Contingency model for evaluating information system success using structural equation modeling approach

Abstract

The multiple aspects of IS success make the assessment of IS performance and investigation of IT investment-performance relationships difficult. The current studies suggest several comprehensive frameworks of IS assessment based on contingency theory for selecting appropriate ones among a theoretically developed set of measures. This paper presents three models for the dimensions of IS success. The first model is about the interdependence between the dimensions of IS success. We attempt to validate the interdependence and process-nature of the dimensions arbitrarily insisted by previous studies empirically at the first model. The second model is about the contingencies for selecting and prioritizing the dimensions of IS success. The model incorporate organizational context (organizational structure, organizational strategy, and - BP-ISP integration), IS context (IS structure and IS maturity), and sophistication of IS evaluation as the contingent factor among those suggested by previous studies and develops a causal model of the relationship between the context variables and each measure of IS success. The second model is decomposed into two sub-models for the parsimony of the research model - model for the impact of organizational structure on the dimensions of IS success via IS characteristics and model for the impact of organizational strategy and BP-ISP integration on the dimensions of IS success via IS characteristics. The third model have focus on the evolution of IS structure and the variation of the appropriate dimensions of IS success along the path of evolution. We presumed that the evolution of computing environment should be aligned with business objectives and strategies and thus that the change of IS structure reflect the change of business objectives and strategies to fit with intra or extra-organizational environment. The data for the study is collected from a mail survey and structured interview to IS managers of 137 firms in Korea. The results ...