Title: Reacting and managing: an exploratory study of how middle managers perceive an offshoring decision and implementation program

Authors: Rossana Lo Re; Ulrica von Thiele Schwarz; Kristina Palm

Addresses: Department of Industrial Economics and Management, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Kungsklippan 11, Stockholm 11225, Sweden ' Medical Management Centre, Department of Learning, Informatics, Management and Ethics, Karolinska Institutet, Tomtebodavägen 18A, Stockholm, 17177, Sweden; Department of Psychology, Stockholm University, Stockholm, 106 91, Sweden ' Department of Applied Mechanical Engineering, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Mariekällgatan 3, Södertälje, 151 44, Sweden; Medical Management Centre, Department of Learning, Informatics, Management and Ethics, Karolinska Institutet, Tomtebodavägen 18A, Stockholm, 17177, Sweden

Abstract: The paper aims to study the implementation of an offshoring to captive centres initiative from an organisational change and middle management perspective. Middle managers' views are explored in relation to six dimensions of organisational change, summarised on the basis of the change management literature. The study was carried out at the IT Department of a multinational bank in a Nordic country. The findings show that practices within all dimensions were perceived as highly relevant, showing that implementation of an offshoring initiative may be approached in the same manner as other forms of organisational change. Generally, the practices were perceived to be less-than-well executed, and middle managers felt the need to take on some of the practices typically referred to top management. In sum, when middle managers need to give sense to and implement decisions they are struggling to make sense of themselves, this hampers the possibility for a successful implementation.

Keywords: multinational banks; captive centres; implementation; IT departments; information technology; middle managers; offshoring decisions; organisational change; sense making; sense giving; middle management; decision making; change management; banking industry.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSCM.2015.075921

International Journal of Strategic Change Management, 2015 Vol.6 No.3/4, pp.195 - 212

Received: 13 Jun 2015
Accepted: 27 Dec 2015
Published online: 12 Apr 2016 *

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