Exploring a causal model for the understanding of partnership

This study explores the sources of influence in a successful outsourcing partnership based on a behavioral-attitudinal theory of IS success. Six major partnership-related variables were identified from the literature in terms of social exchange theory, which has been mainly applied to the study of outsourcing partnerships. A causal model of outsourcing success was proposed in which three attitudinal variables (mutual benefits, commitment, and predisposition) were introduced as intervening variables into the relationship between behavioral variables (shared knowledge, mutual dependency, and organizational linkage) and outsourcing success. This model was then tested using a sample of 225 organizations in Korea. The proposed model was compared with a rival model without such intervening variables. The findings indicate that the proposed model has more significant paths and power than the rival model in assessing the relationship between partnership and outsourcing success.