The T-form organization: using technology to design organizations for the 21st century
The T-form organization: using technology to design organizations for the 21st century
Information and Management
Online Customer Care: Applying Today's Technology to Achieve World-Class Customer Interaction
Online Customer Care: Applying Today's Technology to Achieve World-Class Customer Interaction
A dual-level analysis of the capability development process: A case study of TT&T
Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology
Development of an automatic customer service system on the internet
Electronic Commerce Research and Applications
An enhanced genetic approach to optimizing auto-reply accuracy of an e-learning system
Computers & Education
Firm-level benefits of IT-enabled resources: A conceptual extension and an empirical assessment
The Journal of Strategic Information Systems
Contact center: information systems design
Journal of Intelligent Manufacturing
Information Systems Frontiers
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A call center and its associated information technology (IT) provide an opportunity to redesign and improve service-delivery operations. Managers at all levels should understand the role of organizational design as call centers are established or expanded, in particular the relative centralization (distribution of authority) associated with delivering services to customers. This article argues that centralization moderates and influences the organization's efforts to improve customer service through the implementation of the call center and its IT. If managers fall to capitalize on the particular way that centralization moderates between IT and competitive strategy, the organization may not enjoy an important benefit of the call center, which is competitive advantage through increased efficiency and improved customer service. Based on survey responses from 68 call-center managers, the authors found that both centralization and decentralization are associated with call-center service operations. While the call center provides managers with the ability to influence decision-making (centralization), there are also opportunities for agents in the call center to exercise authority in managing the organization's communications with customers (decentralization). Implications for organizational practice are considered.