David E. Gundersen

Analysis of quality management practices in services

Theory building efforts in quality management have begun in earnest. However, while services continue to dominate the developed economies of the world, these studies have mostly focused on manufacturing firms. Research that addresses this limitation by specifically addressing quality management in service organizations is presented in this paper. Through a survey of 170 US service firms, this study empirically develops and validates 11 constructs for quality management in services. A comparison between this study and other empirical quality management studies highlights many distinct quality management constructs in services. It also shows that all empirical studies have some gaps in the coverage of their constructs, reiterating the need for continued quality management theory building research in services and manufacturing.

Business risk perspectives on information systems outsourcing

Abstract Information systems (IS) outsourcing research has continued to evolve over the past decade to reflect changes in its practice and a deeper understanding of its business impact. Typically, the drivers of outsourcing decisions are both internal and external to the outsourcing organization and have been the basis for such studies. Since IS essentially represents an organizations implementation of its business processes, this paper approaches IS outsourcing by explicitly integrating issues related to business process outsourcing. The resulting business risk management framework provides a basis for effective IS outsourcing. The framework is further discussed within the context of outsourcing in e-business. By adopting a risk management perspective, this paper provides a strategic direction to further the field of IS outsourcing research.

Learned ethical behavior: An academic perspective

The authors analyzed the reactions of various academic-level respondent groups to 14 short scenarios reflecting ethical dilemmas in higher education and research. As the authors hypothesized, groups differed in their views of the dilemmas presented. The results did not support a 2nd hypothesis predicting a linear relationship between academic achievement of respondent groups and their ethical responses. The authors expected that as respondents gained more exposure to ethical perspectives through further education, they would respond accordingly, supporting a correlation effect. Despite significant differences between groups in their assessments of the dilemmas, situational differences other than educational attainment appeared to be most influential. The authors discussed implications, which raised doubt about whether teaching ethics enhances ethical behavior.

An Empirical Investigation of Electronic Groups in the Classroom.

Abstract This experimental study investigated how computer-mediated communications influence team process and outcome variables in a classroom assignment. Traditional in-class teams were compared with teams composed of members from different universities who relied on computer-mediated communications for task accomplishment. Results indicate that significant differences existed across the two formats in both process and outcome variables. For example, teams relying on computer-mediated communications were less satisfied as team members and with the project and felt that they gave more individual effort, but they had a higher amount of overall learning compared with traditional in-class teams.

Quality management practices in Indian service firms

Abstract The success of Indian software firms, which is partly attributable to their quality, provided the motivation for the study presented in this paper. It would be useful to know the state of quality management efforts in the Indian service sector, and its impacts at a firm level. It is conceivable that other services could model themselves after the software sector, and develop capabilities to successfully compete in the global economy. Such an evolution of the service sector could then contribute significantly to the continued emergence of the Indian economy. The intent of this study is also to extend the current literature in Quality Management research that focuses exclusively on firms in the advanced economies, by investigating firms in an emerging economy. This study is based on a survey administered in India in which a total of 163 respondents participated. They represent a variety of industries including Banking, Hotels, Information Technology, Healthcare, Trading, Entertainment, Courier, Transportation, and Construction services. The responses of the survey are analysed and discussed in the paper. This study begins to shed light on the quality management methods that seem to be effective in emerging economies. It represents a first-step in understanding such issues further.