A tale of two coalitions – marginalising the users while successfully implementing an enterprise resource planning system

Classic analyses of system implementations view user participation as a key element for successful implementation. However, under some conditions, avoiding user participation offers an alternative route to a successful implementation; this is advisable especially when the user network is weak and aligning user needs with the technological capabilities will take too much resource. To illustrate such situation, we analyse how a successful implementation outcome of an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system emerged in a recently established conglomeration of two previously independent universities. The ERP was used to replace several legacy student administration systems for both political and functional reasons. It was deemed successful by both project consultants and the new university's management while the users were marginalised (‘black boxed’) and left to ‘pick up the pieces’ of an incomplete system using traditional methods such as shadow systems and work‐a‐rounds. Using a process approach and an actor–network theory ‘reading’ of related socio‐technical events, we demonstrate how three networks of actors – management, the project team and the administrative users – collided and influenced the implementation outcome and how the management and project network established the ERP as a reliable ally while at the same time the users – while being enrolled in the network – were betrayed through marginalisation. Our analysis also suggests a useful way to conduct a ‘follow the network’ analysis explaining and accounting for the observed implementation outcome. We illustrate the benefits of using a socio‐technical processual analysis and show how stable actor networks must be constructed during large‐scale information technology change and how different actor groups perceive and influence differently the implementation outcome.     

Opening the black box of system usage: user adaptation to disruptive IT

According to Benbasat and Barki (2007), systems usage has remained a black box in spite of the fact that the construct lies at the heart of a host of studies in the field. We know very little about how exactly users cope with information technology (IT), especially disruptive IT. To answer such questions, we grounded our current work in Beaudry and Pinsonneault's Coping Model of User Adaptation (2005; CMUA), a model that explains user strategies appraising an IT event. These strategies are a response to threats and opportunities embedded in the IT event and are impacted by the level of control users have over the situation. In the current study, following CMUA, we develop and test measures for a deeper understanding of systems usage and user adaptation to IT through a 2 × 2 laboratory experiment. Overall, we found strong support for the CMUA model.     

Design and evaluation of a gamified system for ERP training

Enterprise Resource Planning Systems (ERP) facilitate the flow of information within a company by storing data in common databases. These systems offer a holistic view of the organization because they reduce information redundancy, offer information in real time, help with process standardization, and improve information flow and communication among employees. Nevertheless, the benefits attributed to an ERP implementation can be lost without an effective user training. Previous studies have observed that common training mechanisms don't provide meaningful learning to users, and that user satisfaction rates range from neutral to low. Therefore, in this paper we study the effects that gamification has on ERP training concerning user learning and user satisfaction. Gamification is the use of game elements and game design techniques in non-gaming environments. Several applications prove that gamified systems increase user engagement and performance. Our hypotheses were that a gamified system for ERP training improve user learning and user satisfaction levels during the training period. To test our hypotheses, we designed and evaluated a gamified system. The results showed that users trained using a gamified system performed better than those trained using a conventional, non-gamified, training mechanism.     

Local Area Networks: Compatibility Versus Connectivity

Because extensive user involvement in systems development projects is essential to successful systems implementation, MIS managers should be aware of the various factors that can cause users to avoid participation in systems development. This column discusses three factors -senior management behavior, corporate culture, and user personalities - and provides examples of how these factors can adversely affect users' attitudes toward systems development.     

A comprehensive study of the relationship between enterprise resource planning selection criteria and enterprise resource planning system success

We developed a conceptual framework for investigating how ERP selection criteria are linked to system quality and the service provided by suppliers and consultants, and thus how these influenced ERP implementation success. Through a cross-sectional survey of the top 5000 largest companies in Taiwan, using a balanced scorecard concept and path analysis, we showed that four system selection criteria (consultant's suggestion, a certified high-stability system, compatibility between the system and the business process, and the provision of best practices) were positively related to system quality. Three supplier selection criteria (international market position, training support by the supplier and supplier technical support and experience) had a significant influence on supplier service quality, and two consultant selection criteria (consultant's ERP implementation experience in a similar industry and consultant's support after going live) were related to consultant service quality. However, we found that most organizations did not consider all these criteria when implementing ERP systems. Our study also suggested that enhanced system quality and service quality could increase user perspective and ERP success.     

Investigating enterprise systems adoption: uncertainty avoidance,intrinsic motivation,and the technology acceptance model

Enterprise systems are gaining interest from both practitioners and researchers because of their potential linkages to organizational and individual user's productivity. Information systems (IS) researchers have been investigating the implementation and adoption issues of enterprise systems based on the organizational IS management perspectives. However, there are few papers that investigate enterprise systems management and implementation issues based on the informal control mechanisms, although the enterprise systems are control tools in the organization. Specifically, this paper applies Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) adoption and implementation to the informal controls, such as cultural control and self-control, which can be viewed as a tacit perspective in knowledge management. Uncertainty avoidance and perceived enjoyment are used as informal controls in the ERP implementation in this paper, and are linked to the technology acceptance variables to investigate the relationships among them. Sociotechnical design, organizational control mechanism, knowledge management, and individual motivation are reviewed to support this potential linkage in the model. Field data via the online survey of ERP systems user group (n=101) are analyzed with partial least squares and supported our hypotheses. Uncertainty avoidance cultural control and intrinsic motivation as self-control are the important antecedents of ERP systems adoption. Furthermore, the result helps the systems manager understand that informal controls should be applied to the ERP systems implementation to enhance tacit and social aspects of IS management.     

Perceived usefulness,user involvement and behavioral intention: an empirical study of ERP implementation

Many firms have implemented enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems in the past few years. The expensive nature of these systems requires that effective usage of these systems be attained in order for an organization to derive the expected benefits from the technology. This study looks at the influence that perceived usefulness, user involvement, argument for change, prior usage and ease of use have on the behavioral intention to use an ERP system. A mail survey was used to collect data in an organization that was implementing an ERP system. A total of 571 responses were obtained. The results indicate that users perception of the perceived usefulness, ease of use of the technology, and the users’ level of intrinsic involvement all affect their intention to use the technology. The results seem to suggest that managerial efforts aimed at increasing the users’ perceptions of the usefulness and personal relevance of the technology will contribute to implementation success, where success is defined as effectual usage of the technology. The paper ends with possible extensions to this study.     

The user–developer communication process: a critical case study

Abstract. Although user participation in systems development is widely believed to have positive impacts on user acceptance, it does not guarantee success and there is still much that we do not know about how and why user participation sometimes delivers positive benefits, but not always. Much of the prior research on user participation assumes that user–developer communication will ensure that the resulting system will be designed to meet users' needs and will be accepted by them. The nature and quality of the communication between users and developers, however, remains an understudied aspect of user participation. In this paper, we focus on the user–developer communication process. We propose a process model that delineates four stages of communication between users and software developers, and we argue that these stages must occur for user participation to lead to effective outcomes. To illustrate our model, we apply it to analyse a 'critical case study' of a software project that failed despite high levels of user involvement. We show that when 'communication lapses' occurred in several of the user–developer communication stages, developers failed to be informed regarding the underlying reasons that users avoided the system. Based on the insights from this case study, we advise researchers and practitioners how to leverage the potential benefits of user participation, rather than take them for granted.     

Managing user acceptance towards enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems – understanding the dissonance between user expectations and managerial policies

Discourse on enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems acceptance is rife among MIS scholars as they seek to comprehend the underlying psychological and environmental factors influencing user adoption behavior. Researchers are especially keen to understand why the utilization of ERP among organizational members often remains at a perfunctory level. As such, the objective of this case study on GlobalMNC's SAP implementation experience hopes to address this concern by exploring ERP users' motivational dynamics from an Expectancy perspective. Specifically, this article investigates the components of Effort-Performance Expectancy, Performance-Outcome Instrumentality and Outcome Valence as experienced by ERP users and the potential managerial actions affecting each corresponding motivational factor that may result in counter-productive dissonances.     

