Mary Tate

Perceived Service Quality in a University Web Portal: Revising the E-Qual Instrument

Online service quality is a much-studied concept. Despite this, dimensions that make up service quality, and the items used to measure those dimensions have proven unstable. It is widely suggested that service quality measurement scales need to be instantiated differently in different business domains. In addition, the nature of online services is continually changing. Universities have been at the forefront of this change, with university Websites increasingly acting as a portal for a wide range of online transactions for a wide range of stakeholders. In this work-in-progress, qualitative study, we conduct focus groups with a range of stakeholders in university Web portals with a view to adapting the e-qual instrument for use in a university Web portal environment. We find support for a new service quality dimension, and for additional items in existing scales. We conclude by proposing a revised instrument that can form the basis for a more extensive quantitative study

Managing the Outsourcing Marriage to Achieve Success

This study examines and tests the veracity of five main dimensions of outsourcing operationalization that have been found to influence the quality of relationship between parties and ultimately the success of an outsourcing arrangement. A single case study of a long strategic outsourcing relationship was utilized. The findings suggest that transition, performance management, contract management, working style and knowledge exchange significantly affect outsourcing relationship quality. We also identify management actions and practices that have proved successful in maintaining the ongoing quality of IT outsourcing relationships

Contextualizing the twin concepts of systematicity and transparency in information systems literature reviews

Recently there has been a great deal of advice published for information systems researchers aiming to conduct standalone literature reviews, and this advice has been, at times, confusing, contradictory and contested. In this opinion paper, we harmonize and resolve some crucial elements of this debate. In our view, literature review articles need to adhere to the same high standards of quality and trustworthiness as other empirical studies. We argue that a systematic approach, accompanied by transparent reporting, is essential for positivist as well as interpretivist reviews, regardless of their specific type, scope and methods. In terms of structure, we first recap the main genres of review articles used by information systems scholars, and present a high-level framework of the steps required to develop a literature review article. For each step, we then explain how the twin concepts of systematicity and transparency should be understood and embedded in the process of developing review papers across a wide range of genres, including positivist aggregative reviews as well as interpretive syntheses using iterative, inductive and abductive approaches.

Introduction to the Special Issue: The Literature Review in Information Systems

There has been a flowering of scholarly interest in the literature review as a research method in the information systems discipline. We feel privileged to contribute to this conversation and introduce the work of the authors represented in this special issue. Some of the highlights include three new methods for conducting literature analysis and guidelines, tutorials, and approaches for coping with some of the challenges involved in carrying out a literature review. Of the three “new method” papers, one (ontological meta-analysis and synthesis) is entirely new, and two (stylized facts and critical discourse analysis) are novel in the information systems context. The other four paper address more general issues: the challenges of effective search strategies when confronted with the burgeoning volume of research available, a detailed tool-supported approach for conducting a rigorous review, a detailed tutorial for conducting a qualitative literature review, and a discussion of quality issues. Collectively, the papers place emphasis beyond the traditional “narrative synthesis” on the importance of selecting the appropriate approach for the research context and the importance of attention to quality and transparency at all stages of the process, regardless of which approach is adopted.

How the current orthodoxy of local government is failing IT managers: an illustrative case study

Information Technology (IT) is often assumed to be a critical enabling factor for modern democratic processes. We briefly examine widespread reform of public service institutions along market principles, known as the New Public Management (NPM). We then examine some of the IT management issues that have arisen as a result of the changing nature of local government. We identify a disconnect between the current orthodoxy of local government, the expected benefits of IT, and the actual experience of IT management in public sector organisations. Many public sector organisations suffer from multiple IT management problems. These seriously affect their ability to deliver on the promise that IT management will deliver the quality management information that is required by increased demands for public accountability. We illustrate this with a case study.

Stakeholder Expectations of Service Quality in a University Web Portal

Online service quality is a much-studied concept. There is considerable evidence that user expectations and perceptions of self-service and online service quality differ in different business domains. In addition, the nature of online services is continually changing and universities have been at the forefront of this change, with university websites increasingly acting as a portal for a wide range of online transactions for a wide range of stakeholders . In this qualitative study, we conduct focus groups with a range of stakeholders in a university web portal . Our study offers a number of insights into the changing nature of the relationship between organisations and customers. New technologies are influencing customer expectations. Customers increasingly expect organisations to have integrated information systems, and to utilise new technologies such as SMS and web portals. Organisations can be slow to adopt a customer-centric viewpoint, and persist in providing interfaces that are inconsistent or require inside knowledge of organisational structures and processes. This has a negative effect on customer perceptions

ICT, Multi-Channels, and the Changing Line of Visibility: An Empirical Study

This paper argues that the advent of multi-channel environments, incorporating ICT-mediated channels, necessitates a reinterpretation of the ‘line of visibility’ found in the service quality literature. In a multi-channel environment, inconsistency or service breakdowns above the line of visibility gives a negative impression of organisational competence below the line. Many face-to-face contact points have been replaced by ICT-mediated contact points, and this gives a transparency to the line of visibility, allowing customers to see into the organisation’s back office systems. In this research, two propositions are empirically tested using mystery shoppers. We find that multi-channel customers using a mixture of face-to-face and ICT-mediated channels can gain insights into organisational systems, processes and values that were previously below the line of visibility. This suggests that organisations need to concentrate on consistent quality delivery throughout the organisation, including back-office processes, in order to maintain their customers’ confidence.

Sustainable Business Models for Services Using Semantic Web Components: Insights from the Field

Semantic web technologies for Human Resource Information Systems (HRIS) are yet to fulfil their full potential. In this paper we reflect on an e-recruiting service development project using semantic web technologies. We use a modified Action Design Research (ADR) lens to organize insights from an innovative, entrepreneurial service offering. The results show that achieving sustainable business models for e-recruiting services based on semantic web components is non-trivial. It requires a rich and continuous interplay between theoretical knowledge (semantic web, service management, and subject-area knowledge); technical knowledge and expertise in building semantic web components; and the community of applicants and recruiters, who use and extend the sematic web components into new service offerings. We further find that the complex, interactive, adaptive, multi-disciplinary and iterative nature of HRIS projects creates challenges in communicating between the stakeholders, and in extracting and presenting theoretical contributions.

Localising versus standardising electronic human resource management: complexities and tensions between HRM and IT departments

In this paper, we provide an analysis of the complexities involved during global e-HRM (Electronic Human Resource Management) implementation. We present findings from a case study on the challenge of global integration versus local responsiveness of e-HRM systems. We take a local site lens, analysing the experiences of a local IT department in charge of implementing a global e-HRM strategy. Although this implementation was hailed as a success by the organisation, there were many unexpected and negative outcomes at the local level. These appeared to arise from a nonparticipative approach by global IT, with inadequate consideration of changes in the role, relationships and relative power of the local IT and HR teams. We suggest that desired corporate IT outcomes should not be forced on the local units at the expense of flexibility in equally important local HR initiatives. However, balancing the requirements of HR flexibility and system standardisation in a large-size, multinational firm is non-trivial.

A Framework and Approach for Analysis of Focus Group Data in Information Systems Research

A significant part of information systems research studies people as a part of a system, organization, network, or community. Since this research focuses on data related to the interaction of individuals, focus groups can provide data that cannot be obtained through any other method. However, compared with the abundance of handbooks and guidelines on how to plan and conduct focus groups, little methodological literature is available on how to analyze focus group data. In this tutorial paper, we provide a systematic and integrative approach for qualitatively analyzing different types of focus group data (e.g., group level content and interaction data) for information systems (IS) researchers. While we focus on IS research, our framework is also relevant to other applied business fields.