Information Systems’ Models for Success Assessment - High Level Models and Methodologies for Information Systems - page 134

7.7 Other Models for IS Success Evaluation

We have previously summarized and outlined the most signi cant models used in

IS success research. However, the attempt to identify and systemically analyze
success variables is an ongoing academic process, and there have been other models
and frameworks outlined on the basis of research and literature reviews.
The work system method of IS success measurement, or WSM, was developed
by Alter in 1999 in an attempt to bring IS success measurement closer to business
practices. This method combines two dimensions: a static dimension called the
work system framework, which outlines the basic architecture of the organization,
and a dynamic one called the work system life cycle. This life cycle is the process
through which any new system is implemented in an organization and consists of
four stages: initiation, development, implementation, and operation maintenance.
At

the level of operation maintenance, there is a component of performance

monitoring and eventual identi cation and correction of issues. It is at this stage that

success of the new system is evaluated, which in turn will have an impact on
whether the system will be continued, adapted, or rejected (Lawrence 2011 ).
Davis and subsequent co-authors the concept of a technology acceptance model
(TAM) for the purpose of modeling user acceptance of information systems, seen as
a fundamental aspect of success. Much like the Seddon is model, the emphasis is on

perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use, two factors that, combined with
external variables, will in

'

uence the attitude toward use and, in turn, determine

actual usage (Zaied 2012 ).
Zaied later structured a method for the evaluation of IS success by combining
elements from the theoretical foundations of the TAM and of the D&M model
update (Zaied 2012 ). The IS success model that the author suggests is composed of
ten variables:

“

behavior intentions, information quality, management support,
perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, service quality, system quality, train-
ing, user satisfaction, and user involvement.

This list of variables portrays a clear
integration of the D&M model ' s dimensions from its updated version with TAM ' s
core precepts (Zaied 2012 ). However, this model proposed a more strict concept of
IS success by focusing exclusively on the viewpoint of the user, and it did not
account for other stakeholders (Zaied 2012 ).
Agourram has argued that culture is an increasingly signi

”

cant determinant of
the manner that people perceive IS success. Particularly with the explosive growth
of cross-cultural organizations and multinational IS architectures, there is neces-
sarily a signi

uence of cultural variables on modern research models.
Hence, there are many researchers that contest the wide applicability of existing IS
success models because many of them do not take into account such variables, or
relegate them to a secondary plane. However, the reality is that different contexts
and cultures demand speci

cant in

c approaches, and there is more evidence today to
contradict the preconceived idea of universal applicability of IT. When an orga-
nization is set on a multinational environment, culture has to be given a predom-
inant place in that organization ' s success measurement model (Agourram 2009 ).