A Contingency Model Of Dss Success: An Empirical Investigation

The importance of contingent relationships between variables influencing MIS implementations has often been emphasized. This study tests ten propositions regarding the contingent relationships influencing the implementation of a certain class of information systems, generally called Decision Support Systems (DSS). These propositions are derived from a contingency framework that groups the variables relevant to DSS implementations into four categories. These are the characteristics of: the decision maker/user, the DSS, the decision environment, and the implementation process. It is posited that the successful implementation of DSS depends not only on the direct effects of variables in each category, but also on the overall fit between these variables. DSS implementation success is defined as high user satisfaction and system usage.;Based on the proposed framework, ten propositions regarding specific contingent or fit relationships between variable pairs from the four categories of the framework are suggested. Defined as multiplicative effects between the variable pairs concerned, the propositions were tested in a field survey of DSS in 9 organizations from the insurance, banking, and utility industries.;The results of the study indicate that multiplicative effects do not account for a significant portion of the observed variance in the three dependent variables, over and above the portion accounted for by the main effects. The results also show that the main effect variable, DSS flexibility, accounts for nearly half the observed variance in user information satisfaction. These results and the fact that a relatively high proportion of the variance in the three dependent variables was accounted by the main effect variables DSS flexibility, decision maker/user willingness to change, and involvement in implementation, leads to the conclusion that, for DSS implementations, multiplicative effects are unimportant. On the other hand, DSS flexibility appears as a primary consideration to keep in mind in implementing DSS

Toward a Typological Theory of Information System Project Team Management Styles

Drawing from research in information systems (IS) and project management, the contingency perspective research stream and from empirical observations, the present paper investigates the effect of the fit between information system project team management (ISPTM) styles and four IS project risk profiles, i.e. challenging, diplomatic, technical and easy (cookie cutter), on IS project performance. Following recommended survey development approaches, distribution practices and general conduct of survey research, questionnaire data was obtained from182 IS project managers in Canada and the United States. The results show that IS project managers adapt their ISPTM to the context specificities and that, for each IS project risk profile, there are significant differences between ISPTM styles deployed in successful and less successful IS projects

The Effect of Self-management Systems on Coping with Stress and Anxiety in Chronic Patients

Self-management programs have been introduced in order to help chronic patients better manage their symptoms, treatments, and the physical, as well as the psychosocial consequences and lifestyle changes inherent in living with a chronic condition. As many chronic patients tend to also suffer from mental health issues, such as depression and anxiety, coping resources and constructive coping strat-egies can also help them improve their psychological health, which in turn can help them improve their quality of life. Information technologies can provide useful opportunities for improving the self-management support that are provided to chronic illnesses such as asthma, especially when they can be integrated with patients’ ongoing medical care and by enabling the patients to also better cope with mental health issues. The present paper describes an exploratory study that studied 17 asthma patients who used a self-management system and examined if and how the system also helped them cope with the negative emotions evoked by their disease. Adopting a coping theory perspective, the paper identi-fied several coping responses that the studied self-management system seemed to support, and developing future self-management systems so that they can also support these coping responses can be useful for improving the health of chronically ill patients

Effective use of patient-centric health information systems: The influence

Effective use of patient-centric health information systems: The influence of patient emotion

The Influence of Analyst Communication in IS Projects

Information system (IS) researchers have long noted that IS analysts need to understand users’ needs if they are to design better systems and improve project outcomes. While researchers agree that analyst communication activities are an important prerequisite for such an understanding, little is known about the nature of different communication behaviors IS analysts can undertake to learn about users’ system needs and the impact of such behaviors on IS projects. To address this gap, this paper draws from the learning literature to articulate the information transmission activities IS analysts can undertake and the content of the information they can transmit when learning about users’ organizational tasks and information needs. The influence of analyst communication activities on the generation of valid information regarding user needs, analyst learning, and IS project outcomes are then investigated via a case study of two IS projects. The analysis of the two cases suggests that analysts who encourage the use of concrete examples, testing, and validation, and who solicit feedback about users’ business processes are likely to better understand users’ tasks, and in turn design systems that better meet users’ task needs than analysts who do not

Quo vadis TAM?

The Technology Acceptance model (TAM) is one of the most influential theories in Information Systems. However, despite the model\u27s significant contributions, the intense focus on TAM has diverted researchers’ attention away from other important research issues and has created an illusion of progress in knowledge accumulation. Furthermore, the independent attempts by several researchers to expand TAM in order to adapt it to the constantly changing IT environments has lead to a state of theoretical chaos and confusion in which it is not clear which version of the many iterations of TAM is the commonly accepted one. The present commentary discusses these concerns, speculates on the possible contributions to the current state of affairs, and makes several suggestions to alleviate the problems associated with TAM and to advance IT adoption research to the next stage

Technology Desirability

Continuous-use, a key post-adoption behavior, has been typically explored based on adoption theories, portraying individuals as rational actors whose decisions are driven by intentions. Yet, continuous-use may not always be shaped by conscious rationality as emotions have been suggested to directly influence post-adoption and to overcome the formation of conscious intentions. The present paper takes a non-rational view of continuous-use and examines how it can be shaped by emotional involvement and value commitment. Building on previous work in Psychology, Marketing and Economic psychology, the present paper introduces the concept of IT Desirability, and argues for its central role, along with IT Loyalty, in explaining and predicting continuous-use. IT Desirability reflects the passionate relationship individuals experience with IT and is hypothesized to significantly influence their future IT-related decisions. The non-rational perspective suggested here complements existing rational models and provides a new lens for exploring individual mental processes capable of shaping continuous-use

The Relationship between Habit and Intention in Post-adoptive IS Acceptance

Although habit and intention have both been used to explain post-adoptive behaviors in IS acceptance research, their relationship remains unclear. The present paper provides definitions for the two constructs, identifies their differences and similarities, and hypothesizes that the correlation between the two constructs is stronger for non-reflective behaviors than for reflective ones. The results of a meta-analysis provide preliminary support for this hypothesis

IT Desirability as a Means to Exploring IS Post-Acceptance Usage of Everyday Technologies: Conceptualization and Comparative Assessment

IT acceptance and post acceptance are central themes in IS research, and their related behaviors have been mostly investigated via reasoned and planned action theories, and are often portrayed as based on intentional and conscious decisions. This paper suggests an alternative, yet complementary perspective to the performance enhancing task-technology fit view of individual-IT interaction that has been predominant in IS research. To do so, we introduce the construct of IT Desirability to help better explain and predict individual post-adoption use beyond the influence of reasoned intentions, particularly in the context of hedonic every day IT, experiential computing, ICTs, social network sites and online communities. The paper first conceptualizes the construct of IT Desirability and assesses a theoretical model linking it to IS use. Next, a comparative study is presented where an affect-based model that integrates IT Desirability is compared to an established post acceptance model in the context of social network sites. The results of two online surveys of social network site users found that IT Desirability had a significant positive influence on IS use and helped increase the explained variance in the dependent variable beyond the influence of traditional models and constructs. The theoretical and practical implications of these results are discussed