Gastvortrag Mannheim Business-IT Alignment am 17.10.12.pdf

Eine Präsentation zum Business-IT Alignment in Unternehmen

1. 15.10.2012 | Fachbereich Rechts- und Wirtschaftswissenschaften | ISE | Prof. Dr. Benlian | 1 Mannheim, October 17th, 2012 Effect mechanisms of perceptual congruence between
Information Systems professionals and users on
satisfaction with service
Prof. Dr. Alexander Benlian
Fachgebiet Wirtschaftsinformatik:
Information Systems & E-Services (ISE)
Technische Universität Darmstadt
forthcoming in:
Journal of Management Information
Systems (2013)

2. 15.10.2012 | Fachbereich Rechts- und Wirtschaftswissenschaften | ISE | Prof. Dr. Benlian | 2Agenda
Motivation and Research Questions
Introduction to IS Service Quality Alignment
Research Model and Hypotheses
Research Design
Key Results and Discussion

3. 15.10.2012 | Fachbereich Rechts- und Wirtschaftswissenschaften | ISE | Prof. Dr. Benlian | 3Motivation and Key Research Question Practical Motivation More than 50% of IT projects failin
companies (e.g. Du et al. 2007)
Lack of continued information systems
use(e.g. Bhattacherjee 2001)
• One important cause: Inadequate and
insufficient alignment between IT and
business departmentsin organizations (e.g.
Klein et al. 2009)
• One key reason and area of misalignments:
Lack of matching the perceptionsof IS
users and IS professionals on IS service
quality factors (e.g. Jiang et al. 2003)
Research Motivation • Several studies exist on the alignment between
business and IT on the organizational, department
and team level (e.g. Chan et al. 2007), few on the
individual (dyadic) level
• Studies on the existence of perceptual
congruence and its impactare scarce (e.g.
Tesch et al. 2005) and methodologically
restricted; existing results are simple as they
just allow detection of congruence/incongruence
•Research gap: Examining more complex effects
of perceptual congruence on IS service quality
between IS users and professionals on user
satisfaction (inter-personal dyadic level)
Key Research Question
What are more complex effect mechanisms of
perceptual congruence on IS service quality
between IS professionals and users on user
satisfaction with the IS function?

4. 15.10.2012 | Fachbereich Rechts- und Wirtschaftswissenschaften | ISE | Prof. Dr. Benlian | 4Agenda
Motivation and Research Questions
Introduction to IS Service Quality Alignment
Research Model and Hypotheses
Research Design
Key Results and Discussion

5. 15.10.2012 | Fachbereich Rechts- und Wirtschaftswissenschaften | ISE | Prof. Dr. Benlian | 5
Organisational infrastructure
and processes
IS infrastructure
and processes
Business strategy
IT strategy
External Internal
Business Information technology
Organizational designIS design
Strategy
alignment
Process
alignment
The Strategic Alignment Model and
IS Services
Source: Henderson/Venkatraman (1993)
IS service
demand
IS service
supply

6. 15.10.2012 | Fachbereich Rechts- und Wirtschaftswissenschaften | ISE | Prof. Dr. Benlian | 6The 4 Key FactorsofIS Service Quality
(IS-adaptedSERVQUAL)
ReliabilityAbility to perform the promised service dependably and accurately.
ResponsivenessWillingness to help customers and provide prompt service.
Rapport
IS service provider’s ability to convey a rapport of knowledgeable, caring,
and courteous support.
TangiblesPhysical facilities, equipment, user manuals and appearance of personnel.
Source: based on Watson et al. (1995); Kettinger et al. (2005); based on Parasuraman et al. (1988)

7. 15.10.2012 | Fachbereich Rechts- und Wirtschaftswissenschaften | ISE | Prof. Dr. Benlian | 7IS Service Quality: The Gaps Model and the
IS Department-User Interface
Business User IS department
Gap 1
Gap 2Gap 3
Gap 4
Gap 5
Gap 6
User‘s perceptions of
IS department service
Service delivery based
on IS professionals’
perceptions
IS manager’s perceptions
of user expectations
Translations of perceptions
into service quality standards
Communications by
IS professionals
to users
Word-of-mouth
communication
Personal computing
and information needs
Past experiences inside
and outside
the organization
Communications
by vendors
User expectations of
IS department service
Source: Watson et al. (1993) based on Parasuraman et al. (1985)

