اثرات قابلیت اعتماد درک شده کارکنان بر موفقیت برنامه های کاربردی سازمانی در کسب و کار الکترونیکی

Electronic business (e-business) plays a major role in modern economic networks due to its shorter cycle time and faster information transactions. Building enterprise applications that can coordinate activities, decisions, and knowledge across many functions is a good solution for e-business. Hence, how to implement enterprise applications successfully has become an increasingly important management issue. Although success of information systems (IS) has received fairly extensive attention from prior research, issues regarding whether functions and service delivered by systems can be justifiably relied on by users are seriously ignored, especially complex systems like enterprise applications. Thus, this paper attempts to extend this kind of concept, perceived dependability, into DeLone and McLean's IS success model to explore how it influences success of enterprise applications. Results from a survey of 170 respondents taken from six internationalized e-businesses in Taiwan strongly support that perceived dependability is indeed an important factor for success of enterprise applications. Additionally, over and beyond the effects of dependability on success of enterprise applications, it can help practitioners and managers get deep insights into how to implement e-business successfully.

Enterprise applications refer to systems that can coordinate activities, decisions, and knowledge across many different functions, levels, and business units in a firm, including enterprise resource planning systems (ERPS), supply chain management systems (SCMS), customer relationship management systems (CRMS), and knowledge management systems (KMS) (Kalakota and Robinson, 2001 and Laudon and Laudon, 2005). E-business, an enterprise with the capability to exchange values (goods, services, money, and knowledge) digitally or via computer network (Hackbarth and Kettinger, 2000 and Jones et al., 2000), uses distributed information technology, knowledge management, and trust mechanisms to transform key business processes and relationships with customers, suppliers, employees, business partners, regulatory parties, and communities (Craig & Jutla, 2001). It is a new way of doing business that involves connectivity, transparency, sharing, and integration. This has heralded many new opportunities for organizations through the expansion and enhancements of their markets, as well as the extension and broadening of their supply chains (Chen & Ching, 2002). For this task, it is a good way for e-business to increase employees' job productivity and efficiency by deploying and implementing enterprise applications. As a result, whether functions and service delivered by enterprise applications can be relied on by employees will affect their completion of routine jobs or tasks. Conceivably, this kind of reliable or dependable beliefs will affect employees' satisfaction and use/intention to use, which are two important surrogate variables of IS success (Bailey and Pearson, 1983, DeLone and McLean, 1992, DeLone and McLean, 2003, Doll and Torkzadeh, 1988 and Ives et al., 1983), indicating that they are critical factors for success of enterprise applications. Although related beliefs including trust, trustworthiness, or benevolence, have played increasingly important roles in cyberspace (Hoffman et al., 1999, Jones et al., 2000 and Paulus, 2001) due to the burgeoning development of electronic commerce (e-commerce) and e-business, they are usually employed to characterize either the more general reliance of business actors and private citizens or consumers on other actors (Hoffman et al., 1999 and Jones et al., 2000) or systems (Paulus, 2001) within the Information Society. Meanwhile, they stress the development of trust between stakeholders. However, on the other hand, they focus on system properties like security and privacy. Illustratively, the term trust can also be adopted to describe systems that perform as expected along the dimensions of correctness, security, reliability, safety, and survivability (Schneider, 1999). As a result, trust has become a multidimensional and more complex belief ( Gefen et al., 2003, Lee and Turban, 2001, McKinght et al., 2002 and Tan and Thoen, 2000) and its broad use has already introduced unnecessary confusions (Friedman, Kahn, & Howe, 2000), particularly since it involves both social and technical aspects. For instance, it is reasonable to speak of relying on simple machines, but not trusting in them. Hence, this demands a much simpler concept described in the following as perceived dependability, which is related to whether functions or service delivered by information systems can be relied on by users, for us to explore how it influences the success of enterprise applications. Undoubtedly, understanding how to implement enterprise applications successfully is extremely important for e-business management. However, it still lacks relevant empirical evidence that sheds light on this issue, particularly employees' reliable or dependable beliefs in enterprise applications. Although the literature on success of enterprise applications in e-business is scarce, models of organizational IS success has received much attention (Walstrom & Leonard, 2000) and can offer a foundation for exploring success of enterprise applications in the e-business context. Information systems success model, first developed by DeLone and McLean (1992) and later revised by them (DeLone & McLean, 2003), provides a better perspective on the various success measures used in past research (Molla and Licker, 2001, Rai et al., 2002, Seddon, 1997 and Seddon and Kiew, 1994). It classifies factors contributing to IS success and seems to be a promising way for us to understand what the factors are and how they affect the successful implementation of enterprise applications, especially the two major dimensions of IS success: intention to use (or usage) and user satisfaction (e.g., DeLone and McLean, 2003 and DeLone and McLean, 2004). However, previous results were empirically validated in the contexts of e-commerce (Molla & Licker, 2001) or user-developed applications and individual systems (McGill and Hobbss, 2003 and Rai et al., 2002). These results were examined either by consumers or students, rather