Helen Cripps

Enablers and impediments to IT adoption in business relationships: Evidence from Australia and Finland

Purpose – The purpose of the paper is to describe the impediments to information technology (IT) adoption and possible solutions in the context of business relationships by drawing on case studies conducted in both Australia and Finland in the heavy manufacturing sector.Design/methodology/approach – The in depth case studies were conducted in the steel manufacturing industry in Finland and in the marine defence (shipbuilding) industry in Australia.Findings – The findings indicate that doubts about the security of shared information, missing mutual benefits, incompatibility of IT systems, inadequate IT resources, uncertainty about the future directions of the relationship, information rich working routines, i.e. face to face communication, IT deployment not being part of the industry standard and investments not justified by the relationship seems to be the most significant impediments to IT adoption in heavy manufacturing in Australia and Finland.Research limitations/implications – This paper focuses on o...

Customer Satisfaction in Local Government: The Case of the Restructured City of Perth, Australia

ABSTRACT Governments in developed nations are focusing increased attention on market orientation and striving to achieve higher levels of customer satisfaction as part of the administrative reform process. This study centers on customer satisfaction at the local government (LG) level, using the break-up of the City of Perth, Australia, into new suburban LGs of Cambridge, Victoria Park, and Vincent. The study employs a mail survey on customer satisfaction to 1,500 residents across the three LGs. Findings suggest that by-and-large, customers are more satisfied with the new smaller LGs than with the former, larger LG. Conclusions are drawn, limitations noted, and future research directions outlined.