The advent of electronic-based service (e-service) transactions has resulted in numerous operational challenges for service providers. Extending previous service management insights, this article offers a provider-based framework identifying four overarching types of online interactions useful for advancing understanding on the design and delivery of quality e-service encounters. This framework allows for examination of the amount of service intervention, the degree of user participation, and the type of user connection underlying online interactions for both Web 1.0 and Web 2.0 applications and platforms. The article discusses how the quality of each e-service encounter type—informational, self-directive, intervenient, and intensive— requires, from a systems quality and operational standpoint, the management of three elements (i.e., target market, concept, and delivery system) underlying the firm’s e-service operations strategy. The article proposes promising areas in e-service encounter quality research where further investigation of design and delivery issues is urgently needed. One immediate implication stemming from this framework is that there is likely no single best strategy or approach to designing and delivering effective (i.e., quality) online moments of truth. What is required is the apt configuration of strategic e-service elements underlying each distinct e-service encounter type vis-à-vis critical e-service system quality dimensions (e.g., manageability, reliability, usability).
Alter, Alexandra ( 2007), "Is This Man Cheating On His Wife?"Wall Street Journal, August 10. http://online.wsj.com/public/article_print/SB118670164592393622.html (accessed April 28, 2008).
2.
Ba, Sulin and Wayne C. Johansson ( 2008), "An Exploratory Study of the Impact of E-Service Process on Online Customer Satisfaction," Production and Operations Management, 17 (1), 107-119.
3.
Bitner, Mary Jo, William T. Faranda, Amy R. Hubbert, and Valarie A. Zeithaml (1997), "Customer Contributions and Roles in Service Delivery," International Journal of Service Industry Management, 8 (3), 193-205.
4.
Boyer, Kenneth K., Roger Hallowell, and Aleda V. Roth (2002), "E-Services: Operating Strategy-A Case Study and a Method For Analyzing Operational Benefits," Journal of Operations Management, 20 (2), 175-188.
5.
Brohman, M. Kathryn, Gabriele Piccoli, Pat Martin, Farhana Zulkernine, A. Parasuraman, and Richard T. Watson (2009), "A Design Theory Approach to Building Strategic Net-Based Customer Service Systems," Decision Sciences, 40 (3), 403-430.
6.
Buzacott, John A. ( 2000), "Service System Structure," International Journal of Production Economics, 68 (1), 15-27.
7.
Chase, Richard B. ( 1981), "The Customer Contact Approach to Services: Theoretical Bases and Practical Extensions," Operations Research, 29 (4), 698-706.
8.
Chase, Richard B. ( 2000), "The 10 Commandments of E-Service," Marshall, Summer, 41-43.
9.
Fassnacht, Martin and Ibrahim Koese ( 2006), "Quality of Electronic Services: Conceptualizing and Testing a Hierarchical Model," Journal of Service Research , 9 (1), 19-37.
10.
Feigenbaum, Lee, Ivan Herman, Tonya Hongsermeier, Eric Neumann, and Susie Stephens ( 2007), "The Semantic Web in Action," Scientific American, December, 90-97.
11.
Field, Joy M., Gregory R. Heim, and Kingshuk K. Sinha (2004), "Managing Quality in the E-Service System: Development and Application of a Process Model," Production and Operations Management, 13 (4), 291-306.
12.
Froehle, Craig M. and Aleda V. Roth ( 2004), "New Measurement Scales for Evaluating Perceptions of the Technology-Mediated Customer Service Experience," Journal of Operations Management, 22 (1), 1-21.
13.
Grover, Varun and Manoj K. Malhotra ( 1999), "A Framework for Examining the Interface Between Operations and Information Systems: Implications for Research in the New Millennium ," Decision Sciences, 30 (4), 901-920.
14.
Heim, Gregory R. ( 2005), "Mass Customization in Videotape Duplication and Conversion: Challenges of Flexible Duplication Systems, Fast Delivery, and Electronic Service," International Journal of Flexible Manufacturing Systems, 16 (14), 363-397.
15.
Heim, Gregory R. and Joy M. Field ( 2007), "Process Drivers of E-Service Quality: Analysis of Data From an Online Rating Site," Journal of Operations Management , 25 (5), 962-984.
16.
Heim, Gregory R. and Kingshuk K. Sinha ( 2001a), "A Product-Process Matrix for Electronic B2C Operations: Implications for the Delivery of Customer Value," Journal of Service Research, 4 (3), 286-299.
17.
Heim, Gregory R. and Kingshuk K. Sinha ( 2001b), "Operational Drivers of Customer Loyalty in Electronic Retailing: An Empirical Analysis of Electronic Food Retailers," Manufacturing and Service Operations Management, 3 (3), 264-271.
18.
Heim, Gregory R. and Kingshuk K. Sinha ( 2002), "Service Process Configurations in Electronic Retailing: A Taxonomic Analysis of Electronic Food Retailers," Production and Operations Management, 11 (1), 54-74.
19.
Holloway, Betsy B. and Sharon E. Beatty ( 2003), "Service Failure in Online Retailing: A Recovery Opportunity ," Journal of Service Research, 6 (1), 92-105.
20.
Holloway, Betsy Bugg and Sharon E. Beatty ( 2008), "Satisfiers and Dissatisfiers in the Online Environment ," Journal of Service Research, 10 (4), 347-364.
21.
IfM and IBM (2008), Succeeding Through Service Innovation- A Service Perspective for Education, Research, Business and Government, white paper, Cambridge, UK: University of Cambridge Institute for Manufacturing.
22.
