Understanding the performance of software-as-a-service based on service-dominant logic

How to improve performance of software-as-a-service remains a problem. Drawing from the service-dominant logic, the relational view, and the social exchange theory, we develop a model to delineate the relationships between performance, relationship-specific services, and internal services. The premise of this model is that the service provider's internal services play a key role in motivating the client to collaborate with the vendor. This helps the provider offer relationship-specific services, characterized as knowledge-based and process-based services and the provider's performance relies on these services. Results of empirical testing using responses from 102 firms support the proposed hypotheses. Our findings provide a number of useful implications for research and managers.