Abstract

It is generally known that organisational culture plays an important  role in conditioning both behaviour and entrepreneurial choices, which can occur either consciously  or unconsciously as well as differently based on specific entrepreneurial situations. This paper investigated the impact of organisational culture on outsourcing choices and provided a conceptual model on how this conditioning occurs. Through a critical analysis of the relevant literature on organisational culture, on one hand, and on outsourcing, on the other hand, this paper aims above all to identify the main cultural factors conditioning outsourcing choices, and to propose a way of conceptualising this link. The findings of this paper showed that, together with the rational factors involved in making the outsourcing choices, certain cultural factors significantly influence attitudes towards outsourcing, particularly i) designing and making choice and ii) subsequent implementation, especially regarding the relationship structure between the outsourcer and the  outsourcee. The cultural factors identified are: the degree of path dependency, uncertainty avoidance, and trust. These were unified in the concept of “relational culture.”

Key words: Organisational culture, organisational change, outsourcing, relational culture.