Implications of e-Service quality dimensions for the Information Systems function

Abstract

The measurement of Information Systems (IS) effectiveness has been prominent on the research agenda since the 1980s. Consequently various approaches for measuring IS effectiveness have been produced including that of service quality. This approach has its roots in the marketing discipline where service quality is primarily used to measure business success via a customer satisfaction set of dimensions. With the advent of e-commerce, many studies have focused on online service quality measurement from the marketing perspective. There has been scant attention however, to the role of the IS function in achieving acceptable levels of online service quality. In acknowledging the elevated role of the IS function in the e-commerce environment, the primary objective of this paper, is to highlight the issues around service quality, and in doing so shift this research agenda into the domain of IS management. In light of this a review of both traditional and electronic service quality research is provided. A comprehensive set of e-Service Quality dimensions are consequently synthesized and discussed. Finally, the authors explore the implications of these dimensions for the IS function. The paper concludes by suggesting that an important contributor to IS success in the eCommerce environment relates to the degree in which IS functionaries embrace Service Quality attributes in the planning, design, implementation and management of IS.