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aCase Study:
Measurement of Variables–
Operational Definitions

Chapter 11: TheStandard
AsianMerchantBank

TheStandardAsianMerchantBankisa MalaysianmerchantbankheadquarteredinKuala Lumpur.Thebankprovidesfinancialservicesin
assetmanagement,corporatefinance,and
securities broking. Clients of The Standard Asian Merchant Bank are
among others institutional investors, foundations,
(semi)
public
institutions, companies,
and high net- worthindividualclients.SegmentsinwhichTheStandardAsianMerchantBankoperatesare smallandmedium-sizedlistedcompanies,realestate,andbiotechfirms.

SyafiqAimiisa
BusinessstudentfromtheNationalUniversityof Malaysiawhichislocatedin Bangi, Selangor -about 35km south
ofKuala Lumpur.
Syafiq iscurrently
undertaking a research project for
the Structured
Products
(SP)
desk ofThe Standard
Asian Merchant Bank’s securities
department. The SP desk is
responsiblefor developingand selling
structuredproducts:investmentsthatconsist ofa portfolioofsecuritiesandderivatives. Structured productsareinvestment instruments
thatarecreatedtomeetspecific needs
thatcannotbemetfromstandardizedfinancialinstruments.TheproductsoftheSPdeskare tailor-madeandtheyaredevelopedbasedonthe
StandardAsian MerchantBank’sniche specializationswhich are Asian listed
real
estate companies,
life sciences companies, and shares.

TheSPdeskofTheStandardAsianMerchantBankhasitsownwebsitethatisprimarilyused toprovideinformationtotheusersofthewebsite.Thewebsitecontainsinformationabout
theproductsoffered(e.g.,brochures,legaldocuments,andbid-askspreads),publications,
andcontactinformation.Thewebsitecanbeclassifiedasa services-oriented
relationship- building website.
There are two main groups
of website users;
financial advisors and
institutionalclientsoftheSPdesk.Theyusethewebsitetoexamineproductfeatures,prices oftheproductsofferedbytheSPdesk,andlegalinformation.

For the SP
desk, there
are several
reasons
why
they have asked
Syafiq to undertake
a researchproject:

1. Satisfactionwiththewebsitehasneverbeenmeasured.Asaresult,theSPdeskdoes
notknowhowtheusersexperiencethewebsite.Thecurrentcontentandlayoutof thewebsitearebasedonassumptionsofwhatusersarelookingforonthewebsite. Forthisreason,thewebsitemaycontainelementsdeemedunnecessarybytheusers andit mightlackfeaturesthatareimportanttotheusers.

2. Usersofthewebsiteonlyspendasmallamountoftimeonthewebsite.In2011,

morethan70%(75.4%)ofthevisitorsspentlessthan30secondsonthewebsiteof
theSPdesk(AWStats,2011).Theproductsofferedatthewebsitearequitecomplex
and
clients often have a lack of knowledge concerning Structured Products. Therefore it is
desirable to encourage
website
users
to spend
more time
on
the website.

3. Thewebsiteisnotself-explanatory.Consequently,peoplecontactemployeesofthe
SPdesktoaskforexplanationandclarification.Thisisatimeconsumingprocessthat isrelativelyexpensiveforasmalldesk.

Basedonpreliminaryresearch,thefollowingproblemstatementwascreatedbySyafiq:

“WhatelementsareofimportanceindrivingSatisfactionwiththe
WebsiteintheAsian investmentbankingindustry,towhatextentdothesevariablesinfluenceSatisfaction with theWebsite,andhowcantheresultsofthisstudybeusedtocreateawebsitefortheSP
deskthat isself-explanatory, that peopleuseas theirmain
information
sourceand that websiteusersspendmoretimeon?”

SeveralresearchmethodsareusedbySyafiqtoanswertheproblemstatement.Inorderto determinethevariablesrelevanttohisstudySyafiqhascarriedoutaliteraturereviewand
face-to-face interviews.
Based
on the
literature review and
a rigorous
analysis of
the
interviewsSyafiqhasdevelopedthefollowingconceptualmodel.

