Customer service and complaints handling practices of the Internet industry in Australia : an institutional perspective

Abstract

Rapid technological changes and strong rates of service growth in the Internet industry call for development of responsive and sustainable consumer protection policies that deliver desirable outcomes to Internet customers. Internet Service Providers (ISPs) in Australia are faced with numerous challenges in meeting customer service expectations. Careful critique and examination of academic literature identified customer service (CS) and complaints handling (CH) as the top two Internet service issues discussed in the context of poor performance of ISPs. The ability of the co-regulatory Telecommunications Consumer Protection (TCP) code to deal with emerging and new CS issues is important for ensuring consistent CS performance. Although ISPs operate as a part of a complex interdependent social, economic and political network, little research has been carried out on the institutional pressures that operate in the ISP industry and their influence on the CS/CH practices of very large ISPs (vLISPs). Studying institutional pressures is important to understand how and why vLISPs respond to institutional pressures, and to identify central actors who influence the CS/CH practices of vLISPs and inform future CS policy formulations. This PhD study examines the institutional influences on the CS and CH practices of the vLISPs in Australia using neo-institutional theory. Qualitative research using semi-structured interviews with senior executives from vLISP stakeholder organizations was conducted. The data was analyzed using thematic analysis and ideas from grounded theory. The study found that the CS and CH practices of vLISPs are institutionally derived practices. The institutional pressures in the form of regulatory pressures (imposed through the regulator's enforcement actions and inquiry recommendations), normative pressures (evidenced through the industry association's effort to focus on development of standardized CS practices), mimetic pressures (under-performing ISPs mimicking practices of successful ISP's CS practices) and customer pressures (customers voicing their concerns to the regulator and the consumer association) had a potent conforming influence on the CS/CH practices of the top four vLISPs. The intensification and interplay between these institutional pressures led to an increased degree of inter-organizational collaboration between the top four vLISPs and external stakeholders that created inter-organizational linkages that did not exist before. The frequent and fateful interactions between the institutional actors of the vLISP industry resulted in significant changes to that industry's CS/CH practices. The deep interactions, embedded collaboration and information exchange between the institutional actors of the vLISP industry have led to the emergence of Organizational Fields. It is argued in this thesis that there is potential for Emerging Organizational Fields to mature over time and inform future CS/CH practices. This thesis brings bodies of literature together and makes a contribution to the organizational studies literature by highlighting the importance of understanding the institutional influences on vLISP industry practices and identifying potential avenues for further research.

Date of Award	2014
Original language	English