8. 15.10.2012 | Fachbereich Rechts- und Wirtschaftswissenschaften | ISE | Prof. Dr. Benlian | 8Agenda
Motivation and Research Questions
Introduction to IS Service Quality Alignment
Research Model and Hypotheses
Research Design
Key Results and Discussion

9. 15.10.2012 | Fachbereich Rechts- und Wirtschaftswissenschaften | ISE | Prof. Dr. Benlian | 9Perceptual Congruence in IS Research /
Wirtschaftsinformatik
Body of knowledge and research gap
• Previous studies on perceptual congruence in IS research /
Wirtschaftsinformatik are scarce: e.g.,
Requirement analysis in software development processes
(Sheetz et al. 2009)
Assessment of IS professionals (Boyd et al. 2007)
• Only few studies on the existence and natureof perceptual
congruence on IS service quality (e.g. Jiang et al. 2003); no
studies on more complex effectsof perceptual congruence or
incongruence on satisfaction
•Methodological restrictions: Prior studies evaluated the (in-)
congruence of perceptions in a simplistic fashion (i.e. juxtaposing
statistical means or using algebraic or absolute difference scores),
but what about more complex effect mechanisms?
Magnitude of perceptual congruence
Direction of perceptual incongruence
Return effects of perceptual congruence
Perceptions of IS users
on service quality
Perceptions of
IS professionals
on service quality
Gap 6
Business user IS department

10. 15.10.2012 | Fachbereich Rechts- und Wirtschaftswissenschaften | ISE | Prof. Dr. Benlian | 10Research Model
User satisfaction
with IS function
H1a-H1d
H2a-H2d
H3a-H3d
Reliability
Responsiveness
Rapport
Tangibles
Four critical dimensions
of IS service quality
Effect mechanisms of
perceptual congruence
a b c d
Magnitude of
congruence
(high vs. low)
1
Direction of
incongruence (x<y vs. y>x)*
2
Return effects of
congruence
(linear vs. nonlinear)
3
* xrepresents IS users‘ perceptions andyIS professionals‘ perceptions on IS service quality factors

11. 15.10.2012 | Fachbereich Rechts- und Wirtschaftswissenschaften | ISE | Prof. Dr. Benlian | 11Theoretical Background and Hypotheses
Magnitude of
congruence
(high vs. low)
1
Direction of
incongruence (x<y vs. y>x)*
2
Return effects of
congruence
(linear vs. nonlinear)
3
Theoretical underpinnings
• Hypothesis: The higher the congruence between IS users and IS
professionals, the higher the user satisfaction with the IS function
• Theoretical base: Cognitive dissonance theory (Festinger 1957)
• Explanation:
Cognitive dissonance theory (CDT) is based on the assumption that
individuals have a need for cognitive consistency and posits that a state
of psychological discomfortis caused by an inconsistency among a
person’s beliefs, attitudes, and/or actions. The higher the perceived
inconsistency is, the higher the felt psychological discomfort usually leading
to changes in behavior or attitude such as dissatisfaction
When IS users interact with IS professionals, they may see their perceptions
confirmed by the perceptions of the IS professionals that may be conveyed
explicitly through conversati ons or implicitly through fast replies or reliable
problem fixes. Based on this interaction , IS users may internalize IS
professionals’ perceptions as comparison standardand feel that there is
consistency of performance perceptions on IS service quality leading to
higher levels of user satisfaction
Conversely, a state of dissonancearises when IS users’ own perceptions
are inconsistent with those of the IS professionals th ey interact with resulting
in psychological discomfort and ultimately to lower levels of user satisfaction