Informationquality

Systemquality

Interactivity

SatisfactionwiththeWebsite

Systemdesignquality

Syafiqnowwantstocollectquantitativedatatobeabletotestthismodelwithmultivariate regressionanalysis.In ordertocollectthesequantitativedata,Syafiqis
currentlybusywith designingasurveywhichhewantstopostonline.Hehasdevelopedthefollowingtablethatshouldhelphimtooperationalizetheconstructsinhisconceptualmodel.

Table
1:Overview
oftheConstructs/variables inmyModel,“Subconstructs”,
andSurvey

Questions

Information quality

Variable

Definition

Surveyquestions

Informationcontent

Referstothecontent ofthe
information
providedbythewebsite (Hernandezet
al.
2009)

Therangeofinformationishigh.

The information
isapplicabletothewebsite’sactivities(zie relevance).

The information isdetailed
(zieaccuracy).

The
maingoalofthe informationonthewebsiteisclear.

Thewebsiteprovidesin-depthinformation.

The
information
onthewebsiteisinformative
toyourusage. The information
onthewebsiteisvaluable
toyour usage. The
information onthewebsiteisoftheappropriatedetail.The
contentonthewebsitesupportsitsintendedpurpose.

Relevance

Referstothedegreetowhichthe

informationmeetstheneeds
ofthe websiteuser
(Muylleetal.2004).

Thewebsiteprovidesinformation thatexactlyfits your needs.

The
information
isapplicabletothewebsite’sactivities.

The information inthewebsiteisrelevant.

The
information
inthewebsiteistothepoint.

The
information
inthewebsitedoesnothelpmeatall.

Up-to-date

Referstothecurrencyofthe
information
onthewebsite
(McKinneyetal. 2002).

Information isalwaysupdated inthesite.

Thewebsiteprovidesup-to-dateinformation.

The
information
iscurrent.

Yougetthe information youneedintime.

Understandability

Referstotheclearnessand goodnessoftheinformation (Cheung and
Lee2005, 2008).

Thecontentofthewebsiteiseasytounderstand. The meaning ofthe informationisclear.

The information inthewebsiteisclear
to me.

The information
inthewebsiteispresentedclearly. The information isclear
in meaning.

The information iseasytocomprehend.

Ingeneral,
information
onthewebsite isunderstandablefor
youto use.

Completeness

Referstothecompletenessofthe

information onthewebsite(Muylle

etal.
2004)

Thewebsiteprovidescomprehensiveinformation.

Thewebsiteprovidessufficientinformation. The information inthewebsiteiscomplete.

The information
inthewebsiteissufficientlydetailed.

Reliability

Referstothedegreeofconsistency
anddependabilityoftheinformation onthewebsite(Cheung
andLee

2005,2008;
McKinneyetal.2002).

Thewebsiteprovidesinformation
that youtrust. The information
onthewebsiteistrustworthy.
The information
onthewebsiteis credible.

Ingeneral,
information
onthewebsite isreliableforyoutouse.

Accuracy

Referstothedegreetowhichthe
information
onthewebsiteis perceivedtobeprecise(Muylleetal.

2004;Zhangand vonDran2002).

Thewebsiteprovidesaccurateinformation.
Thewebsiteprovidespreciseinformation. The information
onthewebsiteisdetailed. The information
onthewebsiteisaccurate.

The information
onthewebsiteisnotprecise. I canrelyonthe
information
inthewebsite.

The information inthewebsiteissufficientlydetailed.

Usefulness

Referstothedegreetowhichthe
user believesthattheinformation onthewebsitewill enhancetheir decision (Cheung and
Lee2005,

2008; McKinneyetal.2002)

The information onthewebsiteisuseful.

The information
onthewebsiteisinformative toyour usage.

The
information
onthewebsiteisvaluable
toyour usage.

Ingeneral, information
onblackboard isusefulfor youtouse.

Systemquality

Variable

Definition

Surveyquestions

Navigability

Referstothe easewithwhichusers

canfindtheneededinformation on thewebsite(Schmidt
etal. 2007; EvansandKing 1999*).

I findthesite
easytonavigate.

Thenavigation linksarestated in everypage.

Itiseasytofindtheinformation
I needfromthiswebsite.

The organizationofthecontentsofthissite makesit
easyfor
meto know whereI
amwhennavigatingit.

You obtaindesired information quickly. Itiseasyto locate theinformation.

Thewebsite isbeing
easytogobackandforthbetweenpages. Thewebsite isprovidinga few
clickstolocateinformation.