than employees. On the other hand, the focus of e-business is different from that of e-commerce although it is sometimes used as a broader definition of e-commerce (Kalakota and Robinson, 2001, Schneider, 2006 and Turban et al., 2006). For the purpose of this research, we need to distinguish e-business from e-commerce. In this study, e-commerce is seen as different from e-business and stresses simply on processes of buying, selling, or exchanging products, services, or information via computer networks (Turban et al., 2006). On the contrary, e-business emphasizes the complex diffusion of business processes, enterprise applications, and organizational structure to create a high-performance business model (Kalakota & Robinson, 2001). Sometimes, it needs a journey of transformation and is about changing business models to create new or increased value for the customer (Craig & Jutla, 2001). In this article, we use the term “e-business” rather than “e-commerce” and focus on a more specific type of e-business—intraorganizational e-business (i.e., management of logistics within businesses or administrations) (Jones et al., 2000) to describe the domain of interest, as we believe that this reflects more accurately the diversity of activities affected by recent developments in the use of enterprise applications. Obviously, the new context of e-business has indeed fuelled a necessity for understanding how dependable beliefs perceived by employees affect the success/effectiveness of enterprise applications in e-business through gratifying employees and influencing their willingness to use. Unfortunately, previous research has normally not taken this issue into consideration when exploring how it affects employees' engagement in enterprise applications. According to prior research on IS success model (DeLone and McLean, 1992, DeLone and McLean, 2003, Rai et al., 2002 and Seddon, 1997), this paper proposes a new variable, perceived dependability, and aims to explore how it affects success of enterprise applications for more in-depth explanations in the context of e-business. From this proposed model and our findings, managers and researchers can understand better the role perceived dependability plays in affecting the successful implementation of enterprise applications.

5.1. Findings Information quality and system quality seem to be important antecedents of perceived dependability. However, system quality plays a more important role in success of enterprise applications when compared with information quality. It has the largest total effects on perceived dependability, perceived usefulness, and intention to use in addition to its second largest total effects on user satisfaction. These findings imply that enterprise applications with high levels of system quality can contribute to employees' perceived dependability, satisfaction, and intention to use. Managers must guarantee that enterprise applications are reliable, assured, and securable. One possible way for this purpose is to implement enterprise applications by following a well-disciplined software engineering process, such as ISO or Capability Maturity Model (CMM) standards, to assure the quality of enterprise applications since a well-disciplined process includes effective defect management, comprehensive planning, tracking, and analysis methods (Humphrey, 1995 and Paulk et al., 1995). Furthermore, managers can introduce certificated mechanisms for enterprise applications since a company or organization that has been independently audited and certified to be in conformance with ISO or CMM standards can convince their employees that their systems are dependable, while at the same time develop high-quality enterprise applications. On the other hand, ease of use, as one important element of system quality, is particularly crucial for success of enterprise applications because of their complex functions. One of these functions is retrieving diverse information stored in different repositories in different locations. It is often a challenge for employees to search/retrieve the “right” information from the “right” location at the “right” time. Another function is collaboration among groups with different interests. There is a need to encourage collaboration in order to maximize the synthesis effects of employees' efforts. Hence, employees need enterprise applications to provide integrated service for them to complete the daily tasks and jobs using different systems. Perhaps, providing an integrated platform with user-friendly functions is a better way to make complex interfaces transparent among systems for employees to get required service by a single and simple mechanism. A feasible way to overcome such functional complexities mentioned above is to increase transparency and consistency of enterprise applications by utilizing enterprise application integration (EAI) mechanisms. Historically, the inherent heterogeneity and incompatibility of system platforms that exist within the same enterprise and among business partners seem to be a major obstacle for employees to retrieve/share information and collaborate with colleagues. EAI mechanisms encompass technologies that enable business processes, and data to speak to one another across applications, integrating many individual systems into a seamless whole (Paulk et al., 1995). Clearly, there is an urgent need to create a single and uniform platform under an integration backbone to support all or most of the enterprise applications and data across different platforms and the World Wide Web by utilizing EAI. As discussed above, perceived dependability is a significant factor for success of enterprise applications, showing the largest total effects on user satisfaction. It also has significant total effects on intention to use, which is slightly smaller than that of perceived usefulness. This paper suggests that many attributes and their possible solutions contributing to increase perceived dependability (e.g., a well-disciplined engineering process and EAI) are crucial for success of enterprise applications.5.2. Implications Obviously, e-business rebuilds and transforms some of their core business processes using Internet technology (e.g., enterprise applications) and making this technology a key component of their IS/IT infrastructure. If these changes are guided, one