Organizational issues and its impact on the performance of service desk staff members in providing quality service

When implementing and maintaining information systems, companies do not always realise what impact it has on end users of such systems and particularly with regard to the performance of service desk staff members. It is for example important to understand the frustrations and concerns of end users and clients in this regard. Mcbride [26] states: “... Although new information systems are acquired and implemented the core centre of the IT sector has moved towards service provision and service improvement”. In this paper we investigate how organizational issues impact on the supportive role of service desks operations which is of course dependent on the availability and smooth running of supportive information systems. Six in depth case studies were analysed and a conceptual framework is proposed that not only explains the role and impact of organizational issues on the performance of service desks, but also serves as guideline for managing these issues in relationship to the performance of service desks in general.