Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
Table 6. Perceived importance of benefits
Beneits
Web Development
Spreadsheet Development
Sign.
Mean Impt.
SD
Mean Impt.
SD
Improved accessibility of information
4.25
1.07
4.27
0.96
0.922
Improved communication of information
4.12
1.08
4.05
1.02
0.759
Faster response to information requests
3.82
1.15
4.00
1.06
0.216
Direct control over information and applications
3.66
1.28
3.77
1.27
0.153
Better use of limited resources
3.54
1.24
3.62
1.08
0.262
Improved user computer literacy
3.30
1.25
3.07
1.31
0.151
Encourages experimentation and innovation
3.27
1.10
3.18
1.32
0.910
Reduction in development backlog
3.20
1.24
3.10
1.41
0.825
Increased user satisfaction
3.18
1.10
3.31
1.28
0.345
Improved productivity
3.12
1.31
3.97
0.94
<0.001***
Improved decision making effectiveness
3.02
1.26
3.90
1.12
<0.001***
Improved relationships with IT staff
2.46
1.19
2.55
1.94
0.416
*** < 0.01
tion. Faster response to information requests and
direct control over information and applications
were ranked third and fourth, respectively. End
users recognise that Web page development gives
them a unique opportunity to both provide and
access information. Whilst increasing access to
the Internet and the availability of user-friendly
browsers has made accessing sites developed by
information technology professionals a valuable
information gathering approach, the develop-
ment of user-friendly Web development tools has
enabled end users to participate in information
dissemination to a degree never before possible.
These first four benefits were also rated highly
as benefits of spreadsheet development, and no
significant differences were found between their
importance for Web development and their impor-
tance for spreadsheet development. Presumably
Web development allows access to, and dissemi-
nation of, information over a wider domain, but
spreadsheet development allows more focused
specific addressing of information needs.
The middle ranked benefits appear to reflect
personal benefits from end-user development.
Better use of limited resources was ranked fifth
followed by improved user computer literacy
and encouragement of experimentation and in-
novation. End-user developers appear to place
moderate value on what they learn and gain from
development beyond their specific task-oriented
information needs. These results for end-user Web
development are consistent with the literature
on other kinds of end-user computing (Agarwal,
2000; Amoroso & Cheney, 1992; Davis, 1988;
Pentland, 1989) and no significant differences were
found between perceptions of their importance
as benefits of Web development and spreadsheet
development.
Reduction in development backlog was ranked
fairly lowly at eighth in importance amongst the
Web development potential benefits. This implies
that end users are not developing applications that
would otherwise be developed by information
technology professionals. Their Web pages are
in addition to those deemed necessary by their
organizations and hence their development effort
may not impact significantly on development
backlogs. This is consistent with the perception
of reduction of development backlog as a benefit
of spreadsheet development as no significant dif-
ference was found between the ratings.
The ninth most important perceived benefit of
end-user development was user satisfaction and its
relatively low ranking suggests that whilst Web de-
velopment tools have become more user-friendly,
Web development is not yet a straightforward and
 
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