Assessing the effects of consumer involvement and service quality in a self‐service setting

The aim of this study is to assess how consumer involvement and service quality within the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) influence consumers' adoption of self‐service technologies (SSTs). A model is proposed to test the antecedent factors of SSTs in a retail environment. A total of 441 valid questionnaires were received, and the data were examined by using structural equation modeling (SEM). The findings show that consumer involvement has a significant positive effect on attitude toward SSTs. In addition, service quality plays an important role by significantly moderating the influence of intention to use SSTs on consumer behavior. The key objective of this study is to analyze the role that consumer involvement and service quality play in influencing the adoption of SSTs. Future research could classify the different levels of involvement and types of SSTs to confirm and extend our framework. Despite the increasing popularity of SSTs, few studies have to date examined the topic of technology acceptance in combination with user involvement. This study extends the original TAM and explains the conditions required for successful user involvement and service quality in consumers' adoption of SSTs. This study makes an original contribution by proposing a strategic model for a successful implementation of SSTs. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Encouraging user participation in a course recommender system: An impact on user behavior

User participation emerged as a critical issue for collaborative and social recommender systems as well as for a range of other systems based on the power of user community. A range of mechanisms to encourage user participation in social systems has been proposed over the last few years; however, the impact of these mechanisms on users behavior in recommender systems has not been studied sufficiently. This paper investigates the impact of encouraging user participation in the context of CourseAgent, a community-based course recommender system. The recommendation power of CourseAgent is based on course ratings provided by a community of students. To increase the number of course ratings, CourseAgent applies an incentive mechanism which turns user feedback into a self-beneficial activity. In this paper, we describe the design and implementation of our course recommendation system and its incentive mechanism. We also report a dual impact of this mechanism on user behavior discovered in two user studies.     

The ERP Revolution: Surviving vs. Thriving

This paper presents preliminary findings from a research project that examined how firms are generating business value from their investments in enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems. The research, which was done jointly with Benchmarking Partners, describes the stages of ERP implementation, the obstacles that firms encountered in generating benefits from the systems, and some critical success factors for getting business value from the implementation of an ERP system in business.     

Using the elaboration likelihood model to examine online persuasion through website design

To investigate the dynamics of online persuasion, this research uses the Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM) to determine the effects of argument quality as a central route to influence attitude change versus design and social elements as peripheral routes to attitude change. Additional to this research is an examination of change in issue involvement as a mediator between central and peripheral routes leading to attitude change. Findings from a study involving 403 participants add to our understanding of ELM concerning the role of website design and how an individual’s level of issue involvement is a prerequisite to changing user attitudes.     

Dysfunctional User Behavior in Systems Development

Because extensive user involvement in systems development projects is essential to successful systems implementation, MIS managers should be aware of the various factors that can cause users to avoid participation in systems development. This column discusses three factors -senior management behavior, corporate culture, and user personalities - and provides examples of how these factors can adversely affect users' attitudes toward systems development.     

Encouraging user management participation in systems design

Although the need for managers of user functions to be involved in the design of information or decision support systems (DSS) is broadly accepted as one of the essential principles of information systems development, we know little about why some firms have been able to achieve high levels of such managerial participation while others have been less successful. Though field interviews with MIS directors, it was possible to identify three widely held assumptions concerning the organizational level factors which might facilitate middle management participation from user organizations in systems design. To explore the relationship between these factors and user middle management participation, 152 user managers (functional area department heads) were studied from 55 firms. The results suggest that many firms may, unknowingly, manage their information system function in a manner which does not encourage user middle management involvement in the design of the systems they use.     

A method for resolving organisation-enterprise system misfits: An action research study in a pluralistic organisation

Although off-the-shelf enterprise systems (ES) have been widely adopted in organisations, the extant literature repeatedly documents ES failures caused by misfits between organisational processes and the ES. Although some misfits can be identified early in the ES lifecycle, others emerge in the onward and upward phase (i.e., after the implementation) and, hence, must be resolved reactively. Prior research on misfits and resolution strategies has primarily focused on the implementation phase, often assuming that close-to-perfect information on the misfit's nature and characteristics is available. However, no study has examined how to effectively complete a shared diagnosis and resolution of misfits when diverging individual user perceptions are taken as the starting point. Such situations may be particularly pronounced in pluralistic organisations, where a variety of interdependent processes and potentially competing perceptions of processes are prevalent. The main objective of this study is to address this gap. To this end, we propose a pragmatic method for the diagnosis and resolution of misfits between organisational processes and enterprise systems, which builds on an actionable conceptualization of misfits. This method builds on theoretical concepts of affordances, affordance actualization, user participation, and change agentry. To demonstrate the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed method, we conducted an action research study in a university hospital. Our analysis focused on a specific misfit involving the hospital's ES-supported clinical processes. The findings suggest that the method effectively diagnoses and resolves misfits and optimises the resources required for their resolution through efficient management of user participation. We conclude with a discussion of the theoretical and practical contributions of our work.     

