Global sourcing of IT and various business services has received increasing attention since 2000 and the offshoring role in Y2K work. Many organizations in  developed economies have rapidly evolved global models involving a mix of third parties at a range of geographical locations. Meanwhile developing economies have looked to develop their own industries to stimulate and meet demand. Both domestic and offshore suppliers are increasingly intent on designing more sophisticated sourcing arrangements, including offshore, nearshore and onshore components. The offshore market alone is expanding at well over 10 per cent per annum, while IT outsourcing (US$ 200 billion in 2005) and Business Process outsourcing (US$140 billion in 2005) are set to expand at between 7-10% annually for the next five years (Willcocks and Lacity, 2006 figures). These phenomena well deserve in-depth study, and this workshop provides a forum for advancement in research approaches and learning.

The First Global Sourcing Workshop that took place in March 2007 addressed aspects relating to the management of knowledge and innovation of IT and business services in global sourcing. Best papers from  this Workshop were published in the Special Issue of Journal of Information Technology published in March 2008 (vol. 23 issue 1) and in the book  “Outsourcing Global Services: Knowledge, Innovation and Social Capital” published by  Palgrave, London.

The Second Workshop that took place in March 2008 focused on social, managerial and knowledge-related aspects of Global Sourcing. Best papers from this Workshop will be published in the Special Issue of Information Technology and People.  

The Third Workshop aims to understand the Impacts of Global IS Sourcing on Engineering, Technology and Innovation Management. See full Call for Papers  or download as PDF.

After presenting their work at the third Workshop on Global Sourcing the authors may choose to submit their papers to the special issue in IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management on “The Impacts of Global Information Systems Sourcing on Engineering, Technology and Innovation Management” edited by Willcocks, Rottman, Kotlarsky and Oshri (deadline for submission August 31st 2009). However, the workshop and the special issue are not connected and participation in the workshop is not required for consideration for the special issue. (Download PDF with CFP)