E-service: enhancing internal customer service through e-procurement

E-business developments represent a significant step in the evolution of inter-organisational systems (IOS). Their impact on external supply chains is a major area of discussion and analysis in the literature, principally examining issues of governance structure and process efficiencies. This paper, however, addresses issues relating to the impact of e-business developments on internal customer service with a focus on electronic procurement introduction in other words it concentrates on the intra-organisational system dynamics of e-business. The procurement process is the basis for one of the primary internal customer-provider interfaces and thus presents a valid and useful domain of study in internal customer service. In contributing to the emerging e-service field the article first contends that much of the recent research into e-service has taken a primarily external customer focus. However, reports suggest that the potential of e-business comes from applications both within and between businesses. Consequently, this paper focuses on the findings relating to internal e-service obtained from an extensive, primarily qualitative and exploratory, research programme incorporating 97 organisations. The article concludes that internal customer satisfaction is central to the success of e-procurement deployment and is a significant determinant of the cost benefits to be gained from its adoption