Date of Award
1994
Degree Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy
Abstract
Information Technology (IT) is being used to enhance productivity and effectiveness in response to today's competitive business pressures. However, there still exists a gap between what users expect and get from IT. As a result, this technology may not be helping users respond to the challenges in the business environment. In an effort to improve IT implementation by addressing users' expectations, Disconfirmation Theory, adapted from the consumer behaviour literature, is cast in an Information Systems (IS) setting. This theory helps understand how a deviation between users' expectations and IT performance can lead to IS success or failure. This theoretical foundation is used to address the IT implementation processes and enhance the value of that technology for the organization and the users. Based upon three longitudinal field studies and eleven cross-sectional field studies, it was found that meeting users' expectations (i.e., low disconfirmation) had a greater impact on IS success than users' expectations or users' post-implementation evaluation of the system's performance alone. The users' most important expectations included perceived usefulness, relative advantage, impact on knowledge, analytic capability, strategic orientation, fit or compatibility, ease of use, and contribution to the user's image profile and value as an employee). Managers and system designers can evaluate these important dimensions early in the system development cycle to assess the fit and hence the likelihood of success. Changes can be made to improve the system's impact. Researchers can employ the synthesized expectations categories, which were aggregated from previous work on IS expectations, attitude theories and diffusion of innovations work, to build a cumulative tradition based on common constructs.
Recommended Citation
Marcolin, Barbara Lynn, "The Impact Of Users' Expectations On The Success Of Information Technology Implementation" (1994). Digitized Theses. 2325.
https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/digitizedtheses/2325