Impacts of End-User and Information Center Characteristics on End-User Computing Support

Fatores de sucesso e insucesso na implementação de sistemas de informação gerencial: estudo do caso do segmento de exploração e produção de petróleo da Petrobrás S/A

Recentes estudos indicam existir um paradoxo em sistemas de informação: ainda que teoricamente perfeitos, muitos se tornam fracassos durante a implementação. Este estudo tem por objetivo o melhor entendimento das causas do sucesso e insucesso dos sistemas de informação gerenciais. Da revisão de literatura são reconhecidos quatro constructos que parecem influenciar no sucesso de sistemas de informação (1) complexidade, (2) participação do usuário, (3) apoio da direção, (4) equipe de desenvolvimento. Testa-se então a existência destes fenômenos por meio do estudo de caso da implementação de um sistema de informações gerenciais no segmento de exploração e petróleo da Petrobrás Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. Os resultados indicam que as variáveis apresentaram significativa capacidade de explicação do insucesso do sistema, sendo mais verificáveis o apoio da direção e a complexidade e que avaliações mais formais devem preceder a fase de investimentos em projetos de adoção de novos sistemas.

Understanding intranets in the context of end-user computing

In this paper, we examine the adoption and use of organizational intranets as an extension of the end-user computing movement. This perspective provides a background against which the rapid proliferation of organizational intranets in the 1990s can be compared and contrasted with the explosion of personal computers and end-user computing in the 1980s. Our retrospective analysis of end-user computing is based on academic and business journal literature. Our contemporary analysis of intranet development and use relies on data from a large-scale study of intranets in US firms. We examine similarities with early EUC efforts, such as the initial grass-roots, multiple adoption of PC technologies, that were followed by efforts to standardize and integrate technological "islands." We also highlight ways in which organizational experiences with intranets may diverge from earlier EUC experiences. Our discussion of these organizational experiences and practices draws on institutional theory to understand how and why organizational adoption and use of information technologies may differ from those of the past in important ways that require rethinking of current practices. In particular, we focus on the issues related to intranet integration and to the evolving roles of intranet end-users and IT professionals.

Sources of dissatisfaction in end-user support

Organizations are investing in information technology for an ever-increasing number of end-user tasks. Extracting benefits from these investments increasingly depends on supporting effective use of information technology and satisfying information technology users. This research explores the end-user support factors that correlate with user satisfaction. This survey of 484 end-users examines 21 potential end-user computing support factors, such as system response time and user training in terms of their perceived importance to the end-user and the performance of IS staff in supporting each. Service quality, the gap between perceived importance and performance for each support factor, is computed. The relationships between these service quality gaps and user satisfaction are tested across different user groups (faculty, non-IS staff and students). Larger service quality gaps in the following support factors were correlated with lower user satisfaction in at least one of the three user groups: IS staff response time, IS staff technical competence, software upgrades, ease of access, cost effectiveness of the system, user understanding, documentation to support training, and data security/privacy. These results are compared to the support factors identified as significant in previous empirical studies.