumont & Sohal, 2004). Next to that security and confidentiality is mentioned as an advantage of insourcing, other organizations will not have access to your secrets (Beaumont & Sohal, 2004). Furthermore insourcing leads to greater control of the organization, since without outsourcing the organization is the only one controlling the internal environment (Dibbern, Goles, Hirschheim, & Jayatilaka, 2004). Lastly some researchers also argue that in the long term, insourcing could provide organizations with reductions of costs (Stille & Narayanan, 2016). It is therefore unclear whether insourcing or outsourcing is more beneficial when considering costs. However also insourcing is related with negative aspects, if IS are only insourced there is a risk for missing out on innovation
(Rajaeian et al., 2017). Which could possible lead to decline in business performance. Furthermore it is argued that if only an insourcing strategy is considered, it might be possible that an organizations does not have the capabilities of performing all processes they might want to (Hirschheim & Lacity, 2000). Which could also lead to a decrease in business performance.
Table 11. Advantages & disadvantage insourcing for making decisions
Advantage Disadvantage
No loss of resources Less innovativeness Improved flexibility Not able to insource Improved confidentiality
Less cultural issues Control of organization Reduction of costs
Appendix C – Questionnaire Introduction on topic within qualtrics:
Dear participant,
This research will be conducted for my master thesis in order to graduate from the University of Amsterdam for the Master Information Studies.
This thesis researches the potential relationship between information system sourcing strategy & corporate responsibility. The target group for the research is anyone involved in information systems.
Any questions regarding the questionnaire or research can be directed to the researcher (jasper.debooy@student.uva.nl).
If you want to receive a management deck of the outcome of the research, don’t forget to leave your email-address at the end of the questionnaire!!
Kind regards, Jasper de Booy
Concept definitions:
Specific resource: specificity refers to the transferability of the assets that support a given transaction, a specific asset is more valuable in a particular exchange than in an alternative exchange
Strategic resource: Strategic resources possess characteristics of imperfect imitability, rareness, non-substitutability and value, and achieve a sustainable competitive advantage
Information systems: a set of interrelated components that collect or retrieve, process, store and distribute information in order to support decision making and control in an organization.
Information system sourcing: Question whether: “are we going to do this work ourselves, or are we going to let someone else do the work for us?”
Informed consent
Due to GDPR regulation for research data management, the participants are free to drop out of the research at any time, without providing an explanation.
Participants have up to 24 hours to withdraw their permission to use their data in this
research. Dropping out of the research does not have any consequences. All the collected data will be processed anonymously. Your anonymity will always be safeguarded and your personal information will never be passed onto third parties. This means that there is no possibility to provide you of your personal results after the research has ended.
Submitting responses of the research will automatically result in processing of the respondents data.
Questionnaire presented to sample Control questions
Which type of organization do you currently work in? 1. Profit sector
2. Not-for-profit sector 3. Prefer not to say
For how many years do you currently work within an information system environment? 1- 0-4
2- 5-8 3- 9-12 4- 12+
Within the section below, different question can be found. Please indicate on what level you agree with these questions, ranging from 1 ‘strongly disagree’ to ‘strongly agree’
Likert Scale questions
Theory testing IS sourcing strategy
1 To what extend do you agree that information system sourcing decisions can change organizational performance?
2 To what extend do you agree that insourcing leads to an increase in organizational performance?
Trust in CSR
3 Do you believe that corporate responsibility is important in today’s environment? 4 Do you think that corporate responsibility should be included in any future
organization strategy development?
5 Is corporate responsibility thinking part of your daily routine?
Theory testing CSR & current status CSR statements
6 Do you think benefits such as increased employee motivation, occur when organizations are high performers within corporate responsibility?
7 Do you think corporate responsiblity resources provide a sustainable competitive advantage to an organization?
8 Do you think that currently an information system sourcing strategy involves corporate responsibility?
9 Do you think that information systems are currently used to influence an organizations corporate responsibility?
Theory testing TCT & RBV
10 Do you believe that specific assets should be insourced? 11 Do you believe that strategic assets should be insourced? 12 Do you believe that non-specific assets should be insourced? 13 Do you believe that non-strategic assets should be insourced?
CSR in relation with TCT & RBV
14 Do you believe corporate responsibility resources are specific assets?
15 Do you believe corporate responsible resources are more important for a particular organization since it is specific?
16 Do you believe corporate responsible resources are rare, non-substitutable & inimitable?
17 Do you believe a corporate responsibility resource is a strategic resource?
Economic dimension
18 To what extend do you agree that information systems for corporate governance should be insourced?
19 To what extend do you agree that information systems for risk and crisis management should be insourced?
20 To what extend do you agree that information systems for codes of conduct should be insourced?
Environmental dimension
21 To what extend do you agree that information systems for environmental reporting should be insourced?
22 To what extend do you agree that information systems for environmental policy & management systems should be insourced?
Social dimension
23 To what extend do you agree that information systems for human capital development should be insourced?
24 To what extend do you agree that information systems for talent attraction and retention should be insourced?
25 To what extend do you agree that information systems for labor practice indicators and human rights should be insourced?
26 To what extend do you agree that information systems for corporate citizenship and philanthropy should be insourced?
27 To what extend do you agree that information systems for social reporting should be insourced?
CSR & information systems
28 If you insource information systems, do you think it will result in higher corporate responsiblity performance?
29 If you decide on an information system sourcing strategy, do you think it influences corporate responsibility?
30 If you decide on an information system sourcing strategy, do you want to take corporate responsibility into consideration?
Please provide your email address if you want to receive a management slide deck regarding the outcomes of the research.
Appendix D – Questionnaire results
Principal Component Analysis