12. 15.10.2012 | Fachbereich Rechts- und Wirtschaftswissenschaften | ISE | Prof. Dr. Benlian | 12Theoretical Background and Hypotheses
Magnitude of
congruence
(high vs. low)
1
Direction of
incongruence (x<y vs. y>x)*
2
Return effects of
congruence
(linear vs. nonlinear)
3
Theoretical underpinnings
• Hypothesis: User satisfaction with the IS function will be relatively
higher when the IS users’ perceptions of IS service quality are higher
than the IS professionals’ percepti ons rather than the other way round
• Theoretical base: Prospect theory (Kahneman & Tversky 1979)
• Explanation:
Prospect theory argues that people’s judgments and evaluations display (1)
reference dependence (carriers of value are gains and losses), (2) loss
aversion(losses loom larger than gains), and (3) diminishing
sensitivity (marginal values of both gains and losses decrease with
their absolute level). Loss aversion means that a one-unit loss is weighted
more than an equal amount of gain. With satisfaction judgments being
reference dependent too, prospect theory proposes that a one-unit decrease
in attribute performance has a larger impact on satisfaction than an equal
amount of performance increase in the same attribute
Since IS users would experience relatively higher performance
perceptions as potential gains(“good events”) that are, at least from the
user perspective, rather unlikely to lead to serious negative consequences
(such as slower IT helpdesk response times), we argue that user satisfaction
will be relatively higher when IS users hav e higher perceptions on IS service
quality compared to the other way round

13. 15.10.2012 | Fachbereich Rechts- und Wirtschaftswissenschaften | ISE | Prof. Dr. Benlian | 13
Return effects of
congruence
(linear vs. nonlinear)
Theoretical Background and Hypotheses
Magnitude of
congruence
(high vs. low)
1
Direction of
incongruence (x<y vs. y>x)*
2 3
Theoretical underpinnings
• Hypothesis: The congruence between IS users’ and the IS
professionals’ perceptions on IS service quality will have diminishing
marginal effects on user satisfaction with the IS function.
• Theoretical base: Prospect theory (Kahneman & Tversky 1979)
• Explanation:
Prospect theory also suggests that individuals’ performance evaluations
display diminishing sensitivities (or returns), so that marginal values of
performance evaluations decrease with their size
This means that at high levels of perceived performance, positive
performance on an attribute should not affect satisfaction as
dramatically as it does at lower levels of performance. This nonlinearity
has been empirically demonstrated in consumer-behavior research.
Based on the principle that “ bad is stronger than good”, we argue that
lower congruent performance perceptions of a service quality dimension will
have more significant marginal effects on overall satisfaction than higher
congruent performance perceptions.
Individuals tend to prevent and rectify bad things, and thus they are
more sensitive to negative performance perceptions than to positive ones.

14. 15.10.2012 | Fachbereich Rechts- und Wirtschaftswissenschaften | ISE | Prof. Dr. Benlian | 14Agenda
Motivation and Research Questions
Introduction to IS Service Quality Alignment
Research Model and Hypotheses
Research Design
Key Results and Discussion

15. 15.10.2012 | Fachbereich Rechts- und Wirtschaftswissenschaften | ISE | Prof. Dr. Benlian | 15Research Design
Data collection
Two-stage sampling procedure
(Boyd et al. 2007)
First stage: Requests directed at HR
departments (Hoppenstedt DB) to help
us with sample selection and survey
administration; 215 agreed to
participate
Second stage: HR professionals randomly selected matched pairs of IS
users and IS professionals
at whom we separately directed our
online surveys
Measures in survey were adopted from
previous studies (Kettinger et al. 2005;
Jiang et al. 2003)
169 matched pairsof IS users
and IS professionals;
Response rate: 8.5%
Sample Descriptives
Majority of firms in
manufacturing, logistics and
financial services
IS professionals: Customer
support unit (e.g. IT helpdesk)
of the IS department
IS users: Different business units
(e.g. marketing, sales,
operations)
Both groups had sufficient work
experience; each dyad had on
average 7.3 service encounters
over the last 6 months
Analytical Procedures
Preliminary checks of data quality
Averaging of scale-centered items
Convergent and discriminant validity tests
Polynomial Regression:*
Z = b
0
+ b
1
X + b
2
Y + b
3
X
2
+ b
4
XY + b
5
Y
2
+ e
Xrepresents IS-user rated IS-SQ factors,
YIS-professional rated IS-SQ factors, and
Zindicates user satisfaction
Response Surface Analysis:
Analysis of salient features of response
surfaces, i.e. location of stationary point,
principal axes and the slopes along line of
congruence (Y=X), line of incongruence
(Y=-X) and the principal axes
Non-response bias was
not a pervasive threat
4 polynomial regression
equations and4 response
surfaces (for each IS SQ factor)
Source: *Edwards et al. (1993); Edwards (2002)