To use or not to use: Modelling end user grumbling as user resistance in pre-implementation stage of enterprise resource planning system

The success rate of enterprise resource planning (ERP) implementation is less than 49% around the world owing to its complex nature. The key focus of information system (IS) researchers has been to explore the ways to reduce threats to ERP implementation posed especially by user resistance. Although the reasons for user resistance have already been dealt with in previous studies, our understanding of how users assess a new ERP system in the pre-implementation phase and what prompts their decision to resist it is far from complete. In particular, an explanation for user resistance or end-user grumbling from the perspectives of status quo bias and technostress was found to be missing. In order to fill this gap in research, the model proposed in the present study integrates status quo and technostress, thus throwing light on the end-user grumbling behaviour that precedes the implementation of a new ERP system. Data was collected via a survey questionnaire distributed to 221 respondents from five different manufacturing industries in Bangladesh which are currently in the process of installing the popular SAP ERP system. Results of this tested model indicate a significant impact of the constructs of status quo bias and technostress on end-user grumbling. Additionally, end user grumbling has positive significant impact on symbolic adoption. Moreover, the paper discusses common method bias and the limitations of the study, while providing an outlook for future research.     

ERP evaluation during the shakedown phase: lessons from an after-sales division

Abstract.  Integrated information systems and operational efficiency are both pivotal issues for contemporary firms. While there is substantial evidence that enterprise resources planning (ERP) systems can deliver related improvements, the implementation of these systems can turn out to be a very complex and risky task. One key aspect of managing these risks is maintaining operational momentum and preventing possible problems from escalating in the so-called shakedown phase shortly after system implementation. The objective of this paper is to examine how user evaluations of ERP system success could be used to trace down the source of potential problems, which can arise during the shakedown phase, and how and why experienced system success might vary between different user groups. The paper builds on a case study completed in the after-sales division of a large multinational organization. This context is considered a fruitful empirical setting for the study as the business sets enormous demands for ERP system functionality and its smooth implementation. Based on the case study, it is argued that in such a context the importance of sufficient user skills, data reliability and intra-organizational communication becomes emphasized in the ERP implementation process. Moreover, results illustrate how downstream operations and customer relations are particularly vulnerable to problems accumulated in upstream business processes. Related problems can potentially form a self-fulfilling cycle, where the lack of skills and information constantly deteriorates both user perceptions and actual operational performance.     

Understanding the Influence of User Participation and Involvement on System Success – a Systematic Mapping Study

User participation and involvement in software development are considered to be essential for a successful software system. Three research areas, human aspects of software engineering, requirements engineering, and information systems, study these topics from various perspectives. We think it is important to analyze user participation and involvement in software engineering comprehensively to encourage further research in this area. We investigate the evidence on effects of user participation and involvement on system success and we explore which methods are available in literature. A systematic mapping study was conducted. The systematic search yielded 3,698 hits, from which we identified 289 unique papers. These papers were reviewed by the first author based on inclusion and exclusion criteria. The second author validated the selection of papers by reviewing the reasons for exclusion and inclusion and the corresponding papers on a sample base. 58 of the 289 papers were selected (22 statistical survey and meta-study papers and 36 methods papers). Based on the empirical evidence of the surveys and meta-studies, we developed a meta-analysis of structural equation models. This overview demonstrates that most papers showed positive correlations between aspects of development processes (including user participation) and human aspects (including user involvement) and system success. The analysis of the proposed solutions from the method papers revealed a wide variety of user participation and involvement practices for most activities within software development.     

Sociotechnical issues in the implementation of imaging technology

This study examined the implementation of imaging technology into two public sector organizations in the Midwest in the USA. The aims of the study were to analyze the impact of imaging technology on job characteristics and quality of working life, and the influence of the technological change process on employees and organizations. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected using questionnaire surveys and structured and semi-structured interviews. Results showed that imaging users reported more problems with technology and less job satisfaction than employees who were still using their 'old' computer systems. In addition, imaging users in the organization that utilized end user participation in the implementation of their imaging system rated their imaging systems better and reported higher job satisfaction than imaging users in the organization that did not incorporate end user participation in the implementation of the system. The results are discussed in terms of the importance of the technology implementation/ change process, and future directions for research are provided.