It Self-Service

Individuals are becoming more technologically savvy and self-sufficient. They download apps, check work emails on the go, post comments online, and synchronize their smartphones across multiple devices. Transferring what they have learned in the personal realm into the organizational realm, it is therefore not surprising that many, when faced with a tech problem, turn their back on the corporate IT department. Avoiding queues and saving time are just some of the motivating factors that prompt individuals to solve their own IT problems. Organizations are embracing this trend as individuals are taking an active role in the IT service delivery process. A program of study consisting of three distinct, yet complementary studies, is proposed that capture the phenomenon of information technology (IT) self-service as a newly emerging concept in the IS literature. More specifically, the program is set out to examine how IT self-service complements and integrates into the existing IT service literature, the factors that trigger individuals to engage in IT self-service behavior, along with the benefits of such an engagement, as well as the role of the crowd in crowdsourced platforms. Utilizing quantitative and qualitative approaches, these three studies explore IT self-service behavior and assert it is a phenomenon that warrants attention from academia and practitioners alike.