Xiaodong Deng

The Meaning and Measurement of User Satisfaction: A Multigroup Invariance Analysis of the End-User Computing Satisfaction Instrument

Although user satisfaction is widely used by researchers and practitioners to evaluate information system success, important issues related to its meaning and measurement across population subgroups have not been adequately resolved. To be most useful in decision-making, instruments like end-user computing satisfaction (EUCS), which are designed to evaluate system success, should be robust. That is, they should enable comparisons by providing equivalent measurement across diverse samples that represent the variety of conditions or population subgroups present in organizations. Using a sample of 1,166 responses, the EUCS instrument is tested for measurement invariance across four dimensions--respondent positions, types of application, hardware platforms, and modes of development. While the results suggest that the meaning of user satisfaction is context sensitive and differs across population subgroups, the 12 measurement items are invariant across all four dimensions. The 12-item summed scale enables researchers or practitioners to compare EUCS scores across the instruments originally intended universe of applicability.

Exploring the absorptive capacity to innovation/productivity link for individual engineers engaged in IT enabled work

The hypothesis that absorptive capacity leads to greater innovation/productivity has been supported at the country, inter-organizational, organizational, and group levels. We adapted the absorptive capacity concept to individuals engaged in IT enabled engineering work, which is a situated and emergent phenomenon that requires individuals to posses or develop ability to acquire new task and computer knowledge; use or develop analytical and intuitive problem solving skills to assimilate and integrate these two types of knowledge; and apply them to their work. A model was developed linking the absorptive capacity of individuals, through enhanced IT utilization for problem solving/decision support, to task innovation and productivity. It was tested using a sample of 208 engineers using computers in their work. The results suggested that using IT innovatively and productively in such a work environment requires a mix of task knowledge, computer knowledge, and problem solving modalities.

A cross-cultural analysis of the end-user computing satisfaction instrument: A multi-group invariance analysis

IT managers in global firms often rely on user evaluations to guide their decision-making in adopting, implementing, and monitoring the effectiveness of enterprise systems across national cultures. In these decisions, managers need instruments that provide valid comparisons across cultures. Using samples representing five nations/world regions including the US, Western Europe, Saudi Arabia, India, and Taiwan, we used multi-group invariance analysis to evaluate whether the end-user computing satisfaction (EUCS) instrument (12-item summed scale and five factors) provided equivalent measurement across cultures. The results provided evidence that the EUCS instruments 12-item scale and the five factors were equivalent across the cultures we examined. The implications of this for the global management of technology are discussed. Knowledge of the equivalence of MIS instruments across national cultures can enhance the MIS cross-cultural research agenda.

The Collaborative Use of Information Technology: End-User Participation and Systems Success

User participation seems especially important in the development of collaborative work systems where the technology is used by a work group to coordinate its joint activities. Users rather than systems analysts are often the best source of information on how they will use information technology to collaborate. It is almost an axiom of systems development that end users should participate in a broad range of activities/decisions, and that they should be permitted to participate in these decisions as much as they want. Despite these widely held beliefs, research has not focused on the differential efficacy of user participation in collaborative versus non-collaborative applications. Building upon the work of behavioral scientists who study participative decision making, Doll and Torkzadeh 1991 present a congruence construct of participation that measures whether end users participate as much as they want in key systems analysis decisions. Using a sample of 163 collaborative and 239 non-collaborative applications, this research focuses on three research questions: 1 Is user participation more effective in collaborative applications? 2 What specific decision issues enhance user satisfaction and productivity? and 3 Can permitting end-users to participate as much as they want on some issues be ineffective or even dysfunctional? The results indicate that user participation is more effective in collaborative applications. Of the four decision issues tested, only participation in information needs analysis predicts end-user satisfaction and task productivity. Encouraging end users to participate as much as they want on a broad range of systems analysis issues such as project initiation, information flow analysis, and format design appears to be, at best, a waste of time and, perhaps, even harmful. These findings should help managers and analysts make better decisions about how to focus participatory efforts and whether end users should participate as much as they want in the design of collaborative systems.

A Model of Interrelationships Among Individual Level Knowledge Management Success Measures

Extant literature has mostly focused on defining knowledge management success at an organizational or project level. The literature lacks a framework for measuring knowledge management success at the individual level. Individual knowledge innovation and performance make organizations more productive. This research proposes a model of the interrelationships among individual level knowledge management success measures (outcomes) including conceptual, contextual and operational knowledge, innovation, and performance. The model is tested using a sample of 252 individuals engaged in managerial and professional knowledge work. The results suggest that conceptual knowledge enhances operational and contextual knowledge. Contextual knowledge also improves operational knowledge. Contextual knowledge is the key predictor of innovations that, along with operational knowledge, enhance work performance. The results provide a model for defining and measuring knowledge management success at the individual level.

