Understanding the organization of managed service providers: an analysis of customer satisfaction and contracting in markets for hosted IT services
Year: 2003
Type: dissertation
Abstract: This dissertation looks at several facets of the application service provider \nbusiness model. Application service providers are companies who provide \nsoftware capabilities for multiple organizations over the Internet. Though the ASP \nmodel has the potential to fundamentally transform the manner in which IT \nservices are provided to firms, to date the ASPs have not been successful in \nattracting a large client base. My dissertation explores research issues arising from \nthe ASP business model and can offer insights into the survival and future \nviability of ASPs. In my work I combine insights from the principal-agent \nliterature in emphasizing incentive compatibility of the contract, the transaction \ncost literature in outlining the need for ex post adaptation, and literature on \ncustomer satisfaction that emphasizes the importance of understanding customer \nexpectations and performance evaluations. One of the implications from this work \nis that negative evaluations such as post usage disconfirmation have a higher \nmagnitude of effect on customer satisfaction outcomes than positive evaluations \nof service provider performance. Another implication is that users expectations \nare more important in making satisfaction assessments than their experiences with \nsimilar services. I also draw upon the transactions cost economics framework of \nBajari and Tadelis (2002) and look at the role of ex post adaptability of ASP \nservices as a need for designing flexible contract forms. Another contribution is to \nlook at multitask agency issues underlying the application service provider \nbusiness model, which establishes that the optimal contract should a low powered \nincentive contract in order not to induce task distortion
Author: Anjana Susarla
Language: English
Subfield: Management Information Systems
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2098026242