FACTORS AFFECTING THE IMPLEMENTATION OUTCOME OF A MAINFRAME SOFTWARE PACKAGE - A LONGITUDINAL-STUDY

A framework for predicting the likely short and long term outcome of an organization's effort to implement an off-the-shelf software package is proposed and then field tested. The framework considers the initial fit of the proposed system from the perspectives of both the manager/end users and members of their information systems staffs. Due to moderate collinearity among the independent variables, the field test data were analyzed using ridge regression. It was concluded that the short term success of an implementation effort was determined mostly by three factors, as viewed from the perspective of the potential user of the application. nose three factors, in order, were: the relative advantage of the application to the user, the compatibility of the application with the work norms of the user, and the applications lack of complexity or difficulty in use by the potential adopter. Over the long term, while these factors remained significant for continued success, it was important that the application also not be overly complex from the perspective of the information systems support staff. These findings lead to a strategy for software package evaluation and implementation. First, a thorough understanding of the impact of an application on its intended end-users is critical to successful implementation. This understanding is similar to the insight gained from the systems analysis process in custom software development. Second, even in cases where an application fits well with user needs and capabilities, long term viability is also dependent upon a competent and capable information systems support staff.