Understanding Factors Influencing Proficient Information Systems Usage

Variations exist among information system (IS) users’ abilities to effectively utilize an IS. Some users are able to maximize IS potential, while others are not. This research proposes to understand the attributes of individuals who are most capable of exploiting IS to its fullest potential as well as the management and organizational factors that facilitate the development of highly competent users. The Repertory Grid Technique was utilized to identify user attributes contributing to IS proficiency in Phase One of this research and will be utilized to identify management and organizational factors in Phase Two. The results will provide a comprehensive framework of cross-level factors contributing to IS user competency. Also, the results will highlight attributes that can be fostered in other IS users through training interventions or potential hiring criteria as well as management/organizational factors that can be implemented to improve individual performance with IS use

UNDERSTANDING ATTRIBUTES OF HIGHLY COMPETENT INFORMATION SYSTEM USERS: A QUALITATIVE APPROACH

Individuals differ in their abilities to use information systems (IS) effectively, with some achieving exceptional performance in IS use. Various constructs have been identified in the literature to describe IS users with regard to their intentions and actual usage of IS, but studies to describe highly competent IS users or their ability to achieve higher quality of IS usage are lacking. Using the Repertory Grid Technique, this research identifies attributes of highly competent IS users that distinguish them from less competent users. Using the Grounded Theory approach, we identified categories and sub-categories of these attributes and used them to develop a conceptual framework to explain IS User Competency. The framework includes Personality Traits and Disposition Factors, General Cognitive Abilities, Social Skills and Tendencies, Experiential Learning Factors, Domain Knowledge of and Skills in IS, Job Experiences, Generation Factors, and Formal Education as attributes of highly competent users. The results not only highlight attributes that can be fostered in other IS users to improve their performance with IS use but they also present research opportunities for IS training and potential hiring criteria for IS users in organizations

Coherence, Richness and Cognitive Absorption in Website Design

Kaplan’s theory on environmental preferences can offer a holistic perspective on cognitive absorption in e-commerce website design. Drawing on Kaplan’s theory, this paper proposes that coherence and richness of a website can enhance cognitive absorption of users. The findings from our study not only support the hypotheses, but also suggest that coherence and richness can reach an optimal proportion in website design, after which they are inversely correlated

Towards a Theory of Information Systems User Competency

Individuals differ in their abilities to use information systems (IS) effectively, with some achieving exceptional performance in IS use. Various constructs have been identified in the literature to describe usage intentions of IS users and actual usage of IS, but studies to describe IS user competency or the ability to achieve proficiency in IS usage are lacking. This research develops a grounded model of IS User Competency (IUC) by using the Repertory Grid Technique in an inductive approach to identify a set of user factors associated with IS user competency. Based on the findings, a deductive approach using the survey method was undertaken to validate a subset of the model that focused on IS-specific factors - domain knowledge of and skills in IS, willingness to try and to explore IS, and capability of perceiving IS value. The overall framework of IUC also comprises Personal Disposition and Traits, General Learning and Cognitive Factors, Communication and Collaboration Skills and Tendencies, Job Experience, Formal Education, Generation Factors, and Exposure to Technology. The survey findings suggest that all three IS-specific factors in the model are relevant and important to IS user competency, with willingness to try and to explore IS being the most significant factor. The results not only highlight important factors that can be fostered in IS users to improve their performance with IS use but also present research opportunities for IS training and potential hiring criteria for IS users in organizations

Knowledge-based Support in a Group Decision Making Context: An Expert-Novice Comparison

This research examines the use of knowledge-based and explanation facilities to support group decision making of experts versus novices. Consistent with predictions from the persuasion literature, our results show that experts exhibit a higher level of criticality and involvement in their area of expertise; this not only decreases their likelihood of being persuaded by a knowledge-based system, but also accounts for a lower group consensus among experts as compared to novices. Novices are more easily persuaded by the system and find the system to be more useful than experts do. This research integrates theories from the persuasion literature to understand expert-novice differences in group decision making in a knowledge-based support environment. The findings suggest that the analyses and explanations provided by knowledge-based systems better support the decision making of novices than experts. Future research is needed to integrate other types of information provision support (e.g., cognitive feedback) into knowledge-based systems to increase their effectiveness as a group decision support tool for domain experts

Privacy Issues in the Era of Ubiquitous Commerce

The vision of ubiquitous commerce (u-commerce) is realized through the convergence of electronic, mobile, television, voice and silent commerce applications. The ubiquity, universality, uniqueness, and unison of u-commerce will provide two principal benefits for individual users and companies: increased convenience as well as more personalized and customized services. However, u-commerce will also bring new issues such as a greater degree of privacy concerns that will impact individual users, companies, and the society at large. This paper proposes and elaborates on a conceptual framework for privacy in the u-commerce era. It combines Lessig’s macro-level perspective – the four-factor model of privacy – with Adam’s micro-level perspective – the perceived privacy factors model. Using this framework, privacy issues related to ucommerce are discussed and future research directions are presented

Information Systems User Competency: A Conceptual Foundation

Research has identified a variety of factors that influence people’s intentions to use IS and their degree of IS use. However, what has not been well understood are the characteristics of competent IS users who are proficient in using IS and are able to achieve quality IS usage. Considering that improving IS users’ abilities to more efficiently and effectively use IS has always been and remains a challenge, research that provides a comprehensive view of the characteristics associated with competent IS users is warranted. This paper addresses this research question by proposing a conceptual foundation for IS user competency. Based on social cognitive theory, this research also proposes an overarching framework for IS user competency that can serve as a theoretical foundation for future research in this domain

Enterprise Social Media Use and Impact on Performance: The Role of Workplace Integration and Positive Emotions

Organizations struggle to find ways to improve employees’ performance. To date, little research has empirically examined the relationship between enterprise social media use and knowledge workers’ performance. Using social capital theory and the broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions as our theoretical framework, we investigate the relationship between enterprise social media use and knowledge workers’ performance. We tested our research model by collecting data from employees working for a large information technology firm in the Midwestern United States and analyzing the data using a structural equation modeling approach. The results suggest that enterprise social media use can increase workplace integration, which further enhances performance directly and indirectly through positive emotions. Enterprise social media use also has a direct relationship with performance. The paper concludes with practical and theoretical implications