linioj-maition Systems Service Quality Measurement: The Evolution of The SERVQUAL Instrument

Due to the increasing service component of information technology, service quality measurement has become increasingly important as IS practitioners attempt to increase service quality to customers. The measurement of service quality in IS evolved from the research done in marketing literature. The SERVQUAL instrument has evolved to become the most commonly used measurement instrument in both IS and marketing. Although commonly used, SERVQUAL instrument is not without criticism. This paper describes the SERVQUAL instrument, its criticisms and support, and finally the SERVPERF instrument, a variation of the SERVQUAL instrument which is an attempt at improving upon the SERVQUAL instrument

Information Systems Service Quality Measurement: The Evolution of The SERVQUAL Instrument

Due to the increasing service component of information technology, service quality measurement has become increasingly important as IS practitioners attempt to increase service quality to customers. The measurement of service quality in IS evolved from the research done in the marketing literature. The SERVQUAL instrument has evolved to become the most commonly used measurement instrument in both IS and marketing. Although commonly used, the SERVQUAL instrument is not without criticism. This paper describes the SERVQUAL instrument, its criticisms and support, and finally the SERVPERF instrument, a variation of the SERVQUAL instrument which is an attempt at improving upon the SERVQUAL instrument

Adaptability in IT Sourcing: The Impact of Switching Costs

Firms have an increasing need today to develop a sourcing strategy that is more strategic than in years past. Firms need to maintain a strategy of adaptability in order to mitigate the risks associated with outsourcing. A major influence on the adaptability of a firm in the short- and long-term is the switching costs associated with bring an outsourced activity back inhouse (backsource) or switching to another vendor. As switching costs increase, firms are increasingly “locked in” to a vendor. Firms should therefore work to decrease the switching costs so that they are more able to switch to another vendor or backsource if the market changes or an outsourcing relationship sours. Three strategies are presented for lowering switching costs

The application development outsourcing contract decision: The effect of service quality, relationship quality, satisfaction, and switching costs on continuation and discontinuation decisions

Although the popularity of IT outsourcing has grown over the last two decades, approximately one third of outsourcing contracts are discontinued. This discontinuation of contracts has resulted in renegotiations with the original outsourcing vendor, switching to another vendor, and backsourcing, or the return of previously outsourced functions in-house. IT outsourcing is expected to grow to a $160 billion industry in the United States alone by 2005. Given the conclusion by some researchers that so many outsourcing arrangements end in vendor switches or backsourcing, it is apparent that a large amount of money is being needlessly wasted. By better understanding the factors that may lead to the discontinuation of outsourcing contracts, perhaps outsourcing vendors can increase the success rate of outsourcing agreements and companies can make better outsourcing decisions. Thus, the objective of this research is to determine what factors may be associated with the decision to switch vendors or backsource. IT application development managers were surveyed and 160 responses are analyzed. This data set was subjected to logistic regression analysis to determine the factors associated with application development outsourcing discontinuations. Constructs utilized include service quality, satisfaction, relationship quality, and switching costs. These constructs were chosen as a result of a broad review of the IT and marketing literatures for factors associated with bringing services in-house or switching to another service provider. Overall, poor communication, lack of timeliness, low user understanding, low reliability, high lost performance costs, high pre-switching costs, high sunk costs, and high management costs are significantly related to the decision to discontinue an application development outsourcing contract. These factors span across the four constructs proposed. This research answers a call by Lacity and Willcocks (2001) to investigate backsourcing, as well as a similar outsourcing outcome, switching vendors. The results not only help fill a void in the academic IT outsourcing literature related to outsourcing contract discontinuations, but also provide practitioners with a valuable indication of the factors associated with outsourcing contract discontinuation

What is a Chief Privacy Officer? An Analysis Based on Mintzberg\u27s Taxonomy of Managerial Roles

Given the growing concern over information privacy abuse, potential lawsuits, and threats of increased government privacy legislation, an increasing number of firms are resorting to Chief Privacy Officers (CPOs) as a means to cope with information privacy. However, little is yet known about the job responsibilities and roles of this emerging corporate position. This study examines the critical managerial roles of CPOs. Drawing from in-depth interviews at three large firms and from secondary sources of data, this study uses Mintzberg\u27s framework for managerial work to develop a taxonomy of key managerial roles for the emerging position of Chief Privacy Officer. From our analysis, we conclude that Chief Privacy Officers function with role responsibilities in four main areas: informational (monitor, disseminator, spokesperson), interpersonal (figurehead, liaison), conflict management (disturbance handler, negotiator), and strategic management (entrepreneur). Our analysis also suggests that no single managerial role is most important. Rather, multiple roles are required of CPOs. To meet these multiple role requirements, effective CPOs must possess strong business, communications, and technical skills. Our results suggest that Chief Privacy Officers tend to operate at high levels of organizational hierarchies as evidenced by the importance of their externally related job roles of figurehead, liaison, and spokesperson

Blockchain in the Role of Emancipatory Technology

Historically, women miners have been at a disadvantage in the mining industries due to factors outside of their control. This has caused them problems related to less income and worse working conditions as compared to their male counterparts. This research demonstrates how blockchain can be used as an emancipatory technology that can help improve the economic and ultimately social impact of these marginalized workers. Specifically, the paper demonstrates how mediating economic opportunity through an emancipatory technology such as blockchain can reduce negative influences of gender bias, ASM involvement, poor market conditions, and ethical consumption and ultimately provide greater benefits for women miners