Connectivity in Distributed Service Systems: The Providers’ Perspective Christoph Breidbach, Margo Buchanan-Oliver, Darl G. Kolb, and Ananth Srinivasan University of Auckland Business School Auckland, New Zealand Abstract—‘Connectivity’, an emerging metaphor for interactions in and around organizations originating from organizational studies, is known to positively influence the performance of distributed or ‘virtual’ teams. We posed the question of whether there can be too little or too much connectivity between organizational actors, and whether social or technical aspects of connectivity matter most. In this paper, we report on the analysis of the data from our survey gathered from 101 individuals within 75 Indian IT service providers. We explore the relationship between organizational performance (as represented by communication effectiveness and efficiency) and the nature of connectivity among individuals within these service systems. The results show that while having a robust technical infrastructure is important, optimizing the social dimension of connectivity is perhaps more important in the long run, to increase that system’s ability to co-create value. Keywords— Management of service computing; Service Science; Connectivity I. INTRODUCTION AND PROBLEM STATEMENT “Service” is increasingly viewed as the foundation for all economic exchange [1], [2]. Markets and corporations have shifted toward a service-oriented environment, which raises the need for new approaches towards service research [3], [4]. Spohrer et al. [5] have called for a “science of service”, aiming to provide new theories and practical advice for service firms. The role of information technology in this process has subsequently become a research priority for service science [6]. ‘Service’ in the context of ‘service science’ is generally understood as the “application of competencies (knowledge and skills) for the benefit of another party” [7], [8]. Value creation, an act of generating mutual benefit during the service engagement, moves consequently away from a “producer” or “firm” towards a collaborative process, where service and value are co-created by the service provider and customer. The involvement of the customer in this process is even seen as the prerequisite for value co-creation [9]. Every service system relies on the interaction and sharing of information with customers during service engagements. Driven by technological changes, service engagements have to a large extend shifted into virtual realms, resulting in so called technology-enabled value co-creation [10]. This is especially true for service providers who are physically dispersed from their customers. A classic example of this situation is the Indian IT service sector, typified by service providers who serve international customers. The physical dispersion between service provider and customer implies that any customer involvement typically has to occur via modern information technology. We refer to this setting as a distributed service system [11]. The world of IT-enabled service rests on the assumption that high levels of, typically, technical connectivity exists between the service provider, client and/or the consumer and that the more connectivity one has, the better the outcomes are likely to be. Yet, the notion of what exactly constitutes ‘connectivity’ and how much connectivity is necessary or optimal in service environments is a question that has received very little attention. While much is known about wired and wireless communication and we recognize the importance of high-speed Internet connections [12]. But, other forms of connectivity, e.g., social and organization, and the amount of connectivity required for successful value co- creation in service engagements, are issues that deserve further inquiry. In this research project, our intention was to examine issues surrounding the performance of distributed service systems through the lens of socio-technical connectivity following Kolb and colleagues [13], [14]. They offer a comprehensive definition of social and technical connectivity as well as a theoretical framework of ‘requisite connectivity,’ which will be discussed below. Basically, they raise the question, ‘how much is enough’ connectivity for effectiveness and efficiency in within organizational contexts. We apply this line of inquiry to the inter- organizational context of service engagements. While the question may seem superfluous given that many service providers are still struggling to get enough technical and social connectivity within and beyond their organizations, there are nonetheless theoretical and practical limits to our connective capacities, which need to be better understood in order to be better managed. Our field work was grounded in the Indian IT service provision sector which has a well-established record of global interaction. This sector is particularly suited for a study of this nature, largely due to its record of success and encouraging signs of continued growth. Despite the economic turmoil that has affected economies all over the world, the outlook for the IT service sector in India is robust. A multi-method approach was used in this project through a field study. One part of the field work gathered survey based 978-1-4673-4843-0/13/$31.00 © 2013 IEEE