Factors Contributing To The Success Of Information Systems

Delone and McLean’s updated model

Discuss about the Information System Success Model.

The act of measuring the success of information system is indeed a challenging task due to the complex nature of the topic. It requires extensive research and understanding of the related concepts and the frameworks that applies on the successful implementation of the information system infrastructure to deal with the system more effectively. Over the years various researchers have done work on this topic to improve the knowledge about the information system and various models has been proposed for better assessment of the system to make it more successful for the users (Delone  & McLean  2003, p. 10). However the theories have to meet with reviews from the critique and the validation of the work is also questioned. It is one of the most debatable topics and also happens to be most important and diverse research topic in the field of information system (Delone  & McLean  2003, p. 11). The field of information system is continuously evolving and various new innovations are taking place. With every new system and technology, the previous perception of people about the concept of information is also changed.

In this report, the main objective is to find the success factors of information system by conducting a critical analysis of the Delone and McLean updated model. Some relevant literatures are also reviewed to make the analysis more informative and authentic. The variables of information system success are also studied in this context to find the relations between the variables. The interactions between these variables are also studied in this report to make a better understanding of the variables and their importance in this context.

The IS success model by DeLone and McLean explains, defines and illustrate the factors that contributes to the success of the information system. The model also explains how the IS impact the execution of IS both at the individual and organizational level. According to the model there are six knowledge dimensions that contribute to the success of information system. The variables are namely system quality, information quality, service quality, usage, user satisfaction and net benefits. All of these dimensions have different impact and they serves different role in the context of ecