An integrative framework for IS quality management
Communications of the ACM, Sep 2000, Vol. 43 Issue 9, p99, 6p
Stylianou, Antonis C.; Kumar, Ram L.
As an extension of total quality management (TQM), this paper addresses the six dimensions of IS quality and proposes a framework for integrating IS processes and non-IS processes to satisfy the quality expectations of internal and external stakeholders. Of the six quality dimensions, "administrative quality" and "service quality" are rightly emphasized as a part of the "holistic view of quality in the IS function from the perspective of an IS manager." These two factors have not received adequate attention in the TQM approach, perhaps because TQM originated in manufacturing environments. The authors sound convincing when they state that "service quality should not be an afterthought, but a necessity if the IS organization wants customers for its next product." While the paper is well conceived and pointedly identifies the gaps in the existing literature on IS quality, it is not a research paper, as the authors have not conducted any experiments to complement their literature review. (Incidentally, there is an error in Figure 2. The gray block should be labeled "IS Products/Services" rather than "Non-IS Products/Services," which are denoted by a brown block.) The next step in researching this interesting and highly topical subject would be to implement the framework proposed in the paper, and evaluate its relative effectiveness. Until then, this paper may only be of prescriptive interest for IS managers.

ISE Categories:  Service Quality