A design science approach to developing and determining web site quality dimensions for the public accounting profession

Public Accouuting {PA) firms play an important role in both the local and the international business environment. Their accounting and busine_ss services functions cut across organisations, sectors and industries. Like other professional service firms, PA firms arc becoming concerned about the World Wide Web {web} since the services they off~r can be delivered via the web more efficiently (c.! ,\. at a lower cost) and cffcctiv~ly (24n}. Thus there is a need to assess the quality of their web she. This study developed an instrument for measuring l'A web site quality based on an e.xtensive literature review which identified the previously wit.lcly used "\VcbQuaLTMI . questionnaire but e:-;tcndcd it to four quality dimensions (usability, information quality, intemetivity and riskiness), supported by 24 research varinblcs. Design Science, as conceptualised by Hcvncr et al. (2004), provided the 1,\lliding theory for the research. Hevncr ct al. (2004) proposed a framework consisting of seven guidelines to guide Information Systems (IS) n:scarchcrs and practitioners on how to conduct, evaluate and present design science research. Two ol'the guidelines, namely design artefact and design evaluation, were followed in this study. The study was executed in a controlled ! abomtory selling in which post-graduate university students, potential clients of l'A firms, used the \VebQualiPA qucstiommire to evaluate the web sites of si:-; leading profcssionol occounting finns, One hundred-and-two students participated in the study. The data collected was analysed using quantitative analysis techniques to assess the n:liability and validit)' of the instrument and quality of the PA web sites. Modernting factors w~re investigated in relation to their ciTcct on the constructs and variables determining PA web site quality. A number of conclusions can be drawn from the outcome of the study. They cover practical as well as theoretical aspects. First, the study provides PA practitioners with validated, n:liable web site quality dimensions. With the emergence of online professional services, PA firms will increasingly seck to evaluate the quality of their 1 WobQuot'"'s 1rodem"rk is no1od on the abslntct ond lh• "'•r hos been omiltcd 1hi: olhcr pans of tho s1udy web sites. Second, this study adds to our understanding of WcbQual, an instrument tlmt lms been widely used in IS research. WcbQunl/i'A has its origins in WcbQual version 4 but was refined to meet the needs of the PA sector. TI1ird, the results of a relative assessment of quality provide valuable feedback to professional practices. The study shows that 'usability' was ranked highest by study participants of all the l1m1s and indicates that this dimension is the most developed dimension within the I' A sector. It is followed by 'infonnation quality'. 'lntcractivity' and 'riskiness' arc areas requiring al\cntion as they seem to lag behind the others. The study enabled recommendations to be made to improve the quality of web sites of the scctcr as well as the individual firms that were t:valuatcd. In this way, the restureh adopted the philosophy of pragmatism in which knowledge is strongly linked to action. In the study, the knowledge gained is translated into action via recommendations made to each of the firms. Furthermore, since action permeates on knowledge, there have to be linkages "to an actable world" (Goldkhul, 2004, p. 18). A simple test for this is to be able to trace "concrete consequences" (p. 19). This will occur when PA firms take up the recommendations made in this study.