The last two decades have seen an increasing sophistication in the type of information systems employed by organizations. In particular we have seen the emergence of enterprise systems technology - advanced information technology specifically designed to integrate the vast majority of an organization's processes and data flows. As the characteristics of ES technology have encroached beyond individual user domains and have become integrated throughout organizations, user acceptance issues have also broadened beyond the individual unit of analysis. At the same time numerous examples can be found both in the trade press and academic literature of organizations wishing to use enterprise systems as a primary driver of widespread organizational change and restructuring. A fundamental premise of this study is that while it may be intuitively appealing to consider technology as a primary catalyst for organizational change, it neglects to acknowledge the presence of what is referred to as the "eduality of structure"e (Giddens, 1993). Duality of structure proponents contend that while IT system protocols may to a certain extent determine individual action, human agency can also determine the extent to which the technology is incorporated into everyday operations. The failure of past research to acknowledge the role of individual action and the influence of social context in determining IT usage is considered to be a significant oversight (DeSanctis & Poole, 1994). Underpinned by the theory of structuration and its notion of duality, a theory of user acceptance is put forward capable of clarifying the process by which users evaluate and react to enterprise systems technology. The thesis reports on an empirical investigation into the relationship between three representations of structure within an organization: the characteristics of ES technology; job design; and social networks. The capacity of ES technology to alter the structural elements of both job design and social networks, and hence form user's attitudes and behavior towards the system, is the fundamental theoretical premise of the thesis. As such this represents a clear step forward in understanding the implications of ES technology for both users and organizational structure. Using a longitudinal embedded single case design, this study examines the user acceptance and structural implications of introducing an ES into a large public sector educational institution. A social network and job design perspective was adopted to offer fresh insight into the dynamics of employee reaction to the introduction of ES technology. Five hypotheses support the job design component of the thesis. It was argued that given the inherent design elements of ES technology, along with the specific intent of the system's introduction, that users would both anticipate and perceive a decrease in job characteristics following an ES implementation. Further, that the positive relationship between job change and user acceptance would be moderated by the amount of system usage reported by users. Users with a greater exposure to the system were hypothesized to have a far stronger relationship between job change and acceptance than low users. The ramifications of perceived or actual changes to embedded resource exchange networks and subsequent employee reactions to those changes were also considered. Essentially social networks were argued to play a dual role in the user acceptance process, one being a conduit for the facilitation and transfer of user attitudes towards new systems, the other acting as a catalyst for attitude formation towards new systems. Overall the findings only partially supported four of the eight hypotheses put forward. While users were seen to anticipate an "eacross the board"e decrease in job characteristics at Time 1 following the introduction of an ES, perceived changes in job characteristics at Time 2 were dependant on user hierarchy and the extent of system usage. Those high in formal authority reported an increase in job enrichment following the system's introduction, while those low in formal authority reported a decrease in overall job enrichment. Usage was also seen to moderate the relationship between job change and user acceptance. At Time 1 low users reported a positive relationship between anticipated changes in meaningfulness and user acceptance. Conversely at Time 1 high users reported a negative relationship between anticipated skill variety levels at Time 2 and user acceptance. Only one job characteristic reported a relationship between usage and user acceptance. Low users reported a positive relationship between changes in task identity and user acceptance. A post-hoc profile of the usage categories indicated that high users were more likely to be a lower hierarchical position than low users. The positive relationship reported by low users at Time 1 and Time 2 was explained by both the nature of the system, as well as the type and quantity of information received by low users. As senior members of the organization they were considered more likely to receive information that highlighted its attributes in the context of their job roles. The inherent design of ES technology, along with the specific intent it was being introduced, facilitated largely management orientated objectives. Therefore it is unsurprising that low users anticipating an increase in experienced meaningfulness following the introduction of a system that enhanced their job role reported corresponding acceptance levels. In contrast, the negative relationship between anticipated levels of skill variety at Time 2 and perceived ease of use was explained by the affinity that high users were likely to have with the old system. To high users with a high degree of proficiency associated with a redundant skill set, increased skill variety only represented a steeper learning curve and an increased pressure to adapt to the new system. The network component of the study also produced mixed results. Of the two networks that were measured over time, only one supported the hypothesized increase in both advice and resource exchange networks over time. Post-hoc analyses indicated that two of the four groups exhibited network change consistent with the hypothesized relationship. Anecdotal reports suggested that contextual elements such as geographical location and managerial policy at a localized level determined the nature of the change for the remaining two groups. The results failed to support the relationship between network change and user acceptance. However, a weak but significant negative relationship between the measure of network efficiency and user acceptance was found. In simple terms users developing an increasingly redundant set of contacts reported higher levels of user acceptance. In sum, the thesis represents a contribution to enterprise systems, user acceptance and social network literatures. In the first instance the research validates the call by Orlikowski & Iacono (2001) to readily acknowledge the specific nature of the technology under investigation. Despite the growth and saturation of enterprise system types, comparatively little research has been undertaken to examine the user and organizational issues surrounding their implementation. This research has demonstrated the capacity for the inherent design elements of ES technology to have differential effects in terms of job design for different user classifications. This and other findings represent a step forward in understanding the structural and user acceptance implications of this technology, while sign-pointing a number of promising future research avenues. The job design results, and to a lesser extent the network efficiency results, demonstrate the effect of social context on user acceptance. As such they provide further insight regarding the potential determinants of user acceptance beyond the individual unit of analysis. The findings also indicate an increasing need for user acceptance research to stretch beyond the transitory, short term measures of user acceptance such as perceived ease of use, usefulness, training and computer efficacy. Finally the thesis contributes to a small, but growing literature examining the role of social networks in the process of organizational change. In particular this thesis has considered in detail, the attitudinal and behavioral consequences of artificially altering established patterns of interaction. As such the study highlights the need to better understand the role of networks not only in the case of facilitating change, but the effect of network change in terms of change intervention success.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ADTP/265395 |
| Date | January 2006 |
| Creators | Murphy, Glen Desson |
| Publisher | Queensland University of Technology |
| Source Sets | Australiasian Digital Theses Program |
| Detected Language | English |
| Rights | Copyright Glen Desson Murphy |
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