Information Systems Success Measurement (Series in Information Technology Management) - Softcover

Garrity, Edward J.; Sanders, G. Lawrence

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1878289446 ISBN 13: 9781878289445

Publisher: Igi Global, 1998

Synopsis

Information Systems Success Measurement focuses on insights and developments related to system success, including comparisons of system success instruments, validation of system success measures, and new and improved measures of systems success. It presents a wide range of important areas within the information systems success research agenda.
This book will provide researchers and professionals with a comprehensive reference for understanding and measuring systems success in modern organizations throughout the world.

About this title

About the Author

Dr. Edward J. Garrity is Associate Professor of Management Information Systems at Canisius College in Buffalo, New York. Previously he worked as assistant professor at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, as an analyst/programmer for a major international commercial bank and as an independent consultant. His current research interests include systems development methodologies and information system success measurement.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

(From chapter 6, A Comprehensive Model for Assessing the Quality and Productivity of the Information Systems Function: Toward a Theory for Information Systems Assessment by Barry L. Myers, Leon A. Kappelman and Victor R. Prybutok) Information Systems (IS) managers are under increasing pressure to justify the value and contribution of IS expenditures to the productivity, quality, and competitiveness of the organization. IS assessment is not well established and recent studies show that more research is needed. Frequently, information technology is used without a full understanding of its applicability, effectiveness, or efficacy. IS managers often lack the tools they need to decide if they are accomplishing the right activities.. In addition, these managers often fail to learn if they are meeting the needs of their customers. The productivity of the information systems function has proven difficult to define and measure. "Assessing the value of the IT infrastructure is perhaps the biggest single problem for the 90s -- the information technology organization is running out of credibility and managers are no longer willing to give us the benefit of the doubt" (Rochester & Douglass, 1991, p. 16). "Companies have come to realize they are paying big money for technology that isn't being used" (King, 1991, p. 73). Furthermore, a recent survey of senior executives from 220 Fortune 1000 firms found extremely low satisfaction with returns on corporate technology investments. Over 81 percent of those polled rated their organization's payback on technology spending as minimal or average.

No single measure of the value of the IS function has appeared. "Measuring IS effectiveness" is consistently reported in the top 20 on the list of most-important IS issues by the members of the Society for Information Management (SIM), an organization of IS executives. In fact, effectiveness of the IS function has proven practically impossible to define and measure (Niederman et al.). Many possible explanations for this difficulty are available. For example, the role of the IS function in business performance can be subtle and difficult to differentiate from other factors . Some companies use weak 'surrogate' measures of IS effectiveness that hide the true value of the IS function. Others depend mostly on qualitative rather than quantitative measures. Some researchers believe that the lack of evidence of a payoff for the high investment in technology could be interpreted as reflecting serious measurement deficiencies.

Evidence suggests that Assessment is essential to supply the feedback needed for the effective management and continuous improvement of the IS function. "Just as a human being needs a diversity of measures to assess his or her health and performance, an organization needs a diversity of measures to assess its health and performance" (Drucker, 1989, p. 230). Systematic measurements are needed to guide management action. Without quantitative feedback, managers are dependant upon only experience, intuition, and judgment. As firms become more complex, global, and fast-paced, relying on experience and intuition alone is increasingly problematic.

Managers define what is important to the organization and manifest corporate culture in their assessment choices. "What gets measured gets attention" (Eccles, p. 131). The relationship between IS performance and

Edition details

• Publisher: Igi Global
• Publication date: 1998
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1878289446
• ISBN 13: 9781878289445
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 172