Global Measures of Information Service Quality: A Cross‐National Study*

Abstract

Maintaining consistently high quality information services (IS) is a powerful means of increasing the overall efficiency and effectiveness of a global enterprise. This study introduces a global Information Services Function (ISF) Quality Framework that outlines the importance of both behavioral and procedural dimensions in planning, implementing and evaluating global IS quality. Based on this framework, the study investigates the cross-national psychometric properties of a behavioral measure of service quality in the IS context. Using a cross-national survey of IS customers from Korea, Hong Kong, the United States and the Netherlands, perceived ISF service quality was measured using a service quality measure (SERVQUAL) to determine cultural affects. Based on confirmatory factor analysis, support was found for four of the original five SERVQUAL quality dimensions in the U.S.A. and the Netherlands. However, the same four-dimensional measurement model did not fit the Hong Kong and Korean samples. Further factor analysis showed that the Hong Kong and Korean samples shared a somewhat similar factor structure that differs from the shared U.S.A. and Netherlands structure. These findings support previous research that has found an "Asian factor" with differing definitions of IS Service quality. These findings suggest that the feasibility of standardized global ISF measurement depends heavily on the relative magnitude of cultural effects. Rather than merely applying the U.S.A. ISF/SERVQUAL measure, a localized version of the instrument may need to be developed that captures the unique nature of ISF service perceptions in internationally based subsidiaries or companies.

The role of Islamic culture in service quality research

“…This approach adopts certain standardizations of strategy and treats each of the consumers in a similar manner (Espinoza 1999;Kettinger, Lee, and Lee, 1995). The 'emic' approach is a when the company adopts a customizing approach to their corporate strategy and includes the needs of cultural groups (Espinoza 1999;Kettinger et al 1995).…”

Quality of University Services: Dimensional Structure of SERVQUAL VS. ESQS

“…This analysis makes it possible to check whether the structure of the service quality is organized into the five traditional SERVQUAL dimensions, or fewer, as found in some other studies (Bigné, Moliner, Vallet and Sánchez, 1997;Kettinger, Lee and Lee, 1995;Rebolloso et al, 2001;Serrano and López, 2000). The results obtained yield two factors that explain 87.10% of the total variance (see Table 5).…”

Effect of culture on perceptions of IS service quality

“…They stated that their findings suggest that the feasibility of standardised global ISF measurement depends heavily on the relative magnitude of cultural effects. Apart from the Kettinger et al (1995) study, few (if any) studies have directly investigated the relationship between culture and IS service quality. Moreover, to the best of our knowledge, none of the Arab world countries have been investigated in this regard.…”

“…IS researchers have also expanded the use of service quality into new areas, such as measuring service quality longitudinally (Watson et al, 1998) and internationally (Kettinger et al, 1995). More recently, IS researchers have also adapted service quality for use in the evaluation of electronic service environments such as e-commerce websites (e.g.…”

“…They found that, as a result of their cultural orientation, service quality expectations indeed varied across cultures, both overall and for the different individual dimensions of service quality. Kettinger et al (1995) examined the perceptions of ISF service quality in four countries (Hong Kong, Korea, the Netherlands and the USA), by using a measure of service quality reported by Kettinger and Lee (1994). Based on confirmatory factor analysis, support was found for four of the original five SERVQUAL quality dimensions in the USA and the Netherlands.…”