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An investigation of the partnering strategies in application service provision: A vendor perspective
This thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel University.This research aims to investigate the partnering strategies in Application Service
Provision (ASP) from a vendor's perspective. Although some attention was recently given to the ASP model, the main focus of the published academic work was essentially on the customer's side. This research focuses on ASP vendors, and aims at studying the partnering strategies used by these in order to source the different ASP model components. From the studied literature, it was found that the ASP model relies on 4 main infrastructural layers for delivering services: the data storage layer, the server layer, the network layer, and the application layer. Due to the different nature of each of these layers in terms of the required technology, it was concluded that ASP is a complex service, for which the required resources and capabilities are unlikely to be owned by one single company, thus the importance of studying the partnering strategies needed for ASP vendors. Through the use of Transaction Cost Economics (TCE) and the Resource-based View (RBV), predictions were made about the expected sourcing modes (market, integration, or strategic alliance) for each of the ASP layers. The next phase was to study six ASP cases, in which the partnering strategies of each firm for each ASP layer were studied. The main result from this analysis was that the actual outcomes from the case studies did not fully match the predictions that were initially made. A cross-case analysis was then undertaken by reapplying TCE and RBV to the studied cases. In this phase, for each ASP layer in each case study TCE and RBV attributes were investigated, and the drawn conclusions were two fold. First, the initial assumption that the software layer is the core layer of the model, based on which the predictions were made, was rather flawed; it was found that although many ASP vendors draw value from the application layer, several others rely on other ASP layers. Secondly, it was concluded that the two used theories - TCE and R-BV - did not, independently, explain all the actual sourcing modes of the studied ASP vendors, though RBV showed more explanatory power than TCE. Furthermore, it was demonstrated that the combination of TCE and RBV, in the context of this study, offers more explanatory power than if the two theories were used independently. Although this is an important finding in the context of ASP, the implications on IS research is tremendous, where multiple-theory applications are increasingly called for
The Determinants of Customer Perceptions in a Dynamic Business Environment: An Exploratory Analysis of the ASP Business Model
Outsourcing attracted much attention in 1989 when Kodak outsourced its data center operation to IBM (International Business Machines Corp.). Nowadays, this strategy has become more popular. At the beginning of this century, the ASP (Application Service Provider) model was considered one of the typical solutions of Internet-based IT (Information Technology) outsourcing. Although this model has been transformed and renamed (e.g. SaaS - Software as a Service), the principle concept of providing IT service through the Internet or wide area network is still there.
This study attempts to explore the determinants of customer perception of Internet-based IT outsourcing by obtaining a comprehensive understanding of the ASP model. The research dimensions not only include factors affecting users' perception of service quality but also ASP business position (i.e. the firm origin of ASP and its provider type) and services utilized by the customers. Through the study of firm history, two important theoretical themes of this research - path-dependence and Ansoff's product/ market growth matrix - are taken account of in exploring the influence of the determinants.
Web-based questionnaire survey research is conducted together with a documentation study to collect data. Targeting the customers of the top 50 ASPs selected by ASPnews.com during the period 2001-2004, the researcher contacted 597 potential respondents, and 196 responses were returned. The valid sample consisted of 175 responses, and 124 of them not only provided full information for satisfaction evaluation but also the information for tracking their ASP vendors' business position.
The GLM (General Linear Model) and the Pearson correlation coefficient were the major statistical approaches used to evaluate the survey data for developing a structural model. The research findings indicated that the factors associated with service competitiveness, such as capability and performance, reliability and trustworthiness, affordability, integration and customization, have positive effects on customer perceived satisfaction; whereas lock-in has a negative effect. More specifically, the origin of the ASP firm has a direct effect on capacity and performance, and also directly influences the use of IT adoption services. Based on this finding, a descriptive analysis and qualitative research shows that two mechanisms for path-dependence - existing expertise and perceived expertise - can affect the satisfaction level of capacity and performance of ASP services. On the other hand, provider type has a direct effect on affordability and also directly influences the use of facility supporting services. On this basis, another two mechanisms for path-dependence - transaction cost and standardization - can indirectly impact customer's perception of this business model via affordability. In addition to those major findings, some other determinants (e.g. software applications, brand of applications, and intensity of service used) were also identified in this study.
