anexploratorystudy
PaulineRatnasingam
DepartmentofComputerInformationSystems,
HarmonCollegeofBusinessAdministration,
UniversityofCentralMissouri,Warrensburg,Missouri,USA
Abstract
Purpose –Thepurposeofthispaperistoexaminetheroleofthebalancedscorecardmethodologyin
webservicesquality.Abalancedscorecardframeworkisdevelopedforwebservicesqualityby
identifyingcriticalsuccessfactorsthatmakeupthebusinessobjectives,measures,targets,andinitiatives.
Design/methodology/approach –Theframeworkofwebservicesqualityapplyingthebalanced
scorecardmethodologyisdevelopedbyintegratingthetheoryofbalancedscorecardandwebservices.
Then,casestudieswithtwoorganizationsintheagriculturalindustryaredeployedtotestthe
frameworkofthebalancedscorecard.
Findings –Thefindingsoftheexploratorycasestudiessuggestacyclicprocessthatwascreated
withtheuseofthebalancedscorecardapproachtoevaluatethequalityofwebservicesapplications
andinordertointegratequalityandtoprovideastrategicmapandindicatehowinformationwillbe
disseminatedsothatthepotentialuseofwebservicescanbeattained.
Practicalimplications –Thestudycontributestopractitionersastheywillhaveasystemwhich
willprovidethemwithtimely,cost-effective,scalable,manageable,andreliablefeedbackontheir
strategicperformance.Further,thebalancedscorecardgivesaholisticviewofthefirmsby
simultaneouslyexaminingitsperformancefromfourperspectives;namelylearningandgrowth,
internalbusinessprocesses,customer,andfinancialperspectives.
Originality/value –Unlikepreviousresearchthatusesthebalancedscorecardtomeasurethe
economicimpactonthefirm.Thispaperdiscussestheroleofthebalancedscorecardmethodologyin
improvingtheservicequalityoffirmsusingwebservices.Further,itprovideslessonslearned,asin
measuresthatfirmscanbeawareofinthequalityoftheservicestheyprovide.
Keywords Internet,Servicelevels,Qualitymanagement,Balancedscorecard
Papertype Researchpaper
Introduction
Theinternethasrevolutionizedthecapacitytoshareinformationacrossorganizations,
resultinginradicaltransformationsoforganizationalpracticesforprocuringsupplies,
deliveringgoodsandservices,andcarryingoutfinancialtransactions.Regardlessofthe
sizeorscopeoforganizationsaroundtheglobe,businessesareadoptingwebservices.
Overtherecentyears,anewpromiseaboutthepotentialoftheinternethasemerged–
webservices.Thispromisegoesbymanydifferentnames–IBMtouts“WebServices,”
Microsoftcallsit“.Net,”Oraclerefersto“NetworkServices,”andSuntalksabout“Open
NetworkEnvironment”(HagelandBrown,2001).Wedefinewebservicesas“modular
internet-basedbusinessfunctionsthatperformspecificbusinesstaskstofacilitate
businessinteractionswithinandbeyondtheorganization.”Thisstudyaimsto
investigateandexaminetheimpactofthebalancedscorecardinwebservicesquality.
Thecurrentissueandfulltextarchiveofthisjournalisavailableat
www.emeraldinsight.com/1056-9219.htm
Applyingthe
balanced
scorecard
127
InternationalJournalofCommerce
andManagement
Vol.19No.2,2009
pp.127-136
q EmeraldGroupPublishingLimited
1056-9219
DOI10.1108/10569210910967888Howdoesthebalancedscorecardmethodologyimpactthequalityandusageofweb
services,therebyinfluencingitsperformanceoutcomes?Previousresearchfocusedon
technological,operational,andinfrastructurecapabilitiessuchasreducingthecostof
applicationdevelopment,systemsintegration,andincreasinginteroperabilityamong
heterogeneoussoftwarecomponents,applications,andplatforms(Astor,2003;Iyer etal.,
2003;Pulier,2003).However,theneedforqualitymanagementandperformance
measurementmanagementiscriticalespeciallytodayduetothreereasons.First,the
recentcorporateaccountingscandalshaveforcedorganizationstoprovidegreater
disclosure.FirmssuchasEnron,Xerox,andWorld.comwereengagedinunethical
accountingpractices.Second,theneedtorelyonfinancialmeasuresofperformancein
ordertoidentifysuccess;andlastly,theinabilityofmanyorganizationstosuccessfully
executetheirstrategies.Only10percentoftheorganizationsexecutetheir
implementationstrategybecausetheyexperiencebarriersinformulatingavision,
allocatingresources,humanresources,andmanagingchange(Niven,2003).Further,
organizationsaroundtheglobeareadoptingthebalancedscorecardperformance
managementsystem.Infact,recentestimatessuggestthat50percentoftheFortune
1000firmshaveimplementedthebalancedscorecardperformancemanagementsystem.
Businessmanagersandotherbusinessleadersareoftenconfrontedwiththerealityof
theirbusinessperformance.“Ifyoucan’tmeasureit,youcan’tmanageit.”Inotherwords,
effectiveperformancemanagementrequiresaccurateperformancemeasurement.
Abalancedscorecardisasetofquantifiablemeasuresthataimtomonitorandmanage
afirm’sstrategicperformance.Itisusedtocommunicatetoemployeesandexternal
stakeholderstheoutcomesandperformancedriversbywhichfirmsaimtoachievetheir
objectives.Thebalancedscorecardservesthreepurposes;first,asameasurementsystem
monitoringperformance.Second,asacommunicationtoolprovidingdiagnosticfeedback
oftheirperformance;andlastly,asastrategicmanagementsystemfocusingonthesmall
businessvisions.Infact,recentestimatesonlysuggestthat50percentoftheFortune1000
firmshaveimplementedthebalancedscorecard.
Wedevelopabalancedscorecardframeworkforwebservicesusageandqualityin
firmsbyidentifyingcriticalsuccessfactorsthatmakeupthesmallbusinessobjectives,
measures,targets,andinitiatives.Therestofthepaperisstructuredasfollows:inthe
nextsectionwediscussthetheorybehindwebservicesandthebalancedscorecard
leadingtothedevelopmentoftheframework.Wethentesttheframeworkintwocase
studiesintheagriculturalindustryandreportthefindings.Finally,wediscussthe
lessonslearnedandthecontributionsofthisstudy.Thefindingswillinform,educate,
andpromotebusinessesontheimportanceofthequalityofwebservices.
Literaturereview:webservicesandthebalancedscorecard
Webserviceshavebecomeasignificantpartofsmallbusinessusedtofacilitatethe
seamlessflowofbusinesstransactions.Webservicesareknowntoofferbenefitsto
firmsthathaveadoptedtheirtechnology.Webservicesareapplicabletoanytypeof
webenvironment,internet,intranet,orextranets.WebservicescansupportB2C,B2B,
department-to-department,orpeer-to-peerinteractions.Webservicesareuniqueinthe
sensethattheyareindependent,canexistonanyplatforms,communicateseamlessly,
andhasself-containedandself-describingfeaturesthatmakeiteasytouse.Through
theorchestrationofmodular,looselycoupledsoftwarecomponents,webservices
enablean“assemblelineapproach”tosoftwaredevelopment,resultinginaresponsive


















