Jayachandra Bairi

Critical success factors in gaining user customer satisfaction in outsourced IT services

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to identify the critical success factors in gaining user customer satisfaction in IT outsourced services and find how it helps in the competitive advantage and customer retention for the service provider. Improving the service quality and customer satisfaction of outsourced IT service is the main rationale behind pursuing this research.Design/methodology/approach – Three firms were selected for studying primarily because a large part of their IT support work is outsourced to multiple vendors and support work is carried out, both on site and offshore. A structured, open‐ended interview was conducted because of the exploratory nature of this case study. The primary data were collected through face‐to‐face interviews, with 12 senior managers. Extensive secondary data were provided by the interviewees.Findings – The paper provides evidence that by following critical success factors there are few expected outcomes to client and service provider organizations, like user sa...

Knowledge retention in the IT service industry

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to develop and evaluate an effective employee retention plan for information technology (IT) service organizations as part of a knowledge management (KM) strategy.Design/methodology/approach – The employee retention plan is evaluated at three IT multi‐national companies which are providing global IT services with successful knowledge management systems (KMS) in place. Semi‐structured telephone interviews were conducted with senior managers and team leaders of three companies. The data collected is used for studying attrition and retention and its impact on KM.Findings – The paper provides evidence of various strategic, technological, and local issues influencing the success of retention and its benefit to KM programs in global IT service companies. Organizations adapt attrition control measures for long‐term benefit. These measures help in effective KM, serving the client at lower cost with consistent service levels.Research limitations/implications – Interviews are ...

A comparison of lean and CMMI for services (CMMI‐SVC v1.2) best practices

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the elements of lean concept and identify those principles which are applicable to service organizations, also, to compare the lean best practices with CMMI‐SVC v1.2 model goals and practices and find out the compatibility.Design/methodology/approach – The capability maturity model integration (CMMI) for services (CMMI‐SVC v1.2) model, developed by Software Engineering Institute is a collection of best practices applicable to service operations. Lean concepts, on the other hand, originated from manufacturing but of late lean principles and best practices have been implemented in some services organizations. As lean concepts originated from manufacturing and CMMI‐SVC v1.2 from software industry, there could be some overlapping content and some differences and each may offer some distinct advantages. This paper is based on the review of the contemporary literature on lean concepts and CMMI‐SVC v1.2 model, including books, journal articles and handbooks. ...

A study of integrated KM in IT support services companies

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to develop and evaluate a good knowledge management (KM) framework for IT services companies to provide an integrated approach to IT services for efficient knowledge management.Design/methodology/approach – The framework is evaluated at three Indian IT organizations providing global IT services with successful KM programs dedicated to services. Expert interviews were conducted with senior management involved in the KM programs. Information collected was used for studying the KM framework implemented by each organization for services and then content analyzed and evaluated.Findings – The paper provides evidence of various strategic, technological critical factors influencing the success of KM programs in IT services companies. Organizations with successful KM programs typically adapt attrition control measures, rewards and recognitions. Application of key enabler tools of KM help in robust knowledge management, reducing cost to client, helping companies to excel bette...

A scale for measuring the applicability of lean practices in IT support services

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present research that was conducted with an objective to conceptualize and develop an instrument for the measurement of the perception of IT support service practitioners about the applicability of lean concepts in IT support services. Design/methodology/approach – Scale items were identified from current literature and the survey instrument was used to collect data from IT support service practitioners. The constructs’ measurement models were tested and the scale was validated by using statistical tools. Findings – The results of the study indicate that the operational measures developed here satisfy the criteria for unidimensionality, reliability and validity. Research limitations/implications – While selecting and excluding measurement items for the survey, the researchers have followed established principles of survey research; but it may have been affected by the personal bias of the author. The sample for the survey was drawn from IT support service companie...

Knowledge acquisition by outsourced service providers from aging workforce of oil and gas industry

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide an understanding of the major critical success factors involved in knowledge acquisition from an aging oil and gas workforce by outsourced service providers and find the outcome. In addition, the authors are also interested in finding out the outcome for the client and the service provider by following these critical success factors.Design/methodology/approach – The authors shortlisted two outsourced firms for studying, primarily because they deliver lots of service support work to oil and gas firms. For the exploratory nature of this case study, a structured, open‐ended interview was conducted. Through face‐to‐face interviews with 12 senior managers, primary data were collected. Upon content analysis of data collected, the framework was evaluated.Findings – The results of this study indicate that both client and service providers can benefit by following major critical success factors for knowledge acquisition. From the open‐ended interview with the two c...

IT support service: identification and categorisation of wastes

The purpose of this paper is to provide an insight into the various types of wastes in IT service system from the perspective of lean management. A study of 12 IT support service lines was carried out with an objective to identify and categorise waste/non-value added activities in IT services. The waste activities have been classified into 13 groups: defects, re-invention, unnecessary motion, waiting, over processing, inventory, resource inefficiencies, hand-offs, external quality enforcement, processing inefficiencies, lack of system discipline, ineffective communication and recurring incident. It is quite possible that some of the identified wastes may have inter-relationship or dependency within them. However, such relationship among the wastes was not covered in this study. The paper presents a methodology for identification and classification of wastes in IT support service system. This categorisation would be useful while applying lean principles to IT support service systems.

Strategic management and innovation: A checklist for readiness evaluation of AACSB standards

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to introduce the concept of a checklist, focusing on the detailed analysis of the requirement of the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) standards related to strategic management and innovation area, for evaluation of implementation readiness in a business school setting. Design/methodology/approach – The paper presents an articulated procedure for the development of the checklist. The study adopted a multi-method approach for developing the final content for the checklist. Findings – The introduction of the checklist has provided a systemic approach to process design and evaluation of readiness of a business school for AACSB accreditation related to strategic management and innovation area. The checklist was developed and applied over the course of systematic reviews in a business school setting. Research limitations/implications – The present study has developed the checklist comprising the requirements of the standards related to strategi...

How do the practitioners perceive relevancy of lean practices in IT support services

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to capture and analyze the perception gaps with respect to the current usage and importances of the lean practices from the IT support service practitioners’ perspective. Design/methodology/approach – A questionnaire was developed to capture the perceptions of the IT support service practitioners. The survey data were quantitatively analyzed by using statistical techniques which included testing of the hypotheses. Findings – The analysis of the perception gaps revealed that even though all the gaps are statistically significant but gaps between different practices are not same. The gap analysis would be useful for IT support service organization in prioritizing the lean practices for implementation. Originality/value – Lean practice applicability and implementation in IT support services is a relatively new domain, where mature empirically based studies are scarce. This study provides a sound basis for further research on lean implementation in IT support service area.

A checklist for readiness evaluation of Learning and Teaching area of AACSB standards

Purpose The purpose of the paper is to introduce the concept of a checklist, focusing on the detailed analysis of requirements of the AACSB International – the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) standards related to the learning and teaching area – for evaluation of implementation readiness in a business school setting. Design/methodology/approach The present study adopted a multi-method approach for developing the final content of the checklist. Findings The introduction of the checklist has provided a systemic approach to process design and evaluation of readiness of a business school for AACSB accreditation related to the learning and teaching area. The checklist was developed and applied over the course of systematic reviews in a business school setting. Research limitations/implications The checklist has been developed considering the requirements of the AACSB standards related to the learning and teaching area only. In the near future, the authors intend to develop checklists for the remaining areas of AACSB standards. Originality/value This research offers a comprehensive checklist comprising the requirements of the standards related to the learning and teaching area. The checklist would be useful to the business schools that are planning to implement AACSB standards for accreditation or are interested in changing their current processes to follow AACSB standards.