Efficacy of functional user impact on information system development

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the success rate of information system development by means of an empirical research with a focus on how various user factors. The authors examined user reactions, interactions and participation during the early, middle and late stages of an ISD project to analyze the effect of user involvement. Once the data were collected, they analyzed the effectiveness of each kind of user involvement by tying the user involvement to the final result of the corresponding project. Design/methodology/approach – This empirical research is to study 35 information system development projects, whose sample size is determined to maintain statistical confidence as well as the intensity of each interview. Findings – The authors have obtained some interesting findings as follows: user involvement itself does not improve the chance of success for an IS project; user expectations could profoundly impact the success rate of IS projects – clear user expectations in early stages significantly improve the chance of success and user expectations in late stages through user involvement do not obviously improve the chance of success; user attitude toward an IS project is much more important than user involvement; user attitude is largely influenced by effective communications from the management; corporate training and labor practices do not have significant impact on project success rate, nor does user competency; the success rate of IS projects is more relevant to decision-making approaches than to individual project management – a bottom-up approach, a transparent decision-making protocol, a positive attitude toward new ideas, a supportive corporate culture, etc.; and finally, the overall corporate culture is the single most important critical success factor for an ISD, including the overall performance of the company and the top-level management support. Research limitations/implications – Through an empirical study, this research has examined user factors of ISD in general and analyzed the efficacy of user involvement in different stages of ISD in particular. While other research results emphasize more on user involvement, the findings from this research reveal indicate that user involvement does not always effectively benefit ISD, but their involvement in the early stages of the ISD does. Furthermore, our findings indicate that effective user involvement can be achieved through psychological involvement via adequate communications rather than through participatory involvement. Practical implications – The managerial implications entailed to this research should help refocus our attention on project management and could result in more effective improvement on the success rate of an ISD. Originality/value – Through an empirical study, this research has examined user factors of ISD in general and analyzed the efficacy of user involvement in different stages of ISD in particular. While other research results emphasize more on user involvement, the findings from this research reveal indicate that user involvement does not always effectively benefit ISD, but their involvement in the early stages of the ISD does. Furthermore, our findings indicate that effective user involvement can be achieved through psychological involvement via adequate communications rather than through participatory involvement.