This article aims at contributing to the development of theories of the firm by answering the question about how firms can switch from one mode of governance to the other, despite organizational rigidities. In particular, given the strong adoption of outsourcing among firms, we choose to explore the mechanisms that enable firms to reintegrate activities that have been previously outsourced, or in other words to backsource activities. We draw our research on transaction cost economics, capabilities-based view of the firm and organization theories. Using the case study methodology, we have analysed processes related to the backsourcing of Information Technology activities in two large firms of the telecommunications and housing industries. The studies show that in presence of organizational rigidities, backsourcing processes can be broken down into four consecutive phases: the firm lock-in in outsourcing; the creation of a deadlock situation; the constrained partial backsourcing; and the deliberate deployment of backsourcing. In final, the studies shed lights on the intertwined actions of context, structure and individuals in the definition of firm boundaries.
