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Types of shared services business models in public administration

Published: 12 June 2011 Publication History

Abstract

Shared Services Centers (SSCs) are often viewed as one, homogenous type, of business model in which services are concentrated and provided to more than one user. However, reality is more subtle, as shared services can be organized in different manners. Using the unified business model conceptual framework, three case studies are investigated. The framework was found to be appropriate for analyzing our case studies, but several modifications and additions were made to fit the model to shared services and to the public domain. Using this framework, a dedicated SSC business model framework was created. At the heart of this framework are four discriminating dimensions: (1) the governance structure of the SSC, (2) the strategic rationale behind the SSC, (3) the nature of the SSC services and (4) the customer orientation of the SSC. Different variables underlie these four dimensions and these should be taken into account when defining and designing a shared services business model. Based on these four dimensions a new definition for SSC business model is proposed; "a concept that is based on a separate and accountable semi-autonomous unit within an (inter)organizational entity that provides pre-defined services to internal and/or external customers, on the basis of agreed conditions and a balanced governance structure in order to create value in terms of financial or non-financial benefits". Our research shows that SSCs should not be viewed as a single type of business model. We plea for applying the generic business model to specific situations.

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  • (2024)Organisational Structures of Shared Services Centres (SSC): A Transaction Cost Economics ApproachGospodarka Narodowa10.33119/GN/184317318:2(112-130)Online publication date: 28-Jun-2024
  • (2023)Perspektive für kommunale Krankenhäuser durch Shared ServicesHandbuch Digitale Gesundheitswirtschaft10.1007/978-3-658-41781-9_65(311-314)Online publication date: 31-Dec-2023
  • (2023)Reverse Knowledge Transfer in Service Industry, Towards a New Taxonomy of Service CentersResearch and Innovation Forum 202210.1007/978-3-031-19560-0_56(657-664)Online publication date: 15-Mar-2023
  • Show More Cited By

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cover image ACM Other conferences
dg.o '11: Proceedings of the 12th Annual International Digital Government Research Conference: Digital Government Innovation in Challenging Times
June 2011
398 pages
ISBN:9781450307628
DOI:10.1145/2037556
Permission to make digital or hard copies of all or part of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and the full citation on the first page. Copyrights for components of this work owned by others than ACM must be honored. Abstracting with credit is permitted. To copy otherwise, or republish, to post on servers or to redistribute to lists, requires prior specific permission and/or a fee. Request permissions from [email protected]

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  • Routledge
  • Elsevier
  • University of Arizona: University of Arizona
  • San Diego Super Computing Ctr: San Diego Super Computing Ctr
  • Emerald: Emerald Group Publishing Limited
  • University of Maryland: University of Maryland
  • IOS Press: IOS Press

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Association for Computing Machinery

New York, NY, United States

Publication History

Published: 12 June 2011

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Author Tags

  1. IT governance
  2. business model
  3. outsourcing
  4. public administration
  5. shared service center

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dg.o '11
Sponsor:
  • University of Arizona
  • San Diego Super Computing Ctr
  • Emerald
  • University of Maryland
  • IOS Press

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Cited By

View all
  • (2024)Organisational Structures of Shared Services Centres (SSC): A Transaction Cost Economics ApproachGospodarka Narodowa10.33119/GN/184317318:2(112-130)Online publication date: 28-Jun-2024
  • (2023)Perspektive für kommunale Krankenhäuser durch Shared ServicesHandbuch Digitale Gesundheitswirtschaft10.1007/978-3-658-41781-9_65(311-314)Online publication date: 31-Dec-2023
  • (2023)Reverse Knowledge Transfer in Service Industry, Towards a New Taxonomy of Service CentersResearch and Innovation Forum 202210.1007/978-3-031-19560-0_56(657-664)Online publication date: 15-Mar-2023
  • (2019)Knowledge Boundary Spanning Mechanisms in a Shared Services Centre ContextCSR und Hochschulmanagement10.1007/978-3-030-15850-7_5(76-100)Online publication date: 7-Mar-2019
  • (2015)Creating shared service centres for public sector accountingAccounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal10.1108/AAAJ-06-2013-137128:2(158-179)Online publication date: 16-Feb-2015
  • (2015)Shared Services: Exploring the New FrontierExploring Services Science10.1007/978-3-319-14980-6_17(215-227)Online publication date: 7-Jan-2015
  • (2012)Interagency collaboration in providing public services in RussiaProceedings of the 6th International Conference on Theory and Practice of Electronic Governance10.1145/2463728.2463830(487-488)Online publication date: 22-Oct-2012

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