Vendors and clients collaborate on outsourcing projects through virtual teams. Trust is an important indicator of mutual relationships that lead to successful projects. This study’s objective is to investigate the determinants of trust in different stages of collaboration during offshore software-development outsourcing. Using a case study approach to collect data, we find that reputation, a cognition-based trust factor, influences clients’ trust in vendors in the team-forming stage. Responsible team climate, a knowledge-based trust factor, impacts clients’ trust in vendors in the team-storming and norming stages of software design and development. Structural assurance, an institutional trust factor, encourages vendors’ trust in clients in the same team-storming and norming stages of software design and development. Benefit, a calculative-based trust factor, influences vendors’ trust in clients in the team-performing stage of software delivery and implementation. Our research findings have implications for software-outsourcing collaboration theories and practices and may have implications beyond that sphere, including team building in multiple contexts and environments.

供应商和客户通过虚拟团队协作进行外包项目。信任是导致成功项目的相互关系的重要指标。这项研究的目的是调查离岸软件开发外包过程中不同协作阶段信任的决定因素。通过使用案例研究方法来收集数据，我们发现声誉是一种基于认知的信任因素，会在团队形成阶段影响客户对供应商的信任。负责任的团队氛围（基于知识的信任因素）会在软件设计和开发的团队讨论和规范阶段影响客户对供应商的信任。结构保证是一种制度上的信任因素，它会鼓励供应商在软件设计和开发的团队讨论和规范制定的同一阶段信任客户。效益，基于计算的信任因素，会在软件交付和实施的团队绩效阶段影响供应商对客户的信任。我们的研究结果对软件外包协作的理论和实践有影响，并且可能会超出该领域，包括在多种情况和环境下的团队建设。