result will be simpler business processes, fewer employees, and much flatter organization structure than those in the past (Laudon & Laudon, 2005). Employees are the frontline staff facing different changes. Undoubtedly, preparing employees for change is crucially important in the six stages of implementation of technology: initiation, adoption, adaptation, acceptance, use, and incorporation (Kwon & Zmud, 1987), particularly in the initiation and adoption stages. One promising way for this task is to help employees develop high levels of motives, needs and expectations since this will increase organizations' effectiveness and lead to success of implementation of new technology. Thus, managers can analyze the potential gains, benefits, or values associated with the implementation of the new technology (i.e., enterprise applications) for employees to let them understand that the status quo is undesirable as well as creates unsatisfied need and motive to use enterprise applications. It is particularly important in earlier stages of implementation. Similar arguments have received much attention in the marketing field (Young and Feigin, 1975 and Zeithaml, 1988). “Grey Benefit Chain”, proposed by Young and Feigin (1975), is a good method for improving strategy formulation. It is a major breakthrough in linking the right psychological pay-offs to the fundamental buying incentives for a product. In e-business, employees are internal customers and enterprise applications are products, managers can increase value or emotional pay-off of enterprise applications (i.e., product) for their employees (i.e., customer) to increase the purchase of this product (i.e., use of enterprise applications). The more value the employees perceive, the more likely the implementation of enterprise applications will succeed. As illustrations in Fig. 4, managers can increase employees' perception of value with enterprise applications in four stages of implementation to increase the success of enterprise applications. First, managers can promote enterprise applications having abilities to increase performance as a product attribute. Second, IT department must try to let employees understand lots of functional benefits. For example, employees can get what they need at the right time through an integrated friendly interface (i.e., high system quality and information quality) instead of retrieving finance and manufacturing data from different isolated systems such as legacy systems. Most importantly, managers must convince employees that they can get practical benefits including improved and increased performance as well as efficiency because of implementing enterprise applications. This will perhaps lead to a higher year-end bonus and reward. Finally, top-manager may promote that the new implementation of enterprise applications can transform the company into e-business or a high-performance company successfully, even making employees feel like high-performance workers in an excellent company.In addition, e-businesses should try their best to make their employees believe that they can rely on functions and service delivered by enterprise applications for the completion of jobs and tasks, i.e., perceived dependability. Along with good accumulated experiences with enterprise applications, perhaps, employees feel that they cannot run their work well without enterprise applications. This can even build employees' “emotional attachment” to enterprise applications. Furthermore, IS/IT department can build up their “brand” to cultivate employees' trust or loyalty on any new under-developing systems. In the rapidly changing work environment (e.g., e-business), it is useful to decrease internal customers' (i.e., employees) resistance and increase the possibility of successful implementation of the new enterprise applications in the future. 5.3. Limitations Several limitations of this study should be noted. First, the findings and their implications are obtained from six companies in semiconductor industry in Taiwan. Although these firms have good IS/IT infrastructure and implemented enterprise applications as discussed earlier, that can be representative of e-business, their behaviors still cannot reflect all the employees' behaviors and perceptions in different sectors. Thus, caution needs to be taken when generalizing our findings. Second, there are some factors with two (e.g., user satisfaction and intention to use) or three items (i.e., perceived dependability) in this current research. Although few-item measures have been used (Chau and Hu, 2001, McGill and Hobbss, 2003 and Venkatesh, 2000), future efforts may attempt to add more items to such factors. Third, as shown in Table 3, there exists the strongest correlation coefficient between perceived usefulness and perceived dependability. This present research fails to explore this relationship because perceived dependability is a new construct proposed here and evidence regarding this relationship is still lacking. Future efforts can emphasis on this relationship and its consequent factors such as user preference. Finally, perceived dependability refers to functions and service delivered by enterprise applications that can be justifiably relied on by their users. In addition to increasing information quality and system quality to cultivate employees' confidence in enterprise applications, managers must promise employees' conformity with job contents, welfare, and rights since it is often an evolutionary journey for most firms to become an e-business (Earl, 2000 and Hackbarth and Kettinger, 2000). Conceivably, implementing enterprise applications in the transforming journey perhaps involves organizational change, including redesigning business processes and restructuring management. Employees will become skeptical when (1) they do not understand why change is desirable, (2) they doubt about the company's ability to achieve the desired change (Beckhard & Harris, 1987), and (3) their socio-political relationships are changed. Owing to the narrow definition of perceived dependability, it is possible for future research to transform doubts and disbeliefs into perceived dependability and explore how dependable beliefs perceived by employees help them overcome such skepticism when changes are introduced by the implementation of enterprise applications.