Exploring the impact of team rapport and empowerment on information processing and project performance in outsourced system development

Offshoring of information systems development (ISD) projects has become increasingly popular among companies seeking reduced project costs, increased productivity, and improved quality and schedule performance. However, offshore ISD project teams face tremendous challenges, including unclear responsibilities, lack of trust and information sharing and difficulty in creating collaborative solutions. Extant studies in the management of offshore project teams have failed to address empowerment and rapport as sources of project success. To fill this gap, this study uses a social capital perspective to develop a research model and estimates a path analytic model using data from surveys of 194 participants in offshore ISD project teams. We find that team building, rapport among team members and empowerment of team members all contribute to improved information processing, which in turn leads to improved project team performance.