PERTANIKA JOURNAL OF TROPICAL AGRICULTURAL SCIENCE

This article examines a variant of IT outsourcing. Specifically, it studies total outsourcing, which includes outsourcing IT personnel within a short-term contract between the client and vendor organisations. This study is based on outsourcing of IT activities and personnel from a Dutch oil company to American and German IT companies. Our study addresses two important issues: (1) the changes in formal structure, authority, and company's strategies experienced by the personnel due to outsourcing and (2) how this type of outsourcing contributes to changes in the employees' job satisfaction levels. Hofstede's cultural theory was used as theoretical basis for hypothesis development.