Strategic Posture and Outsourcing: The case of the US express delivery industry

IT-enabled innovations are of increasing importance for competitive success in a rangeto develop associated competencies -in-house and/or through outsourcing - consequential for creating and sustaining competitive advantage. Against the backdrop of the importance of IT-enabled innovation, the key concern of this chapter is to addressthe crucial question: How do capability development strategies differ between first-movers and late entrants in IT-enabled services. We develop theory based on three explorative case studies - FedEx, UPS and DHL. An analysis of the three companies reveals thatgovernance choices are influenced by a company's attempts to create, imitate, and/orleapfrog IT-enabled innovation in varying technological regimes.of industries including express delivery services. How companies choose associated competences - in-house and/or through outsourcing - is conseqcreating and sustaining competitive advantage. Against the backdrop of the of IT-enabled innovation, the key concern of this chapter is to address