Title: Growth of business consulting and systems integration firms through integrated IT service: a service science view

Authors: Bongsug (Kevin) Chae

Addresses: Department of Management, Kansas State University, Manhattan, Kansas, USA

Abstract: The industry of business consulting (BC) and systems integration (SI) is increasingly experiencing fierce competition. This situation is particularly true of the area of supply chain management (SCM). This competitive business landscape has put those service firms under heavy pressure to find new ways of creating and sustaining business growth. The journey that such world-class firms as IBM, FedEx and General Electric have had through what we call |integrated solutions| and |non-traditional value chain-based growth| can be instrumental to those BC and SI firms. This article discusses the idea of integrated IT service and what makes such an integrative service business model. We propose a systematic framework, which can guide those BC and SI firms to develop |integrated IT services|, which is a service science concept drawn from combining |integrated solutions| and |non-traditional value chain-based growth|.

Keywords: services sciences; professional consultancy; supply chain management; SCM; IT services; integrated solutions; information technology; business consulting; systems integration; value chain.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSSCI.2010.029863

International Journal of Services Sciences, 2010 Vol.3 No.1, pp.40 - 52

Published online: 02 Dec 2009 *

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