Methodology

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Research Variables Definitions and Measures

System Effectiveness (the Dependent Variables)

System effectiveness is defined as the extent to which the system supports the organization in achieving its goals. Two measures of systems effectiveness were adopted: user information satisfaction and system use in improving decision making.

  1. User information satisfaction: Defined as the extent to which users believe that the system available to them meets their information requirements (Ives, Olson, & Barodui, 1983). To measure user information satisfaction, the short-form (13-item) measure of user satisfaction designed by Baroudi and Orlikwaski (1988) was used.

  2. System use in improving decision making: Defined as the extent to which users believe the system available to them leads to improvement in decision making. System use in improving decision making was measured using the 7-item scale developed by Sanders and Courtney (1985).

The Organizational Variables (the Independent Variables)

The three independent variables included in this investigation are: top management support, user involvement, and IS maturity.

  1. Top management support: Defined as the extent to which the upper managerial levels provide an appropriate amount of support for IS. This variable was measured using the 6-items scale of Lee and Kim (1992).

  2. User involvement: Defined as the extent to which users (i.e., managers) participate in the design, development, implementation, and operation of the system. This variable was measured using the 7-item scale of Franz and Robey (1986).

  3. IS maturity: defined as the overall status of the IS function within the organization. This variable was measured using the 10-item scale of King and Sabherwal (1992).

The Contingency Variables

The following nine variables are believed to affect the relationship between the three organizational variables and the two systems effectiveness variables (user information satisfaction and system use in improving decision making):

  1. Ownership type (public vs. private)

  2. Industry type (chemicals, textiles, electronics, etc.)

  3. User's managerial level (top, middle, or lower manager)

  4. User's functional area (accounting, finance, marketing, operations, etc.)

  5. User's educational level (graduate, undergraduate, high school)

  6. User's educational background (business, engineering, science, law, etc.)

  7. User's tenure in the organization (years)

  8. User's formal computer training (received or did not receive formal computer training)

  9. System age in user department (years)



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Advanced Topics in Global Information Management (Vol. 3)
Trust in Knowledge Management and Systems in Organizations
ISBN: 1591402204
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2003
Pages: 207

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