Towards a typology of structural arrangements for shared services: evidence from the higher education sector
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GENERAL RESEARCH
Towards a typology of structural arrangements for shared services: evidence from the higher education sector Suraya Miskon & Erwin Fielt & Wasana Bandara & Guy Gable
Received: 17 October 2011 / Accepted: 19 October 2012 / Published online: 13 January 2013 # Institute of Information Management, University of St. Gallen 2013
Abstract Shared services are increasingly prevalent in practice, their introduction potentially entailing substantive and highly consequential organizational redesign. Yet, attention to the structural arrangements of shared services has been limited. This study explores types of structural arrangements for shared services that are observed in practice, and the salient dimensions along which those types can be usefully differentiated. Through inductive attention to the shared services literature, and content analysis of 36 secondary case studies of shared services in the higher education sector, three salient dimensions emerged: (1) the existence or not of a separate organizational entity, (2) an intra- or inter-organizational sharing boundary, and (3) involvement or not of a third party. Each dimension being dichotomous yields 23 combinations, or eight shared services structural arrangement types. Each of the eight structural arrangement types is defined and demonstrated through case examples. The typology offers clarity Responsible Editors: Frank Ulbrich and Mark Borman S. Miskon (*) Faculty of Computing, Information Systems Department, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), 81310 UTM Skudai, Johor, Malaysia e-mail: [email protected] S. Miskon e-mail: [email protected] E. Fielt : W. Bandara : G. Gable Science and Engineering Faculty, Information Systems School, Queensland University of Technology (QUT), Gardens Point, 2 George St, Brisbane, QLD 4001, Australia E. Fielt e-mail: [email protected] W. Bandara e-mail: [email protected] G. Gable e-mail: [email protected]
around shared services structural arrangements. It can serve as a useful analytical tool for researchers investigating the phenomenon further, and for practitioners considering the introduction or further development of shared services arrangements. Important follow on research is suggested too. Keywords Shared services . Organizational structure . Typology . Archival analysis . Case studies . Higher education JEL classification I23 . L22 . M15 . O30
Introduction Organizations have over the decades continually sought improved performance through organizational restructuring. The general trajectory since the 1980s has been de-diversification, disintegration and unbundling of corporate functions (Gospel and Sako 2010). Gospel and Sako see the creation and outsourcing of shared services as part of the unbundling of support activities, combining decisions about the internal structure, organizational boundaries, and firm-specific resources and capabilities. Ulbrich (2006) recognizes that shared services have been increasingly important as an organizational change approach for improving support functions. S
