Crossing Boundaries in Global Software Development: Views from a Major Indian IT Vendor

Western companies´ offshore outsourcing is increasingly being replaced by strategic partnerships that require closer collaboration between client and vendor. This paper addresses the question: How does a vendor company from an emergent market deal with inter-organizational boundary spanning activities in a major transformation of a Western client's processes and products? The case study draws on multiple interviews with key boundary spanners in an Indian IT vendor´s on-site and off-shore teams, who are responsible for developing client relations and coordinating complex development projects across cultures, languages, organizational boundaries, time zones and geographical distances. The paper revises a framework of boundary spanning leadership practices developed for MNCs and adapts it to an offshore outsourcing context. It also contributes with reflections on how imbalances of resources within the client-vendor relationship need to be taken into account for a better understanding of the vendor´s ambitions and its boundary spanning activities.