User empowerment : an enabler of enterprise systems success

This research project has established a new measurement model for User Empowerment as an enabler to Enterprise Systems 1 success. This study was inspired by the reported relationship between Empowerment and improved work outcomes. From this, it was hypothesised that empowering the users of Enterprise Systems during the implementation process would improve the reports of post implementation system success. A new related concept of system oriented User Empowerment was conceived. The outcomes of empowering users (increased worker effectiveness; (increased work satisfaction) conceptually resonates very closely to the outcomes of individual performance, quality of system outputs, goodness of system functionality and, on a broader level, effective use of the system to yield successful business outcomes. These latter outcomes represent the measures of Enterprise Systems success. Thus Empowerment as an independent variable, and Enterprise Systems success as a dependent variable, provided a launching platform for the study. The research model was built upon the existing research into Empowerment as articulated by Spreitzer (Spreitzer, 1996) and Thomas and Velthouse (Thomas & Velthouse, 1990) and its derived systems related construct of User Empowerment, first explored by Doll, Deng and Metts (Doll, Deng, & Metts, 2003). It used a current and validated measure of Enterprise Systems Success as developed by Gable, Sedera and Chan (Gable, Sedera, & Chan, 2003); this measure is a refinement of the Information Systems Success Model of DeLone and McLean (DeLone & McLean, 2002). 2 In order to test the relationships of Empowerment to (Enterprise) System success, the following research sub-problems were explored: * What types of Empowerment are relevant in the Enterprise System context? * Is User Empowerment different from Psychological Empowerment and if so, how? * What is the relationship between Psychological Empowerment and User Empowerment? * How can User Empowerment be measured? * What is the effect of Psychological Empowerment on Enterprise Systems success? * What is the effect of User Empowerment on Enterprise Systems success? This research project was a PhD study funded by the Australian Research Council through an industry linkage program. The industry partner in this project was SAP - the most successful vendor of Enterprise Systems. Although limited in analysis the study spanned across two industry sectors, with two Enterprise Systems (Oracle and SAP). This research was a multimethod study and involved both qualitative and quantitative phases. The multimethod included content analysis, survey, and case study. This research was led by an explorative research strategy and paid considerable attention to analysing each research method in relation to other research methods, and also in relation to the demands of the research problem. A comprehensive literature review established extant definitions and constructs for Psychological Empowerment, User Empowerment and, Enterprise Systems success. The literature review employed a formal qualitative research method, using open coding supported through the use of Nvivo, a Qualitative software package, in order to identify and derive key themes in the referent disciplines. The responses from the email survey of Information Systems researchers, and Enterprise Systems consultants were triangulated with the findings from the categorised literature review on Empowerment. This sub-study utilised WordStat software and the findings were presented at the QualIT conference (Sehgal & Stewart, 2006). Drawing from the existing perspectives on Empowerment a contextbased perspective on Empowerment was proposed by the researcher. From this work, a new working definition of (User) Empowerment was derived. This construct proposed that User Empowerment involved Computer Self-efficacy, Perceived Usefulness, Intrinsic Motivation, User Autonomy, and Problem-solving and Decision support. Psychological Empowerment involves Meaning, Self-determination, Competence, and Impact. The research project then empirically tested the relationship of both Psychological Empowerment and User Empowerment to Enterprise Systems success using a quantitative enquiry. The new User Empowerment construct was statistically tested for validity and reliability. This quantitative study found no statistical evidence for a relationship between Psychological Empowerment and Enterprise Systems success. The study findings suggest significant statistical evidence for a relationship between User Empowerment and Enterprise Systems success. Statistical analysis showed that the construct for User Empowerment was different from the construct of Enterprise Systems success. These relationships held regardless of the level of the user: senior management, operational, end users or technical. This phase of the study was presented at the Americas Conference of Information Systems (Sehgal & Stewart, 2004). This exploratory survey was followed by another industry based case study, which confirmed the results for a different industry sector and different Enterprise System. This latter study was used in an independent confirmatory factor analysis of the Enterprise Systems success measurement which was presented at the Americas Conference on Information Systems (Sehgal & Stewart, 2004) and International Conference on Information Systems (Sedera, Gable, & Chan, 2004) by fellow researchers. This research has demonstrated that User Empowerment, rather than Psychological Empowerment was significantly related to Enterprise Systems Success. The study findings identified potentially significant benefits to the Enterprise System implementing organisations as well as the Enterprise System vendor from empowering Enterprise System users. Of the reported benefits one of the relevant one was improved and positive reports about the implemented Enterprise System. Further, the study highlights the importance of context when measuring a construct such as Empowerment. There are clear practical implications for the research outcomes. These include a recommendation that training programs should ensure that users have a high degree of computer self-efficacy when using the enterprise system. The validated User Empowerment instrument will be utilised as a diagnostic tool for organisational readiness prior to an ES implementation. This would assist in benchmarking the level of empowerment and predicted Enterprise Systems success. Future research will explore the effects of an Enterprise System on the components of User Empowerment as it is conjectured that there is a reciprocal relationship between the system and user attributes of Computer Self-efficacy, Problem-solving Decision Support, and understanding of business logic

Understanding User Empowerment in Enterprise Systems Context: Is User Empowerment Predictive of Enterprise Systems Success?