The study result can be used for theoretical understanding about the determinants of ASP customer's perception. It not only indicates a new perspective to enhance the current body of research on this topic, but can also be more broadly applied to any fast-growth firm, rapid-change business, or technology intensive industry.
Acknowledgements
I would like to sincerely thank the following people for their contribution to this research project.
Dr. Scott Koslow, my chief supervisor, for his continued encouragement, patience and guidance to ensure the completion of this project. His speciality in statistics has provided appropriate and valuable guidance in the data analysis for my research.
Dr. Steven Lim, my second supervisor, for his advice, coherence, and support over the years. I also appreciate his constructive comments on my drafts and the shaping of my research.
Dr. Bob McQueen and Dr. Jim Corner, for their assistance and advice in the early stages of my study.
My parents, Yu-Ho and Lee-Chiung Liang, and my brother Ken, my sisters Annie, Eva, and Nancy, my brothers-in-law, J.C. and Chen, and Alice, my sister-in-law, for their emotional support throughout the length of my study.
I also thank Bessie, my best friend for her assistance in data collection and her loving support, as well as Ted, Kevin, Mark, Frank, and Shirley, my study mates for their encouragement and friendship.
Special thanks goes to Dr. Kuang-Ya Wang, the principal of Yu Da High School of Commerce and Home Economics, Taiwan, and also to the staff over there for their concern and assistance in data collection.
Most importantly, my heartfelt appreciation goes to Warren, my husband. I am deeply grateful to him for his understanding, patience, and practical help. Without his enduring support I could not have done this study.
Finally, my thanks and gratitude goes to those people who patiently answered my survey questionnaire as their kind assistance made it possible to complete this research
Metodolog铆a de implantaci贸n de modelos de gesti贸n de la informaci贸n dentro de los sistemas de planificaci贸n de recursos empresariales. Aplicaci贸n en la peque帽a y mediana empresa
La Siguiente Generaci贸n de Sistemas de Fabricaci贸n (SGSF) trata de dar respuesta a los requerimientos de los nuevos modelos de empresas, en contextos de inteligencia, agilidad y adaptabilidad en un entono global y virtual. La Planificaci贸n de Recursos Empresariales (ERP) con soportes de gesti贸n del producto (PDM) y el ciclo de vida del producto (PLM) proporciona soluciones de gesti贸n empresarial sobre la base de un uso coherente de tecnolog铆as de la informaci贸n para la implantaci贸n en sistemas CIM (Computer-Integrated Manufacturing), con un alto grado de adaptabilidad a la estnictura organizativa deseada. En general, esta implementaci贸n se lleva desarrollando hace tiempo en grandes empresas, siendo menor (casi nula) su extensi贸n a PYMEs.
La presente Tesis Doctoral, define y desarrolla una nueva metodolog铆a de implementaci贸n pan la generaci贸n autom谩tica de la informaci贸n en los procesos de negocio que se verifican en empresas con requerimientos adaptados a las necesidades de la SGSF, dentro de los sistemas de gesti贸n de los recursos empresariales (ERP), atendiendo a la influencia del factor humano. La validez del modelo te贸rico de la metodolog铆a mencionada se ha comprobado al implementarlo en una empresa del tipo PYME, del sector de Ingenier铆a.
Para el establecimiento del Estado del Arte de este tema se ha dise帽ado y aplicado una metodolog铆a espec铆fica basada en el ciclo de mejora continua de Shewhart/Deming, aplicando las herramientas de b煤squeda y an谩lisis bibliogr谩fico disponibles en la red con acceso a las correspondientes bases de datos