16. 15.10.2012 | Fachbereich Rechts- und Wirtschaftswissenschaften | ISE | Prof. Dr. Benlian | 16Agenda
Motivation and Research Questions
Introduction to IS Service Quality Alignment
Research Model and Hypotheses
Research Design
Key Results and Discussion

17. 15.10.2012 | Fachbereich Rechts- und Wirtschaftswissenschaften | ISE | Prof. Dr. Benlian | 17Key Results –Reliability and Responsiveness
Non-standardized regression coefficients User satisfaction (Z)
IS-SQX
b1
Y
b2
X
2
b3
XY
b4
Y
2
b5
R
2
∆R
2
F
H
Reliability 0.472
**
-0.121 -0.105 0.164
*
-0.203
*
0.221
**
0.038
**
1.046
Responsiveness 0.494
***
-0.169 -0.104 0.299
**
-0.225
**
0.254
**
0.052
**
1.215
Note: X, IS user-rated values; Y, IS professional-rated values; X
2
, IS user-rated values squared; XY, interaction of IS user- and IS professional-rated values;
Y
2
, IS professional-rated values squared; va lues presented in the column labeled R
2
indicate the variance explained in user satisfaction by the IS-SQ predictors, entered simultaneously, and
∆R
2
indicates the incremental variance accounted for by the quadratic, higher-order terms; the column F
H
contains F-ratios for the test of higher-or der terms, which include the four cubic terms
X
3
, X
2
Y, XY
2
, Y
3
. The coefficients of the IS-SQ factors were tested using the standard errors reported by polynomial regression output using PA SW Statistics 18.0; *p<0.1; **p<0.05; ***p<0.01
-2
0
2
4
6
-3
-2
-1
0
1
2
3
-3
-2
-1
0
1
2
3
User satisfaction
Z
X
R
eliability rated by
I
S users
Y
Reliability rated by
IS professionals
-2 0 2 4 6
35.4°
52.5°
-2
0
2
4
6
-3
-2
-1
0
1
2
3
-3
-2
-1
0
1
2
3
User satisfaction
Z
X
R
esponsiveness rated by
IS users
Y
Responsiveness rated by
IS professionals
-2 0 2 4 6
36.1°
54.3°

18. 15.10.2012 | Fachbereich Rechts- und Wirtschaftswissenschaften | ISE | Prof. Dr. Benlian | 18Cross-sections
Reliability
Responsiveness
Line of perfect
congruence
Line of perfect
incongruence
• Sign. growing
slope (H1 ok)
• Decreasing
return effects,
but not significant
(H3 rejected)
• Steeper decline
of satisfaction
when user
perceptions are
relatively lower
(H2 ok)

19. 15.10.2012 | Fachbereich Rechts- und Wirtschaftswissenschaften | ISE | Prof. Dr. Benlian | 19Key Results –Tangibles
Non-standardized regression coefficients User satisfaction (Z)
IS-SQX
b1
Y
b2
X
2
b3
XY
b4
Y
2
b5
R
2
∆R
2
F
H
Tangibles-0.108 0.463
**
-0.194
*
0.265
*
-0.093 0.234
**
0.035
**
1.577
*p<0.05; **p<0.01; ***p<0.001
-2
0
2
4
6
-3
-2
-1
0
1
2
3
-3
-2
-1
0
1
2
3
User satisfaction
Z
X
T
angibles rated by
IS users
Y
Tangibles rated by
IS professionals
-2 0 2 4 6
51.5°
34.5°
Line of perfect
congruence
Line of perfect
incongruence
• Sign. growing
slope (H1 ok)
• Decreasing
return effects,
but not significant
(H3 rejected)
• Steeper decline
of satisfaction
when user
perceptions are
relatively higher
(H2 rejected)

