The Adoption of Information Technology in Self-Managing Service Teams

This article examines antecedents and consequences of the adoption level of standardized information technology (it) versus customized it in self-managing teams (smts) in a financial services institution. Linkages between specified antecedents and the adoption levels of standardized and customized it were investigated using data collected from bank employees and in-company databases. The authors find positive individual-level effects of tolerance of self-management, ease of use, and innovativeness on the adoption level of standardized it and positive individual-level effects of tolerance of self-management and perceived usefulness on the adoption level of customized it. These findings suggest that discriminating between different types of it creates a better understanding of it adoption in smts. A similar investigation of the it adoption-service performance relationships shows that the adoption level of customized it rather than of standardized it has a crucial impact on service performance both in terms of customer satisfaction and productivity

Consumers' trade-off between relationship, service package, and price : an empirical study in the car industry

Assesses whether consumer segments based on relational aspects, service aspects, or price aspects have different preferences concerning these three key decision-making variables when buying a car. In addition, assesses consumer segments resulting from simultaneously incorporating relationships, service package, and price. Investigates a large sample of mitsubishi drivers in the netherlands emphasizing consumers’ trade-off between dealer relationship, service package and price. Conjoint analysis showed that dealer relationships (as opposed to price) represent a very important decision-making variable when buying a car and consumer preferences concerning relationships provide a useful instrument for segmenting markets. Cluster analyses on the basis of three aspects simultaneously revealed that some consumers do value relationships, while others emphasize the service package in their purchase, both opposed to the third segment that is most probably not inclined to be loyal to a car dealer at all. Clearly indicates that different consumer segments can be distinguished on the basis of preferences for relationships and service packages rather than on the basis of price. This knowledge enables car dealers to use their resources more effectively

The Need for more Multidisciplinary Research

Purpose – looks back at five years of the author's editorship of ijsim and seeks to answer the question whether or not one of the journal's objectives – i.e. More multidisciplinary research – was achieved.design/methodology/approach – analyses articles published in ijsim over the last five years in terms of authors and content.findings – based on the characteristics of authors and content of the paper it is concluded that the number of studies devoted to customer satisfaction and quality decreased substantially. Furthermore, as an indication of collaboration between authors from different departments the number of bilateral co-operations between different departments in the authors' team was counted. From all known pairs of authors, only 40 (25 percent) were cross-disciplinary.originality/value – there is room for improvement in this respect. Contributions from 277 authors from 27 countries all over the world over a period of five years make the journal a leading academic outlet in the field of services marketing and management