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Yet paradoxically, large gaps in technical proficiency, cultural values, and communication styles between client and vendor can undermine the overall success of the offshore relationship. This paper argues that a new breed of entities have emerged, brokering or intermediating offshore relations. The capabilities of such \u2018middlemen\u2019 include moderating disparities in expertise, culture, and communication styles that often deteriorate performance in offshore relationships. The paper presents a preliminary theoretical justification for the emergence of offshore intermediaries, describes how and why they develop boundary spanning capabilities, and offers a case study as initial evidence substantiating the function and processes in intermediating transnational offshoring relationships. Our theory development concludes with propositions concerning four major offshore intermediary capabilities: (i) intermediating cultural distance, (ii) intermediating cognitive distance, (iii) pre-contractual preparation and negotiation, and (iv) post-contractual operational management.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1057\/palgrave.jit.2000124","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2008,3,11]],"date-time":"2008-03-11T11:47:53Z","timestamp":1205236073000},"page":"18-30","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":60,"title":["Offshore Middlemen: Transnational Intermediation in Technology Sourcing"],"prefix":"10.1177","volume":"23","author":[{"given":"Volker","family":"Mahnke","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Informatics, Copenhagen Business School, Frederiksberg, Denmark;"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jonathan","family":"Wareham","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Information Systems, ESADE, University of Ramon Llull, Barcelona, Spain;"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Niels","family":"Bjorn-Andersen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Center for Applied ICT, Copenhagen Business School, Frederiksberg, Denmark"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"179","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2008,3,1]]},"reference":[{"key":"bibr1-palgrave.jit.2000124","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1145\/3262237"},{"key":"bibr2-palgrave.jit.2000124","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.2307\/257905"},{"key":"bibr3-palgrave.jit.2000124","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.2307\/2391357"},{"key":"bibr4-palgrave.jit.2000124","first-page":"19","volume":"4","author":"Armbr\u00fcster T.","year":"2003","journal-title":"International Studies of Management and Organization"},{"key":"bibr5-palgrave.jit.2000124","volume-title":"Organizational Learning: Creating, Retaining and Transferring Knowledge","author":"Argote L.","year":"1999"},{"issue":"3","key":"bibr6-palgrave.jit.2000124","first-page":"60","volume":"42","author":"Barthelemy J.","year":"2001","journal-title":"Sloan Management Review"},{"key":"bibr7-palgrave.jit.2000124","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1086\/467005"},{"key":"bibr8-palgrave.jit.2000124","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1287\/orsc.14.3.312.15162"},{"key":"bibr9-palgrave.jit.2000124","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1287\/orsc.6.4.350"},{"key":"bibr10-palgrave.jit.2000124","volume-title":"Object-Oriented Analysis and Design","author":"Booch G.","year":"1994"},{"key":"bibr11-palgrave.jit.2000124","volume-title":"The Unified Modeling Language User Guide","author":"Booch G.","year":"1999"},{"key":"bibr12-palgrave.jit.2000124","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1287\/orsc.13.4.442.2953"},{"key":"bibr13-palgrave.jit.2000124","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1287\/orsc.1040.0094"},{"key":"bibr14-palgrave.jit.2000124","volume-title":"The Hidden Power of Social Networks: Understanding How Work Really Gets Done in Organizations","author":"Cross R.L.","year":"2004"},{"key":"bibr15-palgrave.jit.2000124","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1145\/1164394.1164408"},{"key":"bibr16-palgrave.jit.2000124","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1109\/52.363167"},{"key":"bibr17-palgrave.jit.2000124","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.2307\/259056"},{"issue":"3","key":"bibr18-palgrave.jit.2000124","first-page":"26","volume":"37","author":"Earl M.","year":"1996","journal-title":"Sloan Management Review"},{"key":"bibr19-palgrave.jit.2000124","unstructured":"FieldT. 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