Elucidating the role of IT/IS assessment and resource allocation in IT/IS performance in hospitals

Although similar to firms in other industries that strive to increase their operational efficiency by implementing IT/IS, hospitals face difficulties in obtaining the corresponding benefits of investing in IT/IS. This study investigates the relations among IT/IS performance, IT maturity, IT/IS assessment, IT/IS resource allocation, and user satisfaction in hospitals. IT/IS performance in hospitals is evaluated using a designed questionnaire, along with a case study undertaken to discuss IT/IS assessment and the effect of IT/IS on hospital procedures. The analysis results indicate that hospitals have a higher IT maturity, stronger intention to implement IT/IS assessment, and better IT/IS resource allocation capabilities than firms in other industries. Moreover, both IT/IS assessment and user satisfaction affect IT/IS performance in hospitals.     

Exploring the impacts of perceived e-collaboration service convenience on new product development in Taiwanese IC design companies

The emergence of collaborative information technology/systems (IT/IS) has profoundly influenced new product development (NPD) performance. However, the convenient e-collaboration functions/services delivered by collaborative IT/IS have not been received equal attention in academia and industry. Consequently, scholars and managers have only a limited understanding of the role perceived e-collaboration service convenience plays in NPD. By incorporating service delivery system concepts from the marketing literature, this study proposes a new concept of perceived e-collaboration service convenience and examines the role it plays in the e-collaboration service delivery system at the input, output, and performance levels. The analysis of survey data collected from Taiwanese integrated circuit (IC) design companies shows that product rework effectiveness, user technology readiness, and quality of interface are positively related to perceived e-collaboration service convenience. Moreover, perceived e-collaboration service convenience positively impacts customer orientation, product development efficiency, and product innovation outcomes. These theoretical and practical implications are discussed for further research in developing related theories and for managers in engaging NPD.     

Architectural criteria for website evaluation - conceptual framework and empirical validation

With the rapid development of the Internet, many types of websites have been developed. This variety of websites makes it necessary to adopt systemized evaluation criteria with a strong theoretical basis. This study proposes a set of evaluation criteria derived from an architectural perspective which has been used for over a 1000 years in the evaluation of buildings. The six evaluation criteria are internal reliability and external security for structural robustness, useful content and usable navigation for functional utility, and system interface and communication interface for aesthetic appeal. The impacts of the six criteria on user satisfaction and loyalty have been investigated through a large-scale survey. The study results indicate that the six criteria have different impacts on user satisfaction for different types of websites, which can be classified along two dimensions: users' goals and users' activity levels.     

A covert attention P300-based brain-computer interface: Geospell

The Farwell and Donchin P300 speller interface is one of the most widely used brain-computer interface (BCI) paradigms for writing text. Recent studies have shown that the recognition accuracy of the P300 speller decreases significantly when eye movement is impaired. This report introduces the GeoSpell interface (Geometric Speller), which implements a stimulation framework for a P300-based BCI that has been optimised for operation in covert visual attention. We compared the Geospell with the P300 speller interface under overt attention conditions with regard to effectiveness, efficiency and user satisfaction. Ten healthy subjects participated in the study. The performance of the GeoSpell interface in covert attention was comparable with that of the P300 speller in overt attention. As expected, the effectiveness of the spelling decreased with the new interface in covert attention. The NASA task load index (TLX) for workload assessment did not differ significantly between the two modalities. PRACTITIONER SUMMARY: This study introduces and evaluates a gaze-independent, P300-based brain-computer interface, the efficacy and user satisfaction of which were comparable with those off the classical P300 speller. Despite a decrease in effectiveness due to the use of covert attention, the performance of the GeoSpell far exceeded the threshold of accuracy with regard to effective spelling.     

Assessment of employees’ perceptions of service quality and satisfaction with e-business

In a competitive environment of frequent and rapid change, electronic business (e-business), whose supply, production, and logistics and distribution networks are enabled digitally, is increasingly dependent on electronic interconnections that are innovative in their functionality. Conceivably, its ability to deliver functions and services is closely associated with and helpful for the completion of employees’ tasks and jobs, leading to service quality being critically important for both the employees and e-business (EB). On the other hand, since EB utilizes enterprise applications, user satisfaction, as a surrogate measure of information system (IS) or information technology (IT) effectiveness/success is also important for enterprise applications success. Thus, this research attempts to extrapolate the results of marketing research concerning customers’ perceptions of service quality and IS/IT research as to employees’ perceptions of service quality with EB. First, we revise the SERVQUAL instrument to fit the new context of EB and measure employees’ perceived service quality with EB. Based on a survey of 161 respondents practicing mostly in seven international electronic businesses in Taiwan, a 13-item EB-SERVQUAL instrument is proposed. This can be used to improve and diagnose the service quality of EB. Second, we examine user satisfaction with enterprise applications and its causal link in relation to service quality with EB. The instrument and our findings in this paper will be valuable to researchers and practitioners interested in designing, implementing, and managing EB.     

Validating and applying user satisfaction as a measure of MIS success in small organizations

Measurement of user satisfaction is a methodological problem crucial to information systems research. As the impact of an MIS upon organizational effectiveness is basically unmeasurable, measures of user satisfaction provide the most useful assessments of system success. This paper investigates the measurement of user satisfaction in the specific context of small organizations. An analysis of the potential impact of this specificity upon user satisfaction served as a basis for the selection and adaptation of a previously validated instrument. A modified version was developed and pretested; results of previous research were then replicated and extended by administering the instrument to 464 financial managers in small firms. The data obtained was analyzed and discussed in terms of reliability and validity. The validated instrument is applied to demonstrate its potential uses.     

Material matters: Assessing the effectiveness of materials management IS

Materials management information systems (IS) are designed to enhance decision-making performance by lowering costs, increasing turnover, and improving service. Because of the large investment that these systems represent, companies have developed several ways to evaluate their effectiveness. The most direct approach is to assess the effects of the system on materials management performance outcomes such as inventory costs, turnover, and fill rates. The more common approach is to assess effectiveness via substitute measures, such as user perceptions and usage statistics. A laboratory experiment was conducted to examine the relationships between materials management performance, user satisfaction, and system usage. The three measures were recorded as subjects performed a purchasing task using an materials management IS. Correlations among the three measures suggest that although satisfaction and usage are closely associated with performance, the relationships among the measures are not sufficiently strong to warrant their use as interchangeable measures of effectiveness.     

Measuring satisfaction with business-to-employee systems

Marketing the products of other companies within an individual company Intranet can benefit both employees and the company itself. Understanding what constitutes a satisfying experience on the part of the employees is crucial for developing successful business-to-employee systems. While end-user computing satisfaction has been studied extensively, new aspects such as purchasing convenience, product prices in the system and product delivery have to be included. This study develops an instrument for reliably and accurately measuring business-to-employee success. Test–retest reliability and construct validity are examined. The results of this study show that convenience, delivery, interface, accuracy, price and security influence employee assessments of satisfaction. Managers can use the instrument developed here to assess the success of their business-to-employee systems.     

Information quality,user satisfaction,and the manifestation of workarounds: a qualitative and quantitative study of enterprise content management system users

In this paper, we focus on a critical aspect of work in organizations: using information in work tasks which is provided by information systems (IS) such as enterprise content management (ECM) systems. Our study based on the IS success model, 34 interviews, and an empirical study of 247 ECM system users at a financial service provider indicates that it is appropriate to differentiate between contextual and representational information quality as two information quality dimensions. Furthermore, we reveal that in addition to system quality, the two information quality dimensions are important in determining end-user satisfaction, which in turn influences the manifestation of workarounds. Our study also finds that employees using workarounds to avoid an ECM system implemented several years is negatively related to individual net benefits of the ECM system. Hence, we conclude that when investigating large-scale IS such as ECM systems, it is important to differentiate among information quality dimensions to more deeply understand end-user satisfaction and the resulting manifestation of workarounds. Moreover, this research guides organizations in implementing the most appropriate countermeasures based on the importance of either contextual or representational information quality.     

Understanding the impact of m-banking on individual performance: DeLone & McLean and TTF perspective

Mobile banking (m-banking) is an expanding application of mobile commerce that has claimed the attention and interest of e-commerce researchers. One of the most welcome recent developments in m-banking has been the growing interest in end-user use, user satisfaction, and individual performance. We propose a model combining the DeLone & McLean IS success model and the Task Technology Fit (TTF) model to evaluate the impact of m-banking on individual performance. The empirical approach is based on an online survey questionnaire of 233 individuals. The results reveal that use and user satisfaction are important precedents of individual performance, and the importance of the moderating effects of TTF over usage to individual performance. The system quality, information quality, and service quality positively affect user satisfaction. Understanding the significance of m-banking context on individual performance is useful to provide new insight to m-banking managers to apply strategies to retain users or even attract potential adopters. We provide the theoretical and practical implications of our findings.     

Contextual influences on user satisfaction with mobile computing: findings from two healthcare organizations

Mobile information technologies (IT) are transforming individual work practices and organizations. These devices are extending not only the boundaries of the ‘office’ in space and time, but also the social context within which use occurs. In this paper, we investigate how extra-organizational influences can impact user satisfaction with mobile systems. The findings from our longitudinal study highlight the interrelatedness of different use contexts and their importance in perceptions of user satisfaction. The data indicate that varying social contexts of individual use (individual as employee, as professional, as private user, and as member of society) result in different social influences that affect the individual's perceptions of user satisfaction with the mobile technology. While existing theories explain user satisfaction with IT within the organizational context, our findings suggest that future studies of mobile IT in organizations should accommodate such extra-organizational contextual influences.     

A novel framework to alleviate the sparsity problem in context-aware recommender systems

Recommender systems have become indispensable for services in the era of big data. To improve accuracy and satisfaction, context-aware recommender systems (CARSs) attempt to incorporate contextual information into recommendations. Typically, valid and influential contexts are determined in advance by domain experts or feature selection approaches. Most studies have focused on utilizing the unitary context due to the differences between various contexts. Meanwhile, multi-dimensional contexts will aggravate the sparsity problem, which means that the user preference matrix would become extremely sparse. Consequently, there are not enough or even no preferences in most multi-dimensional conditions. In this paper, we propose a novel framework to alleviate the sparsity issue for CARSs, especially when multi-dimensional contextual variables are adopted. Motivated by the intuition that the overall preferences tend to show similarities among specific groups of users and conditions, we first explore to construct one contextual profile for each contextual condition. In order to further identify those user and context subgroups automatically and simultaneously, we apply a co-clustering algorithm. Furthermore, we expand user preferences in a given contextual condition with the identified user and context clusters. Finally, we perform recommendations based on expanded preferences. Extensive experiments demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed framework.     

The relationship between user participation and system success: a simultaneous contingency approach

The relationship between user participation and information system (IS) success has drawn attention from researchers for some time. It is assumed that strong participation of future users in the design of IS would lead to successful outcomes in terms of more IS usage, greater user acceptance, and increased user satisfaction. However, in spite of this, much of the empirical research so far has been unable to demonstrate its benefits. This paper examines the participation–success relationship in a broader context, where the effects of user participation and two other factors, user attitudes and user involvement, on system success occur simultaneously. Other contingency variables considered here are: system impact, system complexity, and development methodology. The theoretical framework and the associated hypotheses are empirically tested by a survey of 32 organizations. Empirical results corroborate the positive link between user participation and user satisfaction and provide evidence on the interplay between user attitudes and user involvement.     

When users are IT experts too: the effects of joint IT competence and partnership on satisfaction with enterprise-level systems implementation

Enterprise-level information systems (IS) are fundamental to businesses. Unfortunately, implementing these large-scale systems is a complex and risky endeavor. As a result, these initiatives must tap the expertise and active involvement of both the IS department and the enterprise's functional areas. Past studies focusing on IS implementation teams consistently identify the IS department as the source of technical expertise and leadership, while functional department team members are typically relegated to the role of business experts. However, unlike the past, many business professionals are knowledgeable about information technology (IT) and are increasingly capable of contributing to IS implementations from a technical perspective as well as a business perspective. This study examines how IT competence held by both the IS department and the user department stakeholders contributes to user satisfaction with the enterprise-level system implementation. Specifically, this research introduces a theoretically grounded construct, joint IT competence, which emerges when the IS department and user department stakeholders integrate their individually held IT competences. The study's results empirically demonstrate that joint IT competence is a key driver of user satisfaction in enterprise-level IS implementations. Although not as significant as joint IT competence, results show that partner-based leadership between the IS department and user stakeholders also influences user satisfaction with IS implementations.     

Public websites and human–computer interaction: an empirical study of measurement of website quality and user satisfaction

The focus of this paper is to investigate measurement of website quality and user satisfaction. More specifically, the paper reports on a study investigating whether users of high-quality public websites are more satisfied than those of low-quality websites. Adopting a human–computer interaction perspective, we have gathered data from the 2009 public website awards in Scandinavia. Our analysis of Norwegian and Danish websites reveals that the use of quality criteria is highly technical compared to the traditional usability testing focus on efficiency, effectiveness and satisfaction of the actual system use by representatives. A Pearson correlation analysis of user evaluation from 296 websites that participated in the Danish web award Bedst på Nettet (‘Top of the Web’) showed no significant positive correlation between website quality and user satisfaction. We put forward recommendations for further investigation: (1) inclusion of real users (citizens and businesses) in real-use setting in the evaluation process could help move forward the understanding of the relationship between website quality and end-user satisfaction; (2) the lack of correlation between website quality and user satisfaction could be a point of departure for critical discussions of future implementation of public information and services and (3) additional and in-depth research of the measurement of website quality in the public sector, user expectations and the impacts of website quality improvements on user satisfaction.     

An empirical examination of factors contributing to the creation of successful e-learning environments

Although existing models of e-learning effectiveness in information systems (IS) have increased our understanding of how technology can support and enhance learning, most of our models do not take into account the importance of social presence. Thus, this study extends previous research by developing a model of e-learning effectiveness which adds social presence to other oft studied variables including application-specific computer self-efficacy (AS-CSE), perceived usefulness, course interaction, and e-learning effectiveness. Using data from 345 individuals, this model was validated through a field study in an introductory IS survey course. Results indicate that AS-CSE and perceived usefulness were related to course performance, course satisfaction, and course instrumentality. In addition, course interaction was related to course performance and satisfaction. Finally, social presence was related to course satisfaction and course instrumentality. Implications for research and practice are discussed.     

How consistent is your web design?

Previous studies have indicated that when interfaces are designed consistently with regards to structure and physical attributes, higher performance and lower error rates are achieved than when interfaces are designed inconsistently. The objective of the current study was to develop a methodology to measure all aspects of computer interface consistency and assess the impact of linguistic inconsistency of interface design on user performance. Based on the background literature, seven factors were identified as affecting overall consistency. Based on this identification, a structured questionnaire of 125 items was developed and a factor analysis was conducted which reduced the number of items in the questionnaire to 94 and identified the following nine factors which contribute to consistency: text structure, general text features, information representation, lexical categories, meaning, user knowledge, text content, communicational attributes and physical attributes. A series of four experiments were conducted with 140 subjects using four different tasks and eight different interface types. The internal reliability of the questionnaire was 0.81, and the inter-rater reliability was 0.75. The instrument effectively identified all of the inconsistencies in interface designs. The instrument can be utilized both as an evaluation and as a design tool for Web-based interfaces.     

Elderly user experience to improve a Kinect-based game playability

When it comes to using computers, older people experience many barriers, which are a considerable hurdle to overcome in order to enable them to accept technological aids. Thus, computer interface design and development must support elderly end users by avoiding many usability issues which lead to negative impacts on them. This paper describes the combination of a computer game design for the elderly and its implementation with user experience considerations embedded in the process. In this way, a positive gaming experience is provided to the end user. This game uses the Kinect device, enabling users to interact intuitively with the computer without any intermediary controller, and its main purpose is to promote at the same time cognitive and physical activities for healthy living. Feedback was taken from physiotherapists’ written observations and user experience questionnaires, which allowed the game to be adapted to their needs, obtaining 86.25% satisfaction. The effectiveness of this study opens the door to new developments in ICT that not only improve quality of life but also reduce the existing digital divide for the elderly.     

Discrepancies between desired and perceived measures of performance of IS professionals: Views of the IS professionals themselves and the users

Evaluation of IS professionals is difficult. Measures are seldom fully defined and suffer from the inability of a user to consider differences between expectations and perceptions of performance. In addition, expected levels of performance and perceived levels of performance depend on the satisfaction of each group of stakeholders. Discrepancy theory leads one to expect that satisfaction is highest when performance matches expectations. To explore this gap in different groups, a sample of users and a matched sample of IS professionals was investigated in order to determine the relationship between the performance gap and satisfaction with the system on the part of the users and careers on the part of the IS professionals. Larger gaps were found to be associated with poor satisfaction in both samples. Additionally, each group had a different set of expectations, indicating that the measures did not represent the same expectation or meanings to different stakeholders. Thus, management should strive to promote uniform understanding of the measures employed in IS professional performance evaluation by all stakeholders and manage expectations according to the metrics selected.     

The Investigation of E-Learning System Design Quality on Usage Intention

ABSTRACT

A well-designed product increases customer value and leads to repeat usage. However, studies on the impact of website quality on customer usage fail to distinguish website competence from website capability, ignoring that website quality performance has impacts on other website quality attributes. We gather data from 314 undergraduate students and apply partial least square method to examine the design quality mechanisms and other factors that influence users’ experience. Our results indicate that offering personalized products or services is an important enabler toward enhancing users’ attitude and usage intention. Particularly, for IS education in the format of e-learning, our results suggest firms developing textbook technology platforms primarily focus on creating superior quality designs leading to capabilities that enhance user customization. The customization experience will lead to better satisfaction via both perceived usefulness and perceived ease-of-use.