Ingeneral,
thewebsite iseasytonavigate.

Access

Referstotheavailabilityofthe websiteatall times(Cheung and
Lee

2005; 2008)

Thewebsite isresponsivetoyour request.

Ingeneral,
thewebsiteprovidesgoodaccess.

Thewebsite isavailable atall
times.

Thewebsitecanbeaccessedusingdifferentbrowsers(OS).

Easeof use

Referstothe easewithwhichthe
website canbeused(Tarafdarand Zhang 2006).

I findthesite easytooperate.

Thewebsite iseasytounderstand.

Thiswebsite issimple touse,
evenwhenusing itfor thefirsttime. Thewebsite iseasytouse.

Thewebsite isuser-friendly.

Itisdifficulttooperatethewebsite.

Ingeneral,
thewebsite isuser
friendly.

Thewebsite iswell organized.

I findthewebsite easytouse.

Speed

Referstothedegreetowhichthe
websiteusersperceivethewebsite tobefastorslow(Muylleetal.

2004).

I findthesitedownloadtimeacceptable. Thespeedofdisplaybetweenpagesishigh.

There isverylittle
timebetween myrequest forpagesandhavingthe pagesdisplayed
onmy computer.

Therateatwhich informationisdisplayed isfast.
Thesitedoesn’twastemytime.

Thewebsite istimeconsuming.

Itdoesnottake muchtimetogetfromoneplace inthewebsiteto

another.

Thewebsite isfast.

Thewebsite isquicklyloadingall thetextandgraphics.

WhenI usethewebsitethere
is verylittle waitingtimebetweenmy
actions andthewebsite’sresponse.

Thewebsite loadsquickly.

Thewebsitetakeslongtooload.

Security

Referstotheusersperceptions’ of thewebsite’sreliabilityandsafety
(AwamlehandFernandes2005).

Youfeelthewebsite issecure.

Thewebsitehasprovisionsfor user authentication.

Thewebsitehasan
informationpolicy.

Thewebsitehasadequatesecurityfeatures.

Privacy

Referstothe elementsthatprovide websiteusersasenseof privacy
(Schmidt etal. 2008).

I feel
like myprivacyisprotectedatthiswebsite.

Systemaccuracy

Referstotheaccuracyofthewebsite inprovidinginformationto itsusers.

Thesystem isaccurate.

Areyousatisfiedwith
theaccuracyofthesystem?

Systemreliability

Referstothereliabilityofthe
website inprovidinginformationto
itsusers.

Yougetthe informationthatyourequested onthewebsite.

Interactivity

Variable

Definition

Surveyquestions

Customersupport

Referstothefacilitiesand

communicationchannelsthata companyofferstoestablish direct
contactwithusersinordertohelp
themwithquestions
or problems(ChenandYen2004; Hernandez etal.

2009;Wan2000; Wolfinbargerand

Gilly2003**).

I cansendmyfeedbackaboutthesite.

Think ofall thepossible waysthat you cancontactour bank
whenyou needto.
Based onthisinformation
andonyour ownpreferences,
how easydoyouthink
it istocontactus?

Youaresatisfiedwiththecustomersupportprovidedbythewebsite.
Youaresatisfiedwiththeafter-salessupportprovidedbythewebsite. Thewebsiteunderstands your problemsandrequests.

Thewebsiterespondstoyour
requestsfast
enough.

Thewebsiteprovidesthepersonalized customer
supportyouneed.

Thewebsiterespondstoyour
problemsandrequestspromptly. Thecompanyiswillingandreadytorespondto customer needs.
Whenyouhaveaproblem, thewebsiteshowsasincere interest in solvingit.

Inquiriesareansweredpromptly.

Customisation

Referstotheabilityofwebsitesto presentcustomized informationto fulfill
the individual needs ofusers
(Tarafdar andZhang 2006;
Chenand Hitt2002***;
Greer andMurtaza

2003****)

Thewebsiteprovidesinformation
thatexactlyfits
your needs.
Thewebsitecanunderstandwhat
you need viainteractive communication.

Thewebsitehaspersonalization characteristics.
Thewebsite offerscustomizedinformation.

The levelofpersonalization isaboutright, nottoo muchortoolittle. Thewebsiteprovidestheprecise information
youneed.

