Outsourcing and Customer Satisfaction: A Study Of PC Help-Desk Services

Outsourcing of services to low-cost providers overseas has grown significantly in recent years. However, US customers have expressed dissatisfaction with some of the outsourced IT services, resulting in serious financial implications to businesses. This quantitative research study sought to find the determinants of customer satisfaction of outsourced help-desk services in the PC industry.
Based on a survey of 466 PC users in the United States, a new framework of customer satisfaction was developed with seven determinants:
„«Compassionate responsiveness
„«Sincerity
„«Clarity of issue
„«Technical dependability
„«Trust
„«Follow-up
„«Quality of communication.
Training of help-desk service providers in attitudinal, technical, and communication competencies based on these seven determinants has been recommended for improving customer satisfaction, thus benefiting firms and their stakeholders.

Dr. Vellore Sunder has vast global business management experience spanning more than 30 years and has lived and worked in India, the Middle East, and USA. His experience encompasses areas of global project sales, supply chain, marketing, and executive management. Widely travelled in more than 20 countries, Dr. Sunder has a wealth of practical business insights from dealing with global corporations. Dr. Sunder has MBAs from Indian Institute of Management and University of Oklahoma, and a Doctorate in Business Administration from the University of Phoenix. Dr. Sunder's research and consulting interests include global strategies, outsourcing, customer satisfaction studies, and global procurement. He is currently the Director of Academic Affairs at the Houston Campus of the University of Phoenix. Contact: vellor@yahoo.com