Perceived Service Quality and User Satisfaction with the Information Services Function*

TLDR

MIS researchers and practitioners have long sought to improve user satisfaction with the information services function, which now faces a market‑oriented environment of decentralized end‑user computing and alternative supply sources that demands sensitivity to customers’ expectations and perceived value. The study adapts the SERVQUAL measure from marketing to better assess user satisfaction with the information services function. The authors applied the SERVQUAL framework to create a more detailed measurement of ISF user satisfaction. The adapted SERVQUAL measure revealed that, in addition to the traditional UIS dimensions, reliability and empathy are significant predictors of overall ISF user satisfaction, indicating that the UIS measure alone is insufficient.

Abstract

Abstract A constant concern of management information systems (MIS) researchers and practitioners has been improving user satisfaction with the information services function (USISF). Due to the growth of end‐user computing, decentralization, and alternative sources of supply, an organization's information services function (ISF) is now faced with serving customers that possess substantial discretion in their use and purchase of information systems (IS) services. This increasingly market‐oriented environment demands sensitivity to IS customers' expectations and perceived value of ISF services. One important source of guidance in such an IS management environment is to look at marketing literature for frameworks that may permit the ISF to more effectively determine and convey the value of their services. Recognizing the need to improve existing MIS measures of user satisfaction with the ISF, this study adapts the SERVQUAL measure from marketing to provide more specific information about user satisfaction with the information service function. It was found that, while the three original dimensions of the traditional user information satisfaction (UIS) measure remain strong predictors of overall ISF user satisfaction, two aspects of IS service quality, “reliability” and “empathy,” are also significant predictors. The results suggest that the original dimensions of UIS may not be comprehensive enough to capture the more detailed dimensions of ISF service quality in SERVQUAL, and that the reliability and empathy dimensions of service quality may be needed to supplement the traditional UIS measure in determining user satisfaction with the information services function. Implications for research and practice resulting from these findings are discussed.