The role of information technology in process change and the impact on customer satisfaction: a study of Slovenian transport firms

Habjan, Andreja 2014. The role of information technology in process change and the impact on customer satisfaction: a study of Slovenian transport firms. PhD Thesis, Cardiff University. Item availability restricted.

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Abstract

Although the impact of IT-enabled information on firm performance has been well documented in the business value of IT literature, our understanding of how adopting GPS can transform operational decision-making and foster differential firm performance is limited. Moreover, price and service quality have been highlighted as key determinants of industrial customer satisfaction, yet there is little understanding of how IT-enabled information utilisation influences these relationships. In response, I employ two-phase research. In the first phase, I conduct an exploratory comparative case study of three transport firms that have implemented GPS in their operations. The results show that increased use of GPS-enabled information enhances information quality and makes operational decision-making more fact-based and collaborative. I also find that such transformations in operational decision-making can have differential performance impacts. However, I warn scholars and practitioners that a firm’s information management capability and organisational factors can facilitate the effective use of GPS-enabled information in operational decision-making and, thus, moderate the differential performance benefits of adopting GPS. In the second phase, I carry out a quantitative study with transport firms’ customers. The findings make two contributions. First, I find that the more an industrial firm utilises IT-enabled information in the service process, the less emphasis its customers place on prices when it comes to determining their satisfaction. Drawing on equity theory, I theorise that information utilisation in the service process may mobilise perceptions of fairness and transparency, thereby suppressing the relative impact of price on the formation of industrial customer satisfaction. Second, I find that industrial customers view the utilisation of IT-enabled information in the service process as a value-adding capability that boosts their service quality perceptions. Interestingly, although I had expected that the utilisation of IT-enabled information would also increase the importance of service quality in forming customer satisfaction, the results suggested that this was not the case.

Item Type:	Thesis (PhD)
Status:	Unpublished
Schools:	Business (Including Economics)
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HD Industries. Land use. Labor H Social Sciences > HE Transportation and Communications
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	30 March 2016
Last Modified:	06 Oct 2023 14:46
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/74921

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