Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
Chapter 1
IT-Enabled Services
Shiro Uesugi
1.1
Introduction
In this chapter, the concepts and theories of IT-enabled Services (ITeS) are
revisited. In general, “IT” stands for “Information Technology.” In the discussion
of ITeS, however, “IT” should include “Communication” so that “ITeS” means
“Information Communication Technology-enabled Services.”
It is important to make this clarification in considering the “Service” aspects
taken up in the following sections. The rapid development and penetration of IT in
people's daily lives and the consequent drastic changes in society are primarily due
to the advancements in the fields of IT and communications. Therefore, even
though IT implies “communication,” it is necessary to reaffirm this implication.
This chapter looks at previous works on the stage theory developed by Nolan in
1973
. After reviewing Nolan's original theory, the work of Shimada and Takahara
(
1993
), a Japanese scholar's development of this theory, is presented.
The review of previous work continues with a detailed study of Reponen et al.
(
2003a
), whose topic contains the term ITeS in the title, “Information Technology-
Enabled Global Customer Services.” This topic, co-written with a team that
includes Harvard Business School Professor F. Warren McFarlan, is the very first
topic dedicated to the study of ITeS.
It has been nearly 10 years since Reponen et al. published their work. Since then,
however, there has been limited research dedicated to ITeS like Treebhoohu (
2012
)
and Tsokota (
2011
). Our work since 2008 (Uesugi
2008
; Dan et al.
2009
; Okada and
Uesugi
2009
,
2010
,
2011
,
2012
) aims to continue the efforts to study ITeS.
Second, this chapter considers the implications of technical transformation from
analog to digital technology. It is necessary to review this before studying the
aspects of IT relating to services. Reviews of the development of digitization and its