DEVELOPMENT OF A MODEL FOR MARKET ENTRY DECISIONS AND REALLOCATION STRATEGY: A CONSULTING PROJECT FOR IT SERVICE FIRMS
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Date
2026-05
Authors
Diachkova, Mariia
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Abstract
International delivery-center decisions are becoming more complex for IT service firms serving clients in the European Union and North America. Beyond labor cost and talent availability, firms must assess whether they are internally ready to expand, which locations best fit their delivery model, and how digital governance conditions affect operational efficiency and regulatory risk. This study addresses this challenge by developing a practical three-gate framework for international delivery-center expansion and reallocation.
The framework combines firm-level readiness assessment, comparative country evaluation, and a digital governance filter calibrated to the firm's regulatory exposure. The framework is developed and illustratively assessed using publicly disclosed annual report data from four multinational IT service firms (EPAM Systems, Infosys, Capgemini, and Globant) selected as delivery-model archetypes for 2020–2025, together with a seven country dataset covering Denmark, Estonia, Poland, Ukraine, Brazil, India, and Uzbekistan for 2020–2024. These firms and countries are used as illustrative analytical cases rather than statistically generalizable samples.
The study finds that delivery-center decisions can be structured as a sequential signal-based protocol using public data and clear stopping rules. It shows that digital governance operates as a dual-channel signal: it both reduces administrative friction for foreign firms and increases compliance complexity for those with high EU client exposure. Signal convergence across firms helps distinguish market-wide shocks from firm-specific operational issues. When applied prospectively to the sample firms, the framework produces outputs broadly consistent with observed decisions while identifying clear scope boundaries. The project contributes a structured, managerially applicable decision tool and extends the international business discussion of digital governance by showing that it should be assessed not as a generic country advantage, but as a firm-conditioned factor shaped by client geography, regulatory exposure, and delivery model.
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Keywords
digital governance, IT service offshoring, delivery-center location, GDPR compliance, decision framework
Citation
Diachkova, Mariia. (2026). DEVELOPMENT OF A MODEL FOR MARKET ENTRY DECISIONS AND REALLOCATION STRATEGY: A CONSULTING PROJECT FOR IT SERVICE FIRMS. Kyiv: American University Kyiv. URI: https://er.auk.edu.ua/handle/234907866/193