Towards a design theory for customer satisfaction-oriented IT vendor management

IT vendor management (ITVM) plays an increasingly relevant role for IT organizations; many companies already spend more than half their IT budgets on services from external providers. These providers are often in direct contact with internal IT and business staff, thus significantly impacting their satisfaction. Although recent studies reveal that companies are often dissatisfied with external IT suppliers, the ITVM literature does not propose practices that directly address customer satisfaction. We extend the ITVM literature by developing a design theory for customer satisfaction-oriented ITVM. To answer our research question, we have been conducting an action research study at a professional service company. Our work makes a twofold contribution. First, we present generalized design principles (DP) for implementing customer satisfaction-oriented ITVM. Second, we explain why these DPs should be considered by organizations seeking to enhance customer satisfaction and how these DPs should be implemented.