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Kettinger, W. J., Lee, C. C., and Lee, S. 1995. "Global Measures of Information Services
Quality: A Cross-National Study," Decision Sciences(26:5), pp. 569-588.
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.
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