Klassen, Robert D. and Larry J. Menor ( 2007), "The Process Management Triangle: An Empirical Investigation of Process Trade-Offs," Journal of Operations Management, 25 (5), 1015-1034.
23.
Koufaris, Marios ( 2002). "Applying the Technology Acceptance Model and Flow Theory to Online Customer Behavior," Information Systems Research , 13 (2), 205-223.
24.
Massey, Anne P., Vijay Khatri, and Mitzi M. Montoya-Weiss (2007), "Usability of Online Services: The Role of Technology Readiness and Context," Decision Sciences , 38 (2), 277-308.
25.
McAfee, Andrew P. ( 2006), "Enterprise 2.0: The Dawn of Emergent Collaboration ," MIT Sloan Management Review, Spring, 21-28.
26.
Menor, Larry J., Mohan V. Tatikonda, and Scott E. Sampson (2002), "New Service Development: Areas for Exploitation and Exploration," Journal of Operations Management, 20 (2) 135-157.
27.
Metters, Richard and Ann Marucheck ( 2007), "Service Management- Academic Issues and Scholarly Reflections From Operations Management Researchers," Decision Sciences , 38 (2), 195-214.
28.
Meuter, Matthew L., Amy L. Ostrom, Robert I. Roundtree, and Mary Jo Bitner (2000), "Self-Service Technologies: Understanding Customer Satisfaction With Technology-Based Service Encounters ," Journal of Marketing, 64 (July), 50-64.
29.
Parasuraman, A., Valarie A. Zeithaml, and Arvind Malhotra (2005), "E-S-QUAL: A Multiple-Item Scale for Assessing Electronic Service Quality," Journal of Service Research, 7 (3), 213-233.
30.
Parasuraman, A. and George M. Zinkhan ( 2002), "Marketing to and Serving Customers Through the Internet: An Overview and Research Agenda," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 30 (4), 286-295.
31.
Patrício, Lia, Raymond P. Fisk, and João Falcão e Cunha (2008), "Designing Multi-Interface Service Experiences-The Service Experience Blueprint," Journal of Service Research, 10 (4), 318-334.
32.
Piccoli, Gabriele, M. KathrynBrohman, RichardT. Watson, and A. Parasuraman ( 2004). "Net-Based Customer Service Systems: Evolution and Revolution in Web Site Functionalities," Decision Sciences , 35 (3), 423-455.
33.
Porter, Joshua ( 2008), Designing for the Social Web. Berkeley, CA: New Riders.
34.
Pullman, Madeleine E. and Michael A. Gross ( 2004), "Ability of Experience Design Elements to Elicit Emotions and Loyalty Behaviors," Decision Sciences, 35 (3), 551-578.
35.
Rai, Arun and Vallabh Sambamurthy ( 2006), "The Growth of Interest in Service Management: Opportunities for Information Systems Scholars," Information Systems Research , 17 (4), 327-331.
36.
Roth, Aleda V. and Larry J. Menor ( 2003), "Insights Into Service Operations Management: A Research Agenda," Production and Operations Management, 12 (2), 145-164.
37.
Rowley, Jennifer ( 2006), "An Analysis of the E-Service Literature: Towards a Research Agenda," Internet Research, 16 (3), 339-359.
38.
Rust, Roland T. and Katherine N. Lemon ( 2001), "E-Service and the Consumer," International Journal of Electronic Commerce, 5 (3), 85-101.
39.
Sampson, Scott E. and Craig M. Froehle ( 2006), "Foundations and Implications of a Proposed Unified Services Theory," Production and Operations Management, 15 (2), 329-343.
40.
Schmenner, Roger W. ( 2004), "Service Businesses and Productivity," Decision Sciences, 35 (3), 333-347.
41.
Shadbolt, Nigel, Wendy Hall, and Tim Berners-Lee (2006), "The Semantic Web Revisited ," IEEE Intelligent Systems, 21 (3) 96-101.
42.
Shostack, G. Lynn ( 1985), "Planning the Service Encounter," in The Service Encounter: Managing Employee/Customer Interaction in Service Businesses , J. A. Czepiel, M. R. Solomon, and C. F. Surprenant, eds. Lexington, MA: Lexington Books, 243-253.
43.
Shuen, Amy ( 2008), Web 2.0: A Strategy Guide. Sebastopal , CA: O’Reilly Media.
44.
Sousa, Rui and Christopher A. Voss ( 2006), "Service Quality in Multichannel Services Employing Virtual Channels," Journal of Service Research, 8 (4), 356-371.
45.
Sun Professional Services ( 2001), Dot-Com & Beyond. Palo Alto, CA : Sun Microsystems Press.
46.
Tsikriktsis, Nikos ( 2004), "A Technology Readiness-Based Taxonomy of Customers: A Replication and Extension," Journal of Service Research , 7 (1), 42-52.
47.
Verhoef, Peter C., Gerrit Antonides, and Arnoud N. de Hoog (2004), "Service Encounters as a Sequence of Events-The Importance of Peak Experiences," Journal of Service Research, 7 (1), 53-64.
48.
Venkatesh, Viswanath ( 2006), "Where to Go From Here? Thoughts on Future Directions for Research on Individual-Level Technology Adoptions With a Focus on Decision Making," Decision Sciences, 37 (4), 497-518.
49.
Xue, Mei and Patrick T. Harker ( 2002), "Customer Efficiency: Concept and Its Impact on E-Business Management," Journal of Service Research, 4 (4), 253-267.
50.
Zeithaml, Valarie A., A. Parasuraman, and Arvind Malhotra (2002), "Service Quality Delivery Through Web Sites: A Critical Review of Extant Knowledge," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 30 (4), 362-375.
