Research On Evolution Path Of Inter-firm Trust In The Multi-level Outsourcing Relationship

In recent years, due to the pressure caused by rise of human cost and shrink of international market demand, outsourcing companies are seeking to upgrade outsourcing relationship to transform their position from cost center to profit center. The fact that trust plays a important role in software outsourcing was widely recognized in this industry. Outsourcing relationship and trust are not always staying static, it is dynamic along with the advancement of time and cooperation. As trust plays an important role in the outsourcing relationship, so a study of the relationship between trust evolution and outsourcing relationship evolution has important significance for outsourcing enterprises.On the basis of predecessors’ research, this paper uses exploratory multi-case study method and chooses 4 representative software outsourcing firms as research objects to discusses the evolution rule of trust and internal relation between evolution path of outsourcing partnership from outsourcing relationship perspective, and finally construct the inter-firm trust evolution path model under the perspective of outsourcing relationship. First of all, this paper summarized related studies about software outsourcing relationship types and evolution, trust phase and evolution; Secondly, According to previous studies, we divided outsourcing partnerships into 3 types:tactical, strategic and transformational partnership. Considering inter-firm trust before formal cooperation, then we divided trusts into into 4 types: pre-experience based, calculus based, knowledge based and identification based trust. and sums up the key points of outsourcing relationship phase and each trust phase according to the characteristics of each outsourcing relationship phase and trust phase; Then, concluded the role of evolution path of outsourcing partnership and inter-firm trust under multi-level outsourcing relationship into 8 propositions through inner-case study and cross-case study; Finally, based on those propositions, we build up trust evolution path model.This paper combines trust stage theory and outsourcing relationship theory, put forward multi-level paths model of trust evolution for China’s software outsourcing enterprises, which provides theoretical reference and counter measures for deepening cooperation relations and enhancing the trust between software outsourcing enterprises.