Thewebsiteprovidesreportsthat
seemtobejustabout exactlywhat
youneed.

Thewebsiteallowsmeto interactwithit toreceivetailored information.

I can interactwiththewebsite in
ordertogetinformationtailored
to my specificneeds.

Control

Referstothe featuresonthewebsite
that influence theusers’sense of control(WolfinbargerandGilly

2000)*****.

Thesiteprovidesvalueadded
features.

WhenI amusingthiswebsite, I feelthatI
am incontrolofwhatI can

do.

Theuser controlstheorder or
sequenceofinformation
access. Theuser
controlshowfasttogo throughthewebsite.

Theuser controlsopportunitiesfor interaction.

Userscontrolthedifficultyleveloftheinformation accessed.
Thewebsitehasfeatures,whichhelpmeaccomplish
mytask.

Systemdesignquality

Variable

Definition

Surveyquestions

Visualappeal

Referstotheaestheticsofthe
website(Loiacono etal.
2002).

Thesitehasanattractiveappearance. Thewebsitehasanattractivelayout.

I like thelayoutofthewebsite.

The layoutofthewebsiteis visuallycomforting. The layoutofthewebsiteisannoying.

Thewebsite isvisuallyattractive.

Thewebsitehasanattractivescreenlayout. Thewebsite isvisuallypleasing.

Thewebsitedisplaysvisuallypleasing design. Thewebsite isvisuallyappealing.

Innovativeness

Referstotheuniquenessand creativityofthewebsite(Loiacono et al.
2002).

Thedesignisappropriatetothetypeofthesite. Thewebsite isinnovative.

Thewebsitedesignisinnovative. Thewebsite iscreative.

Legibility

Referstothe easeofreading ofthe

information
onthewebsite(Palmer

2002).

Thesitepresentsthe
information
inanappropriateformat.

The
outputformat
iseasytoread.

The layoutofthe
information
iseasytounderstand.
Thewebsite iswell organized.

Thewebsitehasasimple
layoutfor itscontent.
Thewebsitehasacleardesign.

The
information
onthewebsiteiseasytoread. Thetext
on thewebsite
iseasytoread.

Consistentimage

Referstotheconsistencyofthe
imageprojectedbythewebsitewith the imageofthefirm
(Loiacono
et al.

2002).

Thedesignisappropriatetothetypeofwebsite.
I findthesitehasconsistentpagelayout.

Youaresatisfiedwiththe imageofthewebsite.

The companyto
which the website
belongshasa well-knownbrand. The
website projectsanimage consistentwiththe company’simage. Thewebsite
fitswithmyimageofthecompany.

Thewebsite’simage matchesthat
ofthecompany.

SatisfactionwiththeWebsite

Satisfactionwiththe

website

Definition

Surveyquestions

Thediscrepancybetweena customer’sexpectations
andperceptions
of performance

Ingeneralterms, I amsatisfiedwiththewaythatthiswebsitehas carried out myactions.

Ingeneral,Iam
satisfied withtheservicethatIreceivedfromthewebsite. Pleasethinkofyouroverallexperience withthewebsite.Onascaleof1-7,overall,howsatisfiedareyouwiththewebsite?

Youaresatisfiedwith thewebsite.

Note.The“surveyquestions”inthe last columnarequestionsfromvariousstudiesonwebsitequality.I
havetriedtofind

asmanyquestionsas
Icould.Everysinglesurveyquestionis
takenoutof(oneof)thepaperspresentedinthereference list.

REFERENCELIST

AwamlehRaedandCedwynFernandes(2005),“Internetbanking:anempiricalinvestigation intotheextentofadoptionbybanksandthedeterminantsofcustomersatisfaction
intheUnitedArabEmirates,”JournalofInternetBankingandCommerce,10(1),

0509-05.

Chen,KuanchinandDavidC.Yen(2004),“Improvingthequalityofonlinepresencethrough
interactivity,”Information&Management,42,217-26.

Chen,P.S.andL.M.Hitt(2002),“MeasuringSwitchingCostsandtheDeterminantsof CustomerRetentioninInternet-EnabledBusiness,”InformationSystemsResearch,13 (3),255-74.

