Andreas Eckhardt

Who influences whom? Analyzing workplace referents' social influence on IT adoption and non-adoption

Technology adoption research has long struggled to incorporate normative beliefs from sources in the social environment of adopters into adoption models. We study the role of social influence from different workplace referent groups, like superiors and colleagues from the same or the IT department, on the intention to adopt. An empirical analysis, using data from 152 firms, based on the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology and related approaches reveals that social influence on adoption significantly differs with regard to both source (peer groups) and sink (adopters and non-adopters) of the influence. The results imply that a single cumulative subjective norm measure might be too naïve and that future research might considerably improve our understanding of IT adoption and non-adoption by revealing the differential impact of various peer groups on adoption intention, and also on its antecedents.

Giving too much social support: social overload on social networking sites

As the number of messages and social relationships embedded in social networking sites (SNS) increases, the amount of social information demanding a reaction from individuals increases as well. We observe that, as a consequence, SNS users feel they are giving too much social support to other SNS users. Drawing on social support theory (SST), we call this negative association with SNS usage ‘social overload’ and develop a latent variable to measure it. We then identify the theoretical antecedents and consequences of social overload and evaluate the social overload model empirically using interviews with 12 and a survey of 571 Facebook users. The results show that extent of usage, number of friends, subjective social support norms, and type of relationship (online-only vs offline friends) are factors that directly contribute to social overload while age has only an indirect effect. The psychological and behavioral consequences of social overload include feelings of SNS exhaustion by users, low levels of user satisfaction, and a high intention to reduce or even stop using SNS. The resulting theoretical implications for SST and SNS acceptance research are discussed and practical implications for organizations, SNS providers, and SNS users are drawn.

The performance impact of business process standardization: An empirical evaluation of the recruitment process

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to show if business process standardization (BPS) has an impact on business process performance and should be considered as both a valid business process management (BPM) measure and a regular driver of process success.Design/methodology/approach – An empirical analysis based on data from 156 firms is used to evaluate the hypothesis that process standardization positively impacts business process time, cost, and quality.Findings – First, the paper proposes a model and empirical operationalization to analyze the impact of process standardization on process performance. Second, empirical analysis shows that BPS has a decisive impact on process performance (R2=61.9 percent). Precisely, there is a significant impact on process time, cost, and most notably on quality. The results indicate that the impact is strongest in services firms and varies subject to a firms strategy type.Practical implications – The results suggest that BPS should regularly be considered a prime a...

Analyzing the impact of HRIS implementations on HR personnel's job satisfaction and turnover intention

An in-depth case of an e-Recruiting system implementation is used while focusing on the level of Human Resource (HR) employees to research unintended consequences during the implementation of Human Resources Information Systems (HRISs). We develop a model that integrates the belief and attitude component of the technology acceptance literature with work-related consequences. We provide evidence for an indirect effect of attitudes toward the HRIS on turnover intention that is fully mediated by job satisfaction. Our results contribute to the literature on systems implementations and technology adoption by suggesting work-related outcomes as important additional success variables.

Do as your parents say?--Analyzing IT adoption influencing factors for full and under age applicants

The article suggests a model for examining the adoption of e-recruiting by individuals. The model is empirically evaluated using survey data from 323 full and under age applicants. The results explain substantial parts of the individual adoption decision. Interestingly, the relative importance of the adoption drivers varies with age, social environment and the level of education. While, as expected, overall Performance Expectancy is the major force behind adopting e-recruiting, the relative importance of the other factors differs a lot. Whereas Facilitating Conditions came out as an important driver for under age pupils, full age students by contrast are highly driven by the influence of their peer groups and the communication of the respective company they apply for. A major outcome is that the Subjective Norm of family and friends, teachers and professors has a weaker influence for under age pupils who mostly live with their parents than for the group of students who already left home to study at college. Consequentially we assume that the social influence of peer groups on an individual’s adoption differs with respect to age, social environment and level of education. This should be investigated more carefully in future adoption research as it might provide an answer for the varying significance of Subjective Norm in adoption research.

The performance impact of business process standardization: HR case study insights

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to enhance the understanding of business process standardization and how it contributes to generating business value. This research is a step towards a solid theoretical framework around business process standardization.Design/methodology/approach – A single case study conducted in a global operating company is completed. Standardization of a certain business process (in this case the recruiting process) is shown to contribute to business value.Findings – By standardizing its recruiting process, the company was able to reduce the “time‐to‐hire” from 92 to 69 days and the overall costs of the recruiting process by about 30 percent. The quality of the applicant data has clearly improved. Clarity and transparency of the recruiting process could be increased, while the administrative expense within the human resources (HR) departments in the distinct business locations could be reduced significantly.Research limitations/implications – As with every case study, the genera...

User Personality and Resistance to Mandatory Information Systems in Organizations: A Theoretical Model and Empirical Test of Dispositional Resistance to Change

This research is driven by the assumption made in several user resistance studies that employees are generally resistant to change. It investigates the extent to which employees’ resistance to IT-induced change is caused by individuals’ predisposition to resist change. We develop a model of user resistance that assumes the influence of dispositional resistance to change on perceptual resistance to change, perceived ease of use, and usefulness, which in turn influence user resistance behavior. Using an empirical study of 106 HR employees forced to use a new human resources information system, the analysis reveals that 17.0–22.1 percent of the variance in perceived ease of use, usefulness, and perceptual resistance to change can be explained by the dispositional inclination to change initiatives. The four dimensions of dispositional resistance to change – routine seeking, emotional reaction, short-term focus and cognitive rigidity – have an even stronger effect than other common individual variables, such as age, gender, or working experiences. We conclude that dispositional resistance to change is an example of an individual difference that is instrumental in explaining a large proportion of the variance in beliefs about and user resistance to mandatory IS in organizations, which has implications for theory, practice, and future research.

Technology Adoption by Elderly People – An Empirical Analysis of Adopters and Non-Adopters of Social Networking Sites

Due to new information and communication technologies, organizations can simplify the work of their employees, which is the largely overlooked perspective in IS research (Choudrie and Dwivedi 2006). In addition, households could integrate these technological innovations within their daily routine to handle ordinary or uncommon tasks within short periods of time. One essential innovation of the last years was the introduction of Social Network Sites (SNS), which can be defined as “online shared interactive spaces, in which a group of people use a repertoire of technological features (forums, newsgroups, messaging) to carry out a wide range of social interaction” (Khan and Jarvenpaa 2010; Jones et al 2004).

Health Information on the Internet

Electronic Health (e-Health) increasingly strives to provide health information and services to healthcare stakeholders via the Internet, and to actively involve patients in their care. One major chance for these participatory healthcare and patient-centered approaches that integrate patients in healthcare are the phenomena and ideas associated with providing information and healthcare on the Internet. This paper examines the existing body of knowledge on online health information and explores the current state of research through a review of literature as well as past and current research projects. The fundamental categories of the analysis represent the stakeholders in the healthcare sector, the connecting information flows, the information-transferring technological applications, as well as the categories of the TEMPEST model. Based on these findings, causes and future research fields are discussed. The technological category has the largest share of all categories. Based on these findings, causes and future research fields are discussed.

The effect of personality on IT personnel’s job-related attitudes: establishing a dispositional model of turnover intention across IT job types

Research on IT personnel has observed that the major predictors for turnover intention are job satisfaction and organizational commitment. However, less is known about how these predictors are determined and how they vary according to the different job types of IT personnel. Hence, we develop and evaluate a dispositional model of turnover intention across IT job types as the first approach in IT turnover research combining the personality traits of the five-factor model and the basic turnover model found among Western IS professionals into one research model. By the help of the model we analyze the role of personality in IT personnel turnover across four groups of IT roles: consultants, programmers, system engineers, and system administrators. The results of an empirical analysis of 813 IT personnel reveal significant differences across the four groups in terms of personality and job-related attitudes. In terms of personality traits, system engineers rank highest in openness and conscientiousness, IT consultants in extraversion, programmers in neuroticism, and system administrators in agreeableness. In 50% of all cases, personality traits are significant predictors for job-related attitudes. Additionally, they indirectly affect IT personnel turnover intention. Neuroticism, extraversion, and conscientiousness are also important indirect predictors for turnover intention, whereas openness has only a weak effect and agreeableness no measurable effect.