Impact of Knowledge Management Practices on Task Knowledge: An Individual Level Study

Organizational level studies of knowledge management have been hampered by the lack of measures of individual level knowledge management practices and outcomes that can be used as success criteria to determine whether, or to what degree, specific organizational knowledge management practices enhance individual knowledge creation, sharing, and application at the individual level. This paper explores how the knowledge management practices of individuals are related to the task knowledge they use to complete their work processes. The measures presented can be used as one way to evaluate the success of organizational knowledge management practices. Specifically, the paper explores the individual practices of knowledge creation, knowledge sharing, and knowledge application and how these practices are related to the task knowledge conceptual, contextual, and operational knowledge of individuals. A model of the relationships among knowledge management practices and task knowledge components is proposed and tested. Structural equation modeling is used. Results suggest that engaging in knowledge creation enhances an individuals task knowledge through the practices of sharing and applying knowledge. Knowledge sharing and application enhance operational knowledge indirectly through changes in conceptual and contextual knowledge.

Exploring the Relationships among Individual Knowledge Management Outcomes

In knowledge work, it is the individual workers innovations and performance that make organizations more productive. Previous HICSS discussions have focused on defining knowledge management success at the organizational or project level [20], but largely ignored the factors that define knowledge management success for the individual knowledge worker. This exploratory work proposes a model of the relationships among individual knowledge management outcomes such as conceptual knowledge, contextual knowledge, operational knowledge, innovation, and performance. The model is tested using a sample of 252 knowledge workers. The results suggest that conceptual knowledge enhances operational and contextual knowledge. Contextual knowledge also improves operational knowledge. Contextual knowledge is the key predictor of innovations that, along with operational knowledge, enhance work performance. The results provide a model for defining and measuring knowledge management success (outcomes) at the individual level.

Antecedents of Improvisation in IT-Enabled Engineering Work

The success of engineering work depends on the ability of individuals to improvise in response to emerging challenges and opportunities Kappel & Rubenstein, 1999. Building on experiential learning theory Eisenhardt & Tabrizi 1995; Kolb, 1984 and improvisation theory Miner, Bassoff, & Moorman, 2001, this authors argue that information systems facilitate the generation of new product and process design ideas by providing richer feedback, creating shorter learning cycles, and enabling engineers to try a variety of new ideas more easily. An empirical research model of the antecedents of improvisation in IT-enabled engineering work is proposed. This model is examined using a sample of 208 individuals engaged in computer-intensive engineering design work. The multiple regression results suggest that software capability, autonomy, problem solving/decision support usage, system use for work planning, and length of use explain the extent of new product and process ideas that are generated. The practical and theoretical implications of these findings are discussed.

The Impacts of the Cognitive Nature of the Task and Psychological Empowerment on an Individual's Knowledge Creation, Sharing, and Application

Organizational level studies of knowledge management have been enhanced by the development of the measurement instruments for individual knowledge management practices. However, our understanding on what factors and how these factors drive an individuals knowledge creation, knowledge sharing, and knowledge application activities is still limited. This paper explores the influence of the cognitive nature of the task and the psychological empowerment of the individuals on the extent to which an individual engages in the creation, sharing, and application of knowledge. A model of how the nature of the task and the empowerment of knowledge workers are related to an individuals knowledge management practices is proposed and tested with structural equation modeling approach. The results suggest that the cognitive nature of the task drives knowledge creation. While the psychological empowerment of the knowledge worker enhances knowledge sharing and application, empowerment is not linked to knowledge creation.

A Model of the Relationships among Knowledge Management Practices and Task Knowledge

This paper presents a model of knowledge management practices at the individual level and explores its impact on their task related knowledge. Drawing on Nevis, DiBella and Goulds [28] various organizational learning processes, we explore how knowledge creation, knowledge sharing, and knowledge application at the individual level impact their task related conceptual, contextual and operational knowledge. The model is empirically tested using structural equation modeling with data from a sample of knowledge workers in a wide variety of enterprises. Results suggest that conceptual knowledge is impacted by knowledge sharing and knowledge application. However, contextual knowledge is enhanced mainly by knowledge application. Greater conceptual and contextual knowledge contributes to better operational knowledge.