A Qualitative Approach to Examine Technology Acceptance

The research field of technology acceptance and software acceptance is a fertile field in the discipline of MIS. Acceptance research is mainly affected by the technology acceptance model (TAM). The TAM is counted as the major guideline for acceptance research. But recently more researchers discover the deficits of former acceptance research. The main cause of the criticism is the focus on quantitative research methods. We will show this with the help of former meta-studies and a literature review. Quantitative approaches are basically appropriate for the testing of theories. The development of new theories or constructs is followed to a lesser intent. In the article we will show how a qualitative approach can be used for theory-construction. We will introduce a qualitative research design and show how this approach can be used to develop new constructs of acceptance while some existing constructs taken from TAM and related theories cannot be confirmed

Re-examining the Status of IT in IT Research - An Update on Orlikowski and Iacono (2001)

Nearly 10 years ago, Orlikowski and Iacono examined the conceptualization of Information Technology in Information Systems Research (ISR) articles published in 1990s, and found that the majority of these articles were not thoroughly engaged with IT artifact. They proposed that IS researchers should start to theorize about the IT artifact and employ rich conceptualizations of IT. In order to assess the field’s response to Orlikowski and Iacono’s recommendations, and obtain an up-to-date image of the contemporary IS research, we carried out a similar analysis on a recent set of articles, i.e. the full set of papers published in the last three years of ISR, Management Information Systems Quarterly (MISQ), and Journal of the Association for Information Systems (JAIS). Our results reveal no drastic progress in terms of deeper engagement with IT artifact; 30% of the articles in our set are virtually mute about the artifact, and only 10% are employing an ensemble view of IT. Nevertheless, there are informative discrepancies between patterns in our results and those in the original study, and noticeable differences among the three journals. Implications of these findings for future research will be discussed

Theorieentwicklung in der Akzeptanzforschung: Entwicklung eines Modells auf Basis einer qualitativen Studie

Die Untersuchung der Akzeptanz von Technologien im Allgemeinen und Software im Besonderen ist ein fruchtbares Feld in der anglo-amerikanischen Forschung der Disziplinen (Management) Information Systems und der deutschen Wirtschaftsinformatik. Trotz zahlreicher Untersuchungen, die ihren Ursprung in dem Technologie-Akzeptanzmodell und verwandten Theorien haben, mehren sich Beiträge, welche die Defizite bisherigerer Studien und Forschungsansätze herausstellen. Eine wesentliche Ursache ist Fokussierung auf quantitative Forschungsmethoden, wie wir anhand von Metastudien und einer eigenen Literaturrecherche aufzeigen. Während quantitative Verfahren sich in der Regel gut für eine Überprüfung gegebener Theorien eignen, ist ihr Beitrag für die Bildung neuer Theorien begrenzt. Im vorliegenden Beitrag wird aufgezeigt, wie ein qualitatives Verfahren zur besseren Theoriebildung genutzt werden kann. Am Beispiel der Untersuchung der Akzeptanz von Projektmanagement-Software (PMS) kann aufgezeigt werden, dass dieses Vorgehen zu neuen Konstrukten führt, während einige Konstrukte bestehender Akzeptanz-Theorien nicht bestätigt werden konnten

Developing an Interdisciplinary Area of Economics and Human-Computer Interaction

As an important component of IS research, human-computer interaction (HCI) research in IS has heavily relied on reference disciplines. Economics is less referenced despite the fact that human beings have been strongly driven by economic rules. This paper purports that economics can be of high value to HCI research, providing fresh perspectives for understanding HCI phenomena. Drawing upon concepts and theories in neoclassical economics, behavioral economics, and information economics, this paper examines five important HCI topics from various perspectives from the field of economics. Accordingly, eighteen propositions are developed, demonstrating the usefulness of economics for advancing our understanding of HCI phenomena. While claiming the benefits of referring to economics, this paper also warns HCI researchers of the potential threats of doing so. Opinions are offered about how HCI researchers can refer to economics strategically

What groups of factors do senior executives believe affect their use of executive information systems?

In a highly competitive and turbulent environment, executives need more efficient ways to analyze their companies, markets and competitors. The aim is to help their organizations become more competitive and, as a result, survive the changes taking place around them. Executive Information Systems (EIS) can help executives access the internal and external data they need to be able to make the right decisions and achieve their organizations' objectives. We need to know the factors what senior executives believe affect their use of executive information systems because EIS, like any other software, are designed to be used directly by users, in this case, senior executives. The objective of this thesis is to uncover which factors senior executives feel affect their use of EIS, compare the factors they propose to those mentioned in other studies to determine their importance, and group the factors which affect or may affect senior executives. The methodology proposed to group these factors together is Concept Mapping. The structure of this thesis is divided into five main sections after the introduction and the discussion on motivations: the conceptual framework, research methodology, analysis and findings, reflection and discussion, references, and annexes. In the conceptual framework section I define senior executives, EIS and Technology Acceptance Model. The first research question was: Is additional qualitative research needed to find more valuable information about the factors? I can confirm that more qualitative research is necessary to uncover more valuable information about the factors (as presented in section 5.i. above). I extracted 15 factors from the initial interviews and 79 factors from the literature review. However, senior executives rated the 15 initial factors taken from interviews higher than the rest of factors. The second research question was: What groups of factors do senior executives believe affect their use of executive information systems? Examining the results of the survey with MDS and cluster analysis, I have presented twelve groups of factors in section 5.ii. The third research question was: How important are these groups of factors for senior executives? I detail the list of clusters ordered by their average ranking in terms of importance and the average score received. The main scientific contribution of this thesis is having completed one small part of research on one of the most tested and studied theories in IT: TAM. This thesis demonstrates the importance that qualitative research has in terms of studying one type of IT and one type of user before carrying out quantitative research. The main methodological contribution is that it is not easy to do research with senior executives, but, as this thesis shows, the Concept Mapping methodology can help facilitate this process. There are other scientific and methodological contributions detailed in the thesis. This is, I believe, my modest contribution to offering senior executives EIS projects which understand them and their needs more and better while also providing researchers new opportunities for research and I would encourage other researchers to study the importance of previous qualitative studies applied to other kinds of users and systems. Another opportunity for research is to use concept maps to develop implementation projects and compare the success of those projects with other projects which didn't use the concept map as a tool to define the project itsel

Exploring the use of social capital to support technology adoption and implementation

Information System (IS) implementations are a risky business with studies showing only a 16%-29% success rate. This research explores the use of social capital to support technology implementations. This research brings together two distinct bodies of knowledge: social network analysis (SNA) and technology acceptance models, in order to better understand the relationship between social capital and technology acceptance. The first aspect of the research looks at social network centrality and influence measures as an alternative means to measure social influence in the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) model. The social influence construct has proven to be inconsistent in past research. An individual‟s decision to adopt a new technology is influenced by their social context or the informal social network within which they work. The social capital of others influences their attitudes and decision to adopt a new technology. Social Capital, as measured through social network analysis, could be substituted for the social influence construct of the UTAUT model. Two revised UTAUT models are developed and tested. The second aspect of this research uses social capital to inform membership of a Community of Practice (CoP) to support a Finance Management System implementation in a higher education organization. SNA can be used to gain an understanding of the social network and identify individuals with high social capital. There is growing evidence that CoP support successful organizational change initiatives but it is less clear how CoP membership might be determined. SNA provides an evidence-based approach to CoP formation. The IS implementation cases described in the paper demonstrate an innovative approach to IS implementation grounded in social capital and technology acceptance research that add to the body of knowledge in both theory and practice.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Exploring the use of social capital to support technology adoption and implementation

Information System (IS) implementations are a risky business with studies showing only a 16%-29% success rate. This research explores the use of social capital to support technology implementations. This research brings together two distinct bodies of knowledge: social network analysis (SNA) and technology acceptance models, in order to better understand the relationship between social capital and technology acceptance. The first aspect of the research looks at social network centrality and influence measures as an alternative means to measure social influence in the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) model. The social influence construct has proven to be inconsistent in past research. An individual‟s decision to adopt a new technology is influenced by their social context or the informal social network within which they work. The social capital of others influences their attitudes and decision to adopt a new technology. Social Capital, as measured through social network analysis, could be substituted for the social influence construct of the UTAUT model. Two revised UTAUT models are developed and tested. The second aspect of this research uses social capital to inform membership of a Community of Practice (CoP) to support a Finance Management System implementation in a higher education organization. SNA can be used to gain an understanding of the social network and identify individuals with high social capital. There is growing evidence that CoP support successful organizational change initiatives but it is less clear how CoP membership might be determined. SNA provides an evidence-based approach to CoP formation. The IS implementation cases described in the paper demonstrate an innovative approach to IS implementation grounded in social capital and technology acceptance research that add to the body of knowledge in both theory and practice.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

