The Key Categories for Satisfaction in the Alignment between IT and Business
Luis Kalb Roses, Norberto Hoppen, Jorge Luiz Henrique, Bernard Ballaz, Doriana Daroit
Last modified: 2007-09-08
Abstract
Purpose of the paper the purpose of this study is to identify the key categories in the alignment between IT (information technology) and business areas from a satisfaction perspective, in a context of high demand for IT services as a way to compete in the market. In this situation, the investments made by one organization in its IT infrastructure should result in an appropriate offering of its products and services towards its clients, resulting internal business satisfaction with the use of IT services. However, this kind of satisfaction is a challenging enterprise in a dynamic global market with products and services being offered exclusively in a digital interface.
Related work - through the theory of service quality applied to IT services, this study aims at identifying from the perception of the IT provider and its clients a conceptual framework addressed to the theory of IT and business alignment management. The model from marketing discipline identified as SERVQUAL is suitable for inspecting the satisfaction between both IT services provider and its clients, through 22 items distributed in five dimensions of service quality tangibles, reliability, responsiveness, assurance and empathy. However, the use of SERVQUAL model in this study has as main function to instigate the reflection by respondents of IT and business areas (clients), which are asked to express themselves according to the perception of IT services being provided through an open-ended question in a survey instrument related to SERVQUAL structured items.
Design/Methodology/Approach - the strategy sampling adopted is a case study in a multinational brazilian bank that is well recognized for intensive use of IT as a strategic way for servicing its products and services to the market. The unit of analysis of the case is the relationship between the IT office (provider) and the business areas of the bank. Even though the overall satisfaction level of the IT client-provider relationship is presented, the main objective of the study is to discover the categories that should be considered for a better alignment between them. For so, its applied the method of content analysis to the answers done to the open-ended question of the survey instrument, to a complementary interview with IT and business managers, and to secondary data originated from a prior survey conducted by the bank for evaluating the relationship between its areas. As none category of alignment is established in advance for the data collection, the study is involving various business areas besides IT office, which permitted theoretical sampling and comparative analysis, the study applied the techniques of grounded theory.
Findings - the findings obtained expressed an overall low level of satisfaction by business areas to IT services being provided by IT office, which are related to main categories as communication, competence, infrastructure, and process. This findings contribute to the formulation of IT and business alignment theory through the perspective of relationship satisfaction. Besides this, the study point categories to be observed by practical management of organizations in providing IT services that would be more cost-benefic in servicing the market.
Research limitations/implications - the limitation of this study resides in its external generalization, as its confined to a case study in a specific bank, as well as it's not verifying the theory generated.
Practical implications - nevertheless, future research is intended to conduct the application of an instrument aimed at evaluating the categories identified through a broad sampling of organizations.
Originality/value of the paper - finally, as a novelty presented by this study is the perspective of satisfaction with IT services in inducing the reflection of key categories of the alignment between IT and business areas, where the five dimensions of a cooperative relationship from the SERVQUAL model were applied. In this sense, evolutionary instruments can be envisaged by the academicians for a broader evaluation of the IT and business relationship, as well as its applicability by organizations in intra or interorganizational contexts, like IT outsourcing.
Related work - through the theory of service quality applied to IT services, this study aims at identifying from the perception of the IT provider and its clients a conceptual framework addressed to the theory of IT and business alignment management. The model from marketing discipline identified as SERVQUAL is suitable for inspecting the satisfaction between both IT services provider and its clients, through 22 items distributed in five dimensions of service quality tangibles, reliability, responsiveness, assurance and empathy. However, the use of SERVQUAL model in this study has as main function to instigate the reflection by respondents of IT and business areas (clients), which are asked to express themselves according to the perception of IT services being provided through an open-ended question in a survey instrument related to SERVQUAL structured items.
Design/Methodology/Approach - the strategy sampling adopted is a case study in a multinational brazilian bank that is well recognized for intensive use of IT as a strategic way for servicing its products and services to the market. The unit of analysis of the case is the relationship between the IT office (provider) and the business areas of the bank. Even though the overall satisfaction level of the IT client-provider relationship is presented, the main objective of the study is to discover the categories that should be considered for a better alignment between them. For so, its applied the method of content analysis to the answers done to the open-ended question of the survey instrument, to a complementary interview with IT and business managers, and to secondary data originated from a prior survey conducted by the bank for evaluating the relationship between its areas. As none category of alignment is established in advance for the data collection, the study is involving various business areas besides IT office, which permitted theoretical sampling and comparative analysis, the study applied the techniques of grounded theory.
Findings - the findings obtained expressed an overall low level of satisfaction by business areas to IT services being provided by IT office, which are related to main categories as communication, competence, infrastructure, and process. This findings contribute to the formulation of IT and business alignment theory through the perspective of relationship satisfaction. Besides this, the study point categories to be observed by practical management of organizations in providing IT services that would be more cost-benefic in servicing the market.
Research limitations/implications - the limitation of this study resides in its external generalization, as its confined to a case study in a specific bank, as well as it's not verifying the theory generated.
Practical implications - nevertheless, future research is intended to conduct the application of an instrument aimed at evaluating the categories identified through a broad sampling of organizations.
Originality/value of the paper - finally, as a novelty presented by this study is the perspective of satisfaction with IT services in inducing the reflection of key categories of the alignment between IT and business areas, where the five dimensions of a cooperative relationship from the SERVQUAL model were applied. In this sense, evolutionary instruments can be envisaged by the academicians for a broader evaluation of the IT and business relationship, as well as its applicability by organizations in intra or interorganizational contexts, like IT outsourcing.