Offering Appropriate Information Technologies at Different Stages in the Customer Service Life Cycle for Improved Service Delivery

The service sector is growing in importance in the US, particularly in B2B contexts. Despite this, research in these areas lags behind manufacturing and B2C studies. The purpose of this article is to begin addressing this issue by looking at how information technology can improve service delivery in B2B contexts by looking at the fit between the CSLC and a mix of customer contact technology modes. Specifically, we look at how Web 2.0 technologies facilitate interorganizational communication even for small and medium businesses by providing a wider variety of technologies at a lower cost. This allows businesses to use technology to reduce business customer uncertainty and equivocality, hence improving the quality of their service delivery. Due to the increasing use of the Internet as a source of communication and the evolution of customer expectations, this is becoming an increasingly important research topic. Propositions and implications are presented.