UMSL information systems professor inducted into IAOP Outsourcing Hall of Fame

As a leading scholar and researcher on the topic of outsourcing, Mary Lacity, Curators’ Professor of Information Systems at the University of Missouri–St. Louis, is well known throughout the field. She’s conducted extensive research and published hundreds of articles, books and chapters on outsourcing. This week, she will be honored for her dedication and contributions as she’s inducted into the Outsourcing Hall of Fame during the International Association of Outsourcing Professionals‘ 2014 Outsourcing World Summit on Feb. 18 in Lake Buena Vista, Fla.

“To be welcomed in the IAOP Hall of Fame among the CEOs of global provider firms, founders of the top advisory firms, leading client executives and thought leaders like Professor Peter Drucker, is truly an overwhelming experience,” she said.

Lacity’s research focuses on global outsourcing of business and information system services. She has conducted case studies and surveys of hundreds of organizations on their outsourcing and management practices. She has written more than 20 books on outsourcing.

The last few years, along with Joseph Rottman, director of the International Business Institute at UMSL, she has been studying rural outsourcing. And in 2012, they published “Emerging ITO and BPO Markets: Rural Sourcing and Impact Sourcing.”

Leslie P. Willcocks, professor in technology work and globalization at the London School of Economics and Political Science, will also be inducted. Together, Lacity and Willcocks have written more than 100 publications together. Their latest, “The Rise of Legal Services Outsourcing: Risk and Opportunity,” is slated to be published in April.

In addition to her teaching and research, Lacity is a visiting professor at the London School of Economics; co-chair of IAOP’s Midwest Chapter; industry adviser for Outsourcing Angels and the Everest Group; co-editor of the Palgrave Series: Work, Technology, and Globalization; and on the editorial boards for Journal of Information Technology, MIS Quarterly Executive, Journal of Strategic Information Systems and Strategic Outsourcing: An International Journal.

As the industry’s most prestigious award, induction into the IAOP Outsourcing Hall of Fame continues to grow globally and now has more than 20 members in its ranks. The unique honor recognizes individuals for their outsourcing achievements as well as their contributions to community-based economic development and socially-directed investments, career development, education and training through outsourcing. The International Association of Outsourcing Professionals is the global, standard-setting organization and advocate for the outsourcing profession.