Albert S. Dexter

Research Report: Empirical Test of an EDI Adoption Model

This paper is the first test of a parsimonious model that posits three factors as determinants of the adoption of electronic data interchange (EDI):readiness, perceived benefits, andexternal pressure. To construct the model, we identified and organized the factors that were found to be influential in prior EDI research. By testing all these factors together in one model, we are able to investigate their relative contributions to EDI adoption decisions. Senior purchasing managers, chosen for their experience with EDI and proximity to the EDI adoption decision, were surveyed and their responses analyzed using structural equation modeling. All three determinants were found to be significant predictors of intent to adopt EDI, with external pressure and readiness being considerably more important than perceived benefits. We show that the constructs in this model can be categorized into three levels:technological, organizational, andinterorganizational. We hypothesize that these categories of influence will also be determinants of the adoption of other emerging forms of interorganizational systems (IOS). 1

An investigation of the effectiveness of color and graphical information presentation under varying time constraints

A laboratory experiment was conducted to assess the influence of color and information presentation differences on user perceptions and decision making under varying time constraints. Three different information presentations were evaluated: tabular, graphical, and combined tabular-graphical. Tabular reports led to better decision making and graphical reports led to faster decision making when time constraints were low. The combined report, which integrated the advantages associated with both tabular and graphical presentation, was the superior report format in terms of performance ad was rated very highly by decision makers. Color led to improvements in decision making; this was especially pronounced when high time constraints were present.

Impact of organizational maturity on information system skill needs

This article presents the results of a study which analyzes skills perceived as useful by information systems (IS) managers and systems analysts in IS organizations of different levels of maturity. These IS skills were examined under two major subgroups of generalist/managerial and specialist/technical skills as well as under more detailed categories of organizations, people, society, systems, computers, and models skills. Generalist, i.e., organizational and people skills, were rated highest. Based on these rankings, which deviated little between managers and analysts and across the maturity spectrum, recommendations concerning graduate IS curriculum are suggested.

An experimental program investigating color-enhanced and graphical information presentation: an integration of the findings

A series of three laboratory experiments were conducted to assess the influence of graphical and color-enhanced information presentation modes on decision quality, decision making time, use of information, and user perceptions. The experimental design allowed for the unconfounded study of line graphs and color using a variety of information presentation designs for the same decision making task. Based on the findings of these studies, propositions about the impact of graphics and color on individual decision makers are presented. The influence of presentation mode on human performance and the perceived value of information is related to how well it supports the solution approach to a particular task. The benefits of graphics are limited to reducing decision making time but only when the graphical report has been designed to directly assist in solving the task. Multicolor reports aid in decision making, but only in specific circumstances, that is, their benefits are not pervasive. It appears that color is more advantageous when associated with graphical reports, for certain decision maker types, during learning periods, and in time constrained environments.

A critque of the stage hypothesis: theory and empirical evidence

The stage hypothesis on the assimilation of computing technology provides one of the most popular models for describing and managing the growth of administrative information systems. Despite little formal evidence of its reliability or robustness, it has achieved a high level of acceptance among practitioners. We describe and summarize the findings of seven empirical studies conducted during the past six years that tested various hypotheses derived from this model. The accumulation of evidence from these studies casts considerable doubt on the validity of the stage hypothesis as an explanatory structure for the growth of computing in organizations. 3~

Individual-Differences In The Use Of Decision Support Aids

Mason and Mitroff [1973] stated that the study of decision maker characteristics is based on the rationale that decision makers perform more effectively with reports or decision support aids which match their particular psychological (cognitive) styles. Recent studies in accounting have attempted experimentally to evaluate the impact of these styles on information system use (e.g., Huysmans [1970], Benbasat and Schroeder [1977]. Vasarhelyi [1977], Lusk [1979a], Benbasat and Dexter [1979]). In this paper we report on the results of an experiment which was designed to assess whether decision aids can improve the performance of heuristics (low analytics) in task environments unsuitable for their cognitive styles. The task environment consisted of a relatively structured inventory control/production scheduling system which is better suited for decision makers of high analytic capabilities. Even though high analytics generally outperform low analytics in such environments, it is conceivable that appropriate decision aids may allow the latter to perform as well, thus allowing them to compete within a broader set of job opportunities. The particular decision aid used in this study was a simulation model. In both government and industrial decision making, simulation has become a widely used managerial computer-based technique (Keen and Scott-Morton [1978]) and may achieve even broader utilization with the increasing use of personalized computers.

An experimental study of the human/computer interface

An exploratory study was conducted to analyze whether interface and user characteristics affect decision effectiveness and subject behavior in an interactive human/computer problem-solving environment. The dependent variables were performance and the use of the systems options. Two of the independent variables examined, experience and cognitive style, were user characteristics; the other three, dialogue, command, and default types, were interface characteristics. Results indicate that both user and interface characteristics influence the use of the system options and the request for information in the problem-solving task.

Added value and pricing with information technology

This study evaluates the extent to which the added value to customers from a suppliers application of information technology (IT) is manifested through premium prices of a traded good. We demonstrate that IT can add value to an otherwise undifferentiated good and study how these benefits accrue to customers from the adoption of IT. Analyzing a case in which the traded good is a homogeneous commodity, commercial fueling, our data shows that the critical impacts of IT are convenience and control -- that is, convenience that provides improved access to fuel and control that reduces problems of delegating purchasing authority for the customer. The value of this additional service is exhibited in premium prices customers are willing to pay for the IT-enhanced traded good, relative to the same good without IT. Compared to the price without IT, statistical analysis of the suppliers pricing history demonstrates the application of IT to commercial fuel yielded price premiums of between five and 12 percent of the retail fuel price.

The influence of color and graphical information presentation in a managerial decision simulation

A laboratory experiment was conducted to assess the influence of graphical and color-enhanced information presentation on information use and decision quality in a simulation setting. This is the third in a series of studies examining the effects of colors and graphics in a managerial decision-making task. The findings reported in this article indicate that graphical presentations are more useful when evaluating information in order to determine promising directions in the search for an optimal solution, but when the task requires the determination of exact data values for computational purposes, graphical reports are less useful than tabular ones. Benefits of color include taking fewer iterations to complete the task. However, these benefits are associated more strongly with the graphical report as indicated by the significantly higher use of color-enhanced graphical reports over monochromatic ones. The benefits of color are also restricted to the early stages in the decision task, with color graphic report usage dropping sharply over time.

System development conflict during the use of an information systems prototyping method of action research: implications for practice and research

In one particular action research (AR) methodology, information systems prototyping (ISP), the goals are to involve the researcher in a facilitative and collaborative role with stakeholders in the development of an information system that satisfies their collective needs. But what happens when political and structural conflict and coercive action erupts? This article features an AR case, where the development of an electronic patient record in a heart clinic, resulted in a period of intense structural conflict, and the dismissal of an organizational member. Further analysis suggests that four factors can explain these unusual outcomes and their relationship with the use of an ISP method. These include: the specification of measures and perceptions of success within the AR method (goals); general problems with the AR methodology and/or its clear delineation (processes); problems in using a particular AR methodology in a specific time and place (contingency); and problems with the researcher’s implementation of the AR processes (implementation). The study also highlights a number of areas for development of ISP.