Empowerment has been an evolving construct for many years and is identified as one of the factors contributing to affective outcomes in the workplace such as increased worker effectiveness, satisfaction and performance. Prior research has generated considerable knowledge on empowerment from management and non-management perspectives. The adoption and implementation of integrated enterprise systems (commonly known as ERP systems), have resulted in dramatic changes in organisational processes. The implementation strategies focus on mapping processes and training end users in using the system but do not appear to focus on engaging the users in the change process. Perhaps the concepts of user empowerment as a focal point of the change management process could improve the successful use of such complex systems. This research program seeks to define the concepts of user empowerment, develop, measure and validate the constructs of user empowerment in an enterprise systems context. In addition, the program will study the correlation of user empowerment with enterprise systems success. The research alludes to several ways that user empowerment influences the enterprise systems success. Organisations need to understand that there are critical human factors involved in a successful implementation and thereby a successful Enterprise System

Using Qualitative Analysis for Deriving Evidence Based Construct Definition: A Case Narrative of 'User Empowerment'

For organisations to realise the potential from Enterprise Systems (ES), users must play an active role in adapting to processes and technology. To adapt to new processes and technologies, users must be empowered. Empowerment has been studied for over two decades across various disciplines and applied in practice. However, a review of the empowerment concept relating to the Information Systems (IS) and ES literature suggests that the concept is often misunderstood i.e. a single common conception of empowerment is appropriate (i) across all disciplines and (ii) across all contexts. This paper describes the application of qualitative analysis method to derive a definition for user-empowerment in the ES context

Plasma Proteomic Analysis Identified Proteins Associated with Faulty Neutrophils Functionality in Decompensated Cirrhosis Patients with Sepsis

Decompensated cirrhosis (DC) is susceptible to infections and sepsis. Neutrophils and monocytes provide the first line of defense to encounter infection. We aimed to evaluate proteins related to neutrophils functionality in sepsis. 70 (DC), 40 with sepsis, 30 without (w/o) sepsis and 15 healthy controls (HC) plasma was analyzed for proteomic analysis, cytokine bead array, endotoxin, cell free DNA and whole blood cells were analyzed for nCD64-mHLADR index, neutrophils-monocytes, functionality and QRT-PCR. nCD64-mHLADR index was significantly increased (p p = 0.045). Phagocytic activity of both neutrophils and monocytes were significantly decreased in sepsis (p = 0.002 and p = 0.0003). Sepsis plasma stimulated healthy neutrophils, showed significant increase in NETs (neutrophil extracellular traps) and cell free DNA (p = 0.049 and p = 0.04) compared to w/o sepsis and HC. Proteomic analysis revealed upregulated- DNAJC13, TMSB4X, GPI, GSTP1, PNP, ANPEP, COTL1, GCA, APOA1 and PGAM1 while downregulated- AHSG, DEFA1,SERPINA3, MPO, MMRN1and PROS1 proteins (FC > 1.5; p < 0.05) associated to neutrophil activation and autophagy in sepsis. Proteins such as DNAJC13, GPI, GSTP1, PNP, ANPEP, COTL1, PGAM1, PROS1, MPO, SERPINA3 and MMRN1 showed positive correlation with neutrophils activity and number, oxidative burst activity and clinical parameters such as MELD, MELD Na and Bilirubin. Proteomic analysis revealed that faulty functionality of neutrophils may be due to the autophagy proteins i.e., DNAJC13, AHSG, TMSB4X, PROS1 and SERPINA3, which can be used as therapeutic targets in decompensated cirrhosis patients with sepsis

Emergent dynamics of underlying regulatory network links EMT and androgen receptor-dependent resistance in prostate cancer

Advanced prostate cancer patients initially respond to hormone therapy, be it in the form of androgen deprivation therapy or second-generation hormone therapies, such as abiraterone acetate or enzalutamide. However, most men with prostate cancer eventually develop hormone therapy resistance. This resistance can arise through multiple mechanisms, such as through genetic mutations, epigenetic mechanisms, or through non-genetic pathways, such as lineage plasticity along epithelial-mesenchymal or neuroendocrine-like axes. These mechanisms of hormone therapy resistance often co-exist within a single patient’s tumor and can overlap within a single cell. There exists a growing need to better understand how phenotypic heterogeneity and plasticity results from emergent dynamics of the regulatory networks governing androgen independence. Here, we investigated the dynamics of a regulatory network connecting the drivers of androgen receptor (AR) splice variant-mediated androgen independence and those of epithelial-mesenchymal transition. Model simulations for this network revealed four possible phenotypes: epithelial-sensitive (ES), epithelial-resistant (ER), mesenchymal-resistant (MR) and mesenchymal-sensitive (MS), with the latter phenotype occurring rarely. We observed that well-coordinated “teams” of regulators working antagonistically within the network enable these phenotypes. These model predictions are supported by multiple transcriptomic datasets both at single-cell and bulk levels, including in vitro EMT induction models and clinical samples. Further, our simulations reveal spontaneous stochastic switching between the ES and MR states. Addition of the immune checkpoint molecule, PD-L1, to the network was able to capture the interactions between AR, PD-L1, and the mesenchymal marker SNAIL, which was also confirmed through quantitative experiments. This systems-level understanding of the driver of androgen independence and EMT could aid in understanding non-genetic transitions and progression of such cancers and help in identifying novel therapeutic strategies or targets