Effects of partnership quality on the outsourcing success of translation service organizations in China

Abstract

The translation service market in China is growing steadily with the rapid development of international outsourcing services, as well as the language service industry as a whole. Besides the traditional study scopes included in linguistics and translation, there are a few studies that focus on translation service in the scope of the outsourcing field and then adopt theories and perspectives from it. This dissertation will study translation service industry from a new perspective, focusing on its nature as a kind of outsourcing activity.

This dissertation will utilise the theories of Resource-based Theory (RBT) and Resource Dependence Theory (RDT) to analyse how different factors associated with partnership quality have different effects on the overall outsourcing success of translation service organisations in China. The following main objectives and problems of this dissertation will be discussed: (1) How the theories of RBT and RDT will be applied to analyse the effect of partnership quality on the success of outsourcing; (2) How the classic model of partnership quality and outsourcing success fits the specific conditions of the translation service industry in China from the perspective of service providers, i.e., translation organisations; and (3) What are the implications for future academic research and practical management?

This dissertation will adopt quantitative research methods. The following research processes have been completed: (1) Adapting questionnaires established by other researchers; (2) Translating and back-translating the questionnaires between English and Chinese; (3) Establishing a database of translation organisations in China and pre-testing; and (4) Distributing questionnaires and collecting data. The statistics of SPSS version 21.0 and Smart PLS version 2.0 have been applied.

Questionnaires from 173 translation service organisations in China have been collected. The results show that the factor of commitment in a partnership has positive effects on outsourcing success (β=0.568, p<0.001), the antecedent factor of cooperation has positive effects on building trust (β=0.293, p<0.05) and reaffirming commitment (β=0.374, p<0.001) between the parties involved, and the antecedent factor of mutual dependence has positive effects on building trust (β=0.538, p<0.001) and reaffirming commitment (β=0.459, p<0.001), but a negative effect regarding potential conflict (β=-0.421, p<0.001). Furthermore, the factor of commitment has partial mediating effects on the relationship between cooperation and outsourcing success (VAF=44.31%) as well as that between mutual dependence and outsourcing success (VAF=42.02%).

This dissertation has implied that among the outsourcing providers, external resources are more important in terms of their survival and development. The factor of mutual dependence has played a key role in the relationships between antecedents and characteristics, i.e., mutual dependence and trust, and commitment and conflict. Therefore, RDT is suitable to analyse the inter-organisational relationships and partnership quality in specific circumstances. Although the results have not been supported statistically, internal management should be deemed an important internal resource that will affect the inter-organizational relationships accordingly and explore the potential applications of RBT.

It is suggested for managers that better partnership quality should be accessed through the following ways. Firstly, managers are encouraged to strive for coordination via process integration, which conveys a sense of good will and commitment to the exchange partner. Secondly, managers must understand that there should be open and frequent communication between service providers and clients because proper communication facilitates negotiation and the transfer of information and resolves possible conflicts in any outsourcing relationship. Thirdly, service provider organizations should build up mutual dependence with their clients. Finally, some managers should adopt effective conflict resolutions for the purpose of improving partnership quality with their clients.

This dissertation has studied the effects of partnership quality on outsourcing success from the perspective of service providers, e.g., translation organisations in China. The theories of RBT and RDT have been adopted to form the theoretical base to analyse internal and external resources and environment at the inter-organisational level. The model of partnership quality and outsourcing success has been constructed and modified from the perspective of service providers. Commitment has great influence compared to other factors of trust and conflict. The indirect relationships of cooperation and outsourcing success and mutual dependence and outsourcing success mediating through commitment also highlight the important role of commitment in the translation outsourcing process.

Some aspects that have not been studied and should be focused on in future research: (1) this study was conducted only from the perspective of outsourcing service providers without their counterparts’ perspectives taken into consideration simultaneously; (2) the research adopted mainly a quantitative methodology without a qualitative approach or mixed methods. Obtaining detailed and specific opinions from some of the respondents could not be achieved on all occasions.

Key words: Partnership Quality, Outsourcing Success, Translation Service Organisations, Resource-based Theory, Resource Dependence Theory