• This article analyses the Information Systems (IS) literature on sports digitalization from a stakeholder perspective. • We show that little attention has so far been given to non-competing stakeholders (e.g., managers, referees, spectators) and to understanding the behavioural impact of digitalisation on stakeholders during competitions. • Past studies have focused on analysing the effect of a single digitalisation solution on a single stakeholder. • We highlight three directions to advance IS research on sports digitalization by focusing on the eco-system of sports stakeholders, the use of naturalistic reality images as a data source, and the blending of borrowed (behavioural and cognitive) theories. In this theoretical review, we analyse the IS literature on the rapidly evolving strategic phenomenon of sports digitalisation . We provide insights on how sports digitalisation is currently understood in the IS literature when examined from a stakeholder perspective. Our analysis identifies the key stakeholders involved in sports, the competition stages (i.e., before, during, or after), the nature of digitalisation in sports, and the key outcomes on which the literature focuses (behavioural, cognitive, and performance-related). Our analysis also points out several gap areas in the extant literature: the lack of attention paid to non-competing stakeholders (e.g., managers, referees, spectators) and the behavioural impact of digitalisation on stakeholders during competitions; and the current focus on analysing the effect of a single digitalisation solution on a single stakeholder. Building on these findings, we propose three future directions to advance research on sports digitalisation. First, future research needs to examine the effect of digitalisation on an eco-system of sports stakeholders. Second, the use of naturalistic reality images as a data source would enhance research during competition. Last, future studies need to consider the blending of borrowed (behavioural and cognitive) theories and novel digitally-enhanced concepts to strengthen the theoretical foundations of sports digitalisation in Information Systems.

• The paper examines how client firms sustained performance during a systemic crisis. • The paper conceptualises sustaining performance in outsourcing as two logics derived from the extant literature: internal capabilities and the externalisation of services. • Using a configurational approach, the paper offers 6 logics that explain sustaining total outsourcing performance, revenue, service continuity and vendor relationships during a systemic crisis. • The paper highlights the critical role of internal capabilities in sustaining outsourcing performance during a systemic crisis. The COVID-19 pandemic set off a systemic crisis that spread rapidly across the globe in early 2020, significantly affecting the outsourcing industry. Information Technology (IT) vendors as well as client firms found it challenging to maintain their performance levels. The Information Systems (IS) outsourcing literature, notably, had little insight to offer to client firms about effective IT outsourcing strategies for a systemic crisis. However, the literature did discuss two distinct yet interconnected logics for understanding IT outsourcing performance in non-crisis contexts. Whereas one logic revolves around the possession of strong internal capabilities, the other centers on the externalization of services. Building on this work, we develop a conceptual model to guide a configurational analysis centering on the sustenance of IT outsourcing performance during a systemic crisis. Based on the findings emerging from a fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) of 200 companies across 13 countries, we theorize six organizational logics that client firms can consider to sustain IT outsourcing performance. These logics entail different combinations or configurations of client-firms’ IT outsourcing characteristics and the characteristics of the crisis faced. As systemic crises can engender more or less intense uncertainty, thus affecting the strategic options available to decisions makers, we also use our findings to theorize organizational logics that can enable performance sustenance during low, medium, and high severity crises. We discuss our research’s contributions to the IS outsourcing literature as well as its practical implications.

Digital transformation (DT) has emerged as a central and strategically relevant research phenomenon in information systems (IS) and related disciplines. As a result, a significant body of research on the DT phenomenon has accumulated in recent years. However, while existing research highlights the processual nature of the phenomenon, our theoretical understanding of DT processes remains fragmented. Against this background, the present study sets out to take stock of and critically review the IS literature on DT processes. To do so, we build on previous research to conceptualize DT as a network of interrelated processes, and draw on two conceptual frameworks from outside IS to guide our assessment of the current state of research. On this basis, we define a set of three review criteria, with a particular focus on (1) the specific DT processes studied and their interplay, as well as both (2) the styles of and (3) the time-related considerations involved in DT process theorizing. We then use these criteria to assess each study in our sample of 48 studies published in premier IS journals. The results of our critical review contribute to prior research by providing context-specific insights into the network of DT processes, as well as by highlighting key shortcomings in our understanding of this network along with numerous opportunities for ‘stronger’ DT process theorizing. Moreover, by linking the identified shortcomings and opportunities, we propose a set of six promising directions that equip IS scholars with actionable guidance for future research on DT processes and related theorizing efforts.

Fueled by the development of Internet-based platforms that provided its technological foundation, and the need for an agile and uniquely skilled workforce, crowdsourcing has grown from the grassroots, with a burgeoning body of research investigating its many aspects. To gain insight into organizational crowdsourcing as a strategic IS sourcing phenomenon, this paper thoroughly reviews the literature to identify both areas of saturation and gaps, with a focus on the strategic organizational context. Pulling together knowledge on specific aspects of crowdsourcing, we first offer a high-level analysis of definitions to reveal rather broad coverage of various activities involving the crowd, many of which do not involve sourcing. We further build on the literature to establish boundary conditions and clarify the focus on crowdsourcing. This is followed by an in-depth critical analysis of selected studies published in top IS and general management journals to date. Through this review, we identify key themes that emerge out of the crowdsourcing literature and synthesize the literature to chart a more focused research path moving forward. Guided by our analysis, we offer a road map for future research that brings together fine-grained insights from existing crowdsourcing studies towards developing a high-level, macro-perspective of the crowdsourcing phenomenon and its strategic impact.

Traditionally, the main focus of the information system (IS) literature has been on technical aspects related to system development projects. Furthermore, research in the IS field has mainly focused on co-located project teams. In this respect, social aspects involved in IS projects were neglected or scarcely reported. To fill this gap, this paper studies the contribution of social ties and knowledge sharing to successful collaboration in distributed IS development teams. Data were drawn from two successful globally distributed system development projects at SAP and LeCroy. Data collected were codified using Atlas.ti software. The results suggest that human-related issues, such as rapport and transactive memory, were important for collaborative work in the teams studied. The paper concludes by discussing the implications for theory and suggesting a practical guide to enhance collaborative work in globally distributed teams.