20. 15.10.2012 | Fachbereich Rechts- und Wirtschaftswissenschaften | ISE | Prof. Dr. Benlian | 20Key Results –Rapport
Non-standardized regression coefficients User satisfaction (Z)
IS-SQX
b1
Y
b2
X
2
b3
XY
b4
Y
2
b5
R
2
∆R
2
F
H
Rapport0.506
**
0.520
*
-0.097 -0.009 -0.092 0.450
***
0.029 --
*p<0.05; **p<0.01; ***p<0.001
-2
0
2
4
6
-3
-2
-1
0
1
2
3
-3
-2
-1
0
1
2
3
User satisfaction
Z
X
Rapport rated by
IS users
Y
Rapport rated by
IS professionals
-2 0 2 4 6
26.2°
25.6°
Line of perfect
congruence
Line of perfect
incongruence
• Sign. growing
slope (H1 ok)
• Decreasing
return effects,
significant !!!
(H3 ok)
• Symmetrical decline
of satisfaction
in both directions
(H2 rejected)

21. 15.10.2012 | Fachbereich Rechts- und Wirtschaftswissenschaften | ISE | Prof. Dr. Benlian | 21Summary ofFindings
IS-SQ
dimension
Effect mechanisms of perceptual (in-)congruence
on user satisfaction
Magnitude Return Effects Direction*
Results Explanation Results Explanation Results Explanation
Tangible
Supported
User satisfaction
increases with
increasing
perceptual
congruence and
absolute levels
of perceptions
Not supported Linear effect Not supported x<y
Reliability
Supported Not supported Linear effect Supported x>y
Respon-
siveness
Supported Not supported Linear effect Supported x>y
Rapport
Supported Supported Nonlinear effect Not supported x=y
* x represents IS users‘ perceptions and y IS professionals‘ perceptions of IS service quality factors;
for example, x>y means that our findings indicated that user satisfaction was relatively higher when the IS users’ perceptions of IS service
quality were higher than the IS professionals’ perceptions rather than the other way round

22. 15.10.2012 | Fachbereich Rechts- und Wirtschaftswissenschaften | ISE | Prof. Dr. Benlian | 22Discussion Implications
for Practice
for Research
• The study provides a more comprehensive understanding of the effect
mechanisms (i.e. not only existence but also direction and return
effects) of congruence/ incongruence between IS users and IS
professionals
• Contribution to strategic/functional alignment (i.e. IT governance)
researchby considering the inter-personal, dyadic level
• Contributions to user satisfaction researchby showing that perceptual
congruence can, in and of itself, have an impact on user satisfaction
•Design of the interaction and communicationbetween IS professionals
and IS users to increase user satisfaction and continued IS use
• Regular assessments of IS users‘ and IT professionals‘ perceptions on
relevant IS service quality factors as a diagnostic (and consensus-
building) instrumentto bring perceptions into alignment/agreement (e.g.
standardized interviews with IS users and IS staff in regular user
panels/workshops, cross-functional teams etc.)

23. 15.10.2012 | Fachbereich Rechts- und Wirtschaftswissenschaften | ISE | Prof. Dr. Benlian | 23Matched Interviews of IS Professionals and
IS Users: The Example of vbw (Verband der bayerischen Wirtschaft)
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Reliability
Responsiveness
Competence
Tangibles
Empathy
…
Zone between perceptions of IS users of business units and IS
professionals of the IT department
Perceived IS service quality (IS users)
Perceived IS service quality (IS professionals)
Future target based on workshops with IS users and professionals
Low High
CASE
STUDY

24. 15.10.2012 | Fachbereich Rechts- und Wirtschaftswissenschaften | ISE | Prof. Dr. Benlian | 24Somereflectionson mypersonal pathoflife
in academia • Most valuable experiences: (research) stay abroad, working in a highly
dynamic environment in the industry (practical experience)
• Research method follows research question
• Go out of the building right from the start and get feedback on your
research ideas (from fellow researchers, editors, practitioners, etc.)
• Rigorous methods AND good storytelling (writing capabilities)

25. 15.10.2012 | Fachbereich Rechts- und Wirtschaftswissenschaften | ISE | Prof. Dr. Benlian | 25Thank you for your attention.