Public Services Through Multi-Channel Issues and Challenges

The objective of this chapter is 1) to understand multi-channel architecture, integration, and management; 2) to develop a framework for citizen relationship and grievance management system for a single view; 3) as a case study, to propose framework applied to find what types of channels are providing to the citizens get access to the public services at National, State, and Local level in India; 4) as a case study, to find out challenges and issues with implementation of multi-channel services delivery. The key findings of the case study are: 1) There is no declining in providing traditional channels after introducing modern channels. 2) The departments are offering mixed channels. 3) Usage of mobile-based applications, social media, and wi-fi are in pilot basis or at initial stage. 4) Multi-channel integration and management is not yet initiated. 5) Electricity and network coverage are main issues in implementation of modern channels. However, such initiatives have some issues and challenges to the developing countries like India.

Terrestrial vs. Online Gamblers

It goes without saying that the advances of Information and Communication Technologies have brought many changes in various forms of traditional commerce including gambling industry. Nowadays, e-gambling has dramatically changed the way of wagering and is considered as one of the fastest growing sectors of contemporary e-commerce. Every day even more individuals are moving from terrestrial to online gambling venues or start wagering exclusively online taking advantage of the numerous playing options. Characteristically, the global internet gambling gross market is expected to exceed US$51 billion by 2018. Consequently, its dynamics has forced many researchers to investigate e-gambling scientific field from different perspectives trying to gain an improved insight into gamblers behavior in the cyberspace. This chapter aims to investigate the perceived advantages and disadvantages of terrestrial versus online gamblers towards e-gambling activities focusing on university students. Furthermore, it aims to identify possible similarities and differences between the two groups examined.

Platform as a Strategy

Mobile payments are a new way to pay in the digital age. The emerging mobile payments enable viable businesses through real-time and context-specific transactions between consumers and collaborating actors. Mobile payment services realize in a multi-actor digital chain. Business interactions between actors take place in a coopetitive way: simultaneous competition and collaboration. However, little knowledge exists about mobile payment innovation strategy in coopetitive markets. This paper introduces the DISCO model (dynamics of innovation strategy in a coopetitive environment). It contributes to the exploration of strategic moves by mobile payment innovators through platform ecosystems. Our results from a case study indicate that firms have the potential to be successful through collective innovation in a coopetitive environment along with the movement of their superior competencies. Moreover, the firms should pursue ways in managing the paradoxical relationships between competition and cooperation, resource allocation and combination, as well as leadership and loss-leader strategy.

Mobile Application Stickiness

While mobile application use has grown substantially in the past 10 years, research suggests that the majority of mobile applications are abandoned and often deleted shortly after being downloaded. This study seeks to explore the cognitive processes behind the decision to keep applications, while seeking to identify app characteristics, usage characteristics as well as consumer characteristics which influence mobile application stickiness. Finally, this study maps the decision processes involved in application use continuation.

User Involvement in Service Innovation Processes

This article presents the results of a study investigating user involvement in the idea generation phase of service innovation, and discusses advantages and limitations of such involvement. Specifically, the study compares the use of social media such as blogs and future workshops to generate idea for service innovations in the context of a research library. Our study shows that the blog is good in opening up for user contributions, while the future workshop involving users and employees is particularly good at qualifying and further developing ideas. The findings suggest therefore that methods for user involvement should be carefully selected and combined to achieve optimum benefits and avoid potential disadvantages.

Prioritizing the Roles of Control Mechanisms in Digital Platform

Existing literature on control in software development considers only the principal-agency relationship between controller and controlee and this view does not hold true between ecosystems leader and partners, which are independent organizations. This chapter aims to study the critical role played by inter-organizational control mechanisms in the context of mobile platform ecosystems. By utilizing opinions of 38 experts and employing an Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) approach, this chapter identifies and ranks the most important roles played by control mechanisms in digital platform. The findings show that ecosystems´ leaders primarily use control to manage or improve its central position in the network to capture a higher share of value of the service. The findings provide further insights on two other roles of control in platform ecosystems: (1) accessing complementary resources and (2) managing interdependency between partners. This chapter contributes to organizational control theory in the context of emerging platform-based ecosystem.

Privacy Concerns and Smartphone App Purchase Behavior in Malaysia

The online privacy concerns remain a top priority for every smartphone users, specifically those involved in mobile purchase activities. Studies showed that it is an important factor that affects attitude and intention to purchase smartphone apps. Although there are significant number of theories and research on the effect of privacy concerns on purchase intention in the general concepts on information systems and e-commerce, there is little evidence if the results of these findings still hold true in the mobile technology context. The objective of this chapter is to investigate the issue of privacy concerns on the attitude and purchasing intention among Malaysian smartphone users. This chapter investigates the role of privacy concerns in influencing the decision-making process. The chapter provides significant insights on the issue of privacy concerns in the usage of smartphones which can help developers such as Google and Apple to improve their apps stores to provide better protection for users' privacy and security in Malaysia.

Technological Advancements and Distortion of Notion of Place

Technological advancements now extend to mobility, place, and memory adding new complexity to the notion of place and space. Place now considered as an important concept in the context of technology adoption and the usage of data services. There is need to understand the ontology in both the digital and physical space. The aim of this paper is to propose a new extended model to analyse the ontological determinants of physical and digital space and to gain insight into the new experiences and the usage behaviour of data services. An extended model of place was generated, adopting the humanistic geographical perspective as represented by Tuan's theory, which can be served as a sensitizing device in order to interpret and analyse the collected data. The proposed extended model can assist designers, developers and researchers to understand users' experiences when interacting with their surrounding environment (physical and virtual) when adopting new technologies and using data services.

Innovativeness, Privacy, and Trust as Determinants of Electronic Tax Filing

Electronic tax (e-Tax) filing is one of the most interesting and dynamic examples of the integration of information technology and service provision between the government and citizens. However, citizens are often concerned about the use of technology due to their personal innovativeness, and lack of privacy and trust for online transactions. This chapter thus aims to investigate adoption drivers of e-Tax filing systems in Bangladesh by employing the UTAUT model. Results reveal facilitating conditions, trust, effort expectancy, performance expectancy and individual innovativeness as significant drivers in e-Tax adoption. Besides, this chapter suggests a new research agenda wherein perceived risks that can cause services like e-Tax filings to fail are addressed. Several factors that are known to exacerbate perceived risk were identified from the literature and thereafter shown as part of a proposed framework. Besides, implications for practice and research are also discussed for better planning and implementation of e-Tax services.

Technology-Based Self-Service Banking Quality Dimensions, Customer Satisfaction, and Loyalty

Technology enabled automated banking is referred to as technology-based self-service banking (TBSSB). This paper probes the relationship between TBSSB service quality, customer satisfaction and loyalty. The EFA and CFA identify and confirm the structure constituting of four factors of TBSSB service quality (Convenience, Reliability and Security, Responsiveness, and Personalization), one factor of customer satisfaction, and one factor of loyalty. The model is empirically tested for reliability and validity. AMOS is used to investigate the relationship amid dimensions using SEM. It is found that convenience and personalization have a significant effect on customer satisfaction, and personalization and customer satisfaction have a significant effect on loyalty. The two structural models (partially and fully mediated) are also developed and compared. Customer satisfaction is confirmed as a mediating factor. The study presents managerial implications covering useful insights about the TBSSB factors that need to be focused on for increasing customer satisfaction and loyalty.