Cheung,ChristyM.K.andMatthewK.O.Lee(2005),“TheAsymmetricEffectof Website

AttributePerformanceonSatisfaction:AnEmpiricalStudy,”inproceedingsofthe

38thHawaiiInternationalConferenceonSystemSciences,1-10.

Evans,J.R.,andV.E.King(1999),“Business-to-businessmarketingandtheWorldWideWeb:
Planning,managingandassessingwebsites,”IndustrialMarketingManagement,28
(4),343–58.

Greer,T.H.andM.M.Murtaza(2003),“WebPersonalization:TheImpactofPerceived InnovationCharacteristicsontheIntentiontoUsePersonalization,”Journalof
ComputerInformationSystems,Spring,50-3.

Hernandez,Bianca,JulioJimenezandJoseM.Martin(2009),“Keywebsitefactorsin
e- businessstrategy,”InternationalJournalofInformationManagement,29(5),362-71.

Loiacono,EleanorT.,RichardT.WatsonandDale L.Goodhue(2002),“WebQual:Ameasure
ofwebsitequality,”inMarketingTheoryandApplications,Vol.13,ed.K.K.Evansand

L.K.Scheer:Chicago:AmericanMarketingAssociation,1-71.

McKinney,Vicki,KanghyunYoonandFatemehM.Zahedi(2002),“TheMeasurementof Web-CustomerSatisfaction:AnExpectationandDisconfirmationApproach,”
InformationSystemsResearch,13(3),296-315.

Muylle,Steve,RudyMoenaertandMarcDespontin(2004),“Theconceptualizationand

empiricalvalidationof websiteusersatisfaction,”Information&Management,41,

543-60.

Palmer,JonathanW.(2002),“Websiteusability,designandperformancemetrics,” InformationSystemsResearch,13(2),151–67.

Schmidt,Serje,AntoniS.CantallopsandCristianePizuttidosSantos(2008),“The
characteristicsofhotelwebsitesandtheirimplicationsforwebsiteeffectiveness,” InternationalJournalofHospitalityManagement,27(4), 504-16.

Tarafdar,MonideepaandJieZhang(2005),“AnalysisofCriticalWebsiteCharacteristics:A Cross-CategoryStudyofSuccessfulWebsites,”JournalofComputerInformation Systems,46(2),14-24.

Wan,HakmanA.(2000),“Opportunitiestoenhanceacommercialwebsite,”Information&Management,38(1),15–21.

Wolfinbarger,M.,andM.C.Gilly(2000),“Consumermotivationsforonlineshop-ping,”in

proceedingsoftheAmericasConferenceon InformationSystems,LongBeach,CA: AssociationforInformationSystems,1362–6.

Zhang,PingandGiselaM.vonDran(2002),“UserExpectationsandRankingsofQuality

FactorsinDifferentWebSiteDomains,”InternationalJournalof
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6(2),9-33.

QUESTIONS

1. Measurement is the assignment of
numbers
to characteristics (or
attributes) of

objects accordingto
a pre-specified set of
rules. Describe
the objectand characteristicsofSyafiq’sstudy.

2. The
measurement ofmore abstract andsubjective characteristics
(orattributes
– such for instance the attributes
in Syafiq’s study) is more difficult
than the

measurement of other,
moretangibleattributessuchasweight,length, gender, age, and marital status.Whyis
that?

3. Onewayoftappingmoreabstractandsubjectiveattributesisoperationalizingthese attributes.

a. Whatisoperationalization?

b. Describetheprocessofoperationalizingvariables.

4. BasedonareviewoftheliteratureSyafiqhasdevelopedatable(Table1)thatshould
helphimtooperationalizethe variablesof his
conceptualmodel.Usethistableto discusstheattribute‘InformationQuality’intermsofdimensionsandelements.In
other words, which dimensions of
‘Information Quality’ has
Syafiq
found in the
literatureand howhavethesedimensionsfurtherbeenbrokenintoelementsby researcherswhohaveinvestigatedthisissueinthepast?

5. Syafiqcoulddecidetousethesurveyquestionshehasfoundintheliteratureasa

basisfor hisquestionnaire.
Isit,ingeneral, agood
ora badideatouseexisting
scales?Why?

Reference:

Sekaran, U., &Bougie, R. (2013).Research methods for business: A skill
building approach (6th
ed.). Chichester, United Kingdom: Wiley. ISBN: 978-1-119-94225-2.

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