L'utilisation des systèmes de mesure de performance dans les PME

Évoluant dans une économie mondialisée, confrontées à des pressions croissantes de la part de leurs partenaires d'affaires, les PME font face à de nouveaux défis en ce qui a trait à la gestion de la performance. Elles se doivent d'atteindre et de maintenir un niveau d'excellence qui leur permet de survivre et de prospérer. En appuyant le processus de gestion de la performance, les systèmes de mesure de performance (SMP) permettent de gérer ce rapport à l'excellence. Le manque de connaissances sur l'utilisation des SMP et le peu d'attention portée jusqu'ici aux SMP développés dans les PME invitent à l'étude de l'utilisation de ces systèmes dans ce type d'entreprises. Malgré un nombre important de publications sur la conception et l'implantation des SMP, on déplore la rareté des recherches empiriques étudiant les phénomènes dans leur complexité. Déjà peu documentée, la problématique d'utilisation proprement dite des SMP telle que définie dans la littérature se présente en fonction de comportements d'utilisation faible, nulle ou déviante, davantage reliés à la grande entreprise. La définition même de l'artefact SMP ne fait pas consensus. Guidée par une question de recherche à large portée, visant l'explication des SMP dans les PME, cette thèse étudie les artefacts SMP, leur utilisation et les impacts de leur utilisation, de même que l'influence, des caractéristiques de l'artefact et de divers facteurs contextuels. Deux modèles reconnus d'utilisation des systèmes d'information (SI), soit le modèle d'acceptation de la technologie (TAM) et le modèle de succès des SI de DeLone et McLean sont à la base du cadre conceptuel de l'étude. Utilisé comme guide d'exploration plutôt que comme modèle à tester, ce cadre a permis d'organiser en un ensemble cohérent les données collectées et d'orienter leur analyse. Des entrevues en profondeur furent menées auprès des chefs de 16 PME choisies pour assurer une diversité de tailles, de secteurs et de situations géographiques. Combinant des approches qualitatives et quantitatives, les entrevues se déroulaient selon un protocole prévoyant un entretien dirigé suivi de l'administration d'un questionnaire rempli sur place avec le chercheur. Les résultats montrent une grande diversité d'artefacts SMP dans les entreprises étudiées. La mesure de la performance est principalement axée sur les aspects reliés aux opérations et à la production. L'information est généralement présentée sous forme de ratios et de graphiques. Les SMP offrent pour la plupart une interface personnalisée aux besoins du chef et sont accessibles de l'extérieur de l'entreprise. On observe cependant que les divers composants des SMP étudiés sont dans l'ensemble technologiquement peu intégrés les uns avec les autres. L'utilisation des SMP est régulière, le contrôle étant la fonction dominante. Les chefs reconnaissent plusieurs impacts favorables à leur utilisation des SMP, entre autres sur la cohésion organisationnelle et sur la productivité des opérations. Les caractéristiques de l'artefact peuvent influencer l'utilisation qui en est faite. Certains facteurs reliés au chef, à l'entreprise et à l'environnement semblent avoir une influence sur les caractéristiques de l'artefact et sur son utilisation, comme l'emploi du temps du chef, son expérience et son profil stratégique, de même que la taille de l'entreprise, la nature de ses activités et la rapidité de l'évolution technologique de son secteur. Enfin, l'utilisation du SMP contribuerait à réduire les perceptions d'incertitude et d'hostilité de l'environnement d'affaires. Les retombées de cette recherche sont diverses. Tout d'abord, dans un contexte où les descriptions de ces systèmes sont rares, cette étude produit une description empirique de plusieurs artefacts SMP et en extrait les principes configurationnels qui les rattachent aux SI, tout en faisant ressortir leurs caractéristiques propres de systèmes dédiés à la mesure et à la gestion de la performance organisationnelle. Elle en propose de plus un cadre de classification que pourront valider les recherches futures. Ensuite, dans un contexte où le manque de connaissances empiriques tant sur l'utilisation que sur les impacts de l'utilisation est souligné par plusieurs, cette recherche produit une description empirique de l'utilisation de ces systèmes qui prend en compte la nature complexe de ce phénomène sur plusieurs plans. Elle identifie des variables qui jouent un rôle prépondérant dans le contexte spécifique des PME et propose un modèle d'utilisation des SMP ancré dans la réalité de ces entreprises. Cette étude contribue de plus à documenter la problématique spécifique des SMP en PME. Elle révèle que la problématique d'utilisation faible, nulle ou déviante y est peu pertinente, et que les chefs de PME, utilisateurs convaincus d'un SMP dont ils sont d'ailleurs à l'origine, ont des besoins non comblés de repères pour la conception, la gestion et l'évaluation de leurs SMP. Cette recherche offre aux chefs de PME, aux firmes qui les conseillent et aux concepteurs de SMP pour PME, un cadre de référence empirique pour la conception, l'amélioration et l'évaluation des SMP, de même que pour l'évaluation de l'utilisation de ces systèmes et l'identification de conditions favorables à cette utilisation

Occasioning Dialogic Spaces of Innovation: The pan-Canadian EHR, Infoway and the Re-Scripting of Healthcare

The Canadian public healthcare system appears to currently be under considerable strain. Escalating costs, dwindling budgets and growing patient dissatisfaction are just a few of the systemic pressures that have called into question our current ways of delivering healthcare. As a consequence, there is a growing recognition that renewal is needed, and that this renewal, to be successful, should meet the needs of a wide array of stakeholders, hence calling for unprecedented levels of collaboration among increasingly fragmented interests. In order to bring about this renewal, the federal government seems to be intent on implementing a pan-Canadian electronic health record (EHR) system. To that end, in 2001, Canada Health Infoway was born out of a novel collaboration between federal and jurisdictional health ministries with the specific mandate to accelerate the implementation of EHRs across Canada. In this thesis, I use material-semiotic and dialogic approaches to gain a more nuanced understanding of how the pan-Canadian EHR system is unfolding and in what ways Infoway is trying to accelerate that unfolding. I conclude by suggesting that a more dialogic approach to innovating, in which the innovator focuses on finding various ways to occasion dialogic spaces, may better foster the creation of new meanings of the innovation and therefore result in a more, and not less, harmonious change process. Furthermore, through these dialogic spaces, it is not just multiple meanings of the innovation that are being occasioned, but the innovation itself seems to become more meaningful