Critical factors for O-O technology assimilation in an IS organization

Abstract

Object-oriented(o-o) technology is one of the core components in today’s information technology. It could bring breakthroughs in the quality and productivity of software development by reusing standardized component library and enabling convergent approach. O-O technology was expected to rapidly replace traditional functional software development technology due to its productivity and quality improvement potential in software development. Considering the impact of o-o technology on IS development and management, understanding of the assimilation of o-o technology is important for practitioners and academics. Despite growing interest and attention of researchers and IS organizations, empirical research on the assimilation procedures of o-o technology in an organization has been limited. The present research assesses the current status of o-o technology assimilation in IS organizations and identifies the factors influencing such assimilation from a software process innovation perspective. This study developed a research model, which incorporates factors that are expected to influence o-o technology assimilation in IS organization. Factors related to o-o technology perception and organizational characteristics were included in the model as determinants. Technology perception was considered in terms of both internal/organizational and external/Information Technology (IT) industry context. O-o technology is a cluster of related technologies, thus various forms of adoption may proceed in an organization. Because these patterns of adoption were expected to have moderating effect on the base relationships between determinants and o-o technology assimilation, level of o-o methodology usage was included in the research model. To test the reliability of research model and instruments pilot survey was performed. Pilot survey was performed by visiting 44 IS organizations and getting response from the manager of IS department. Based on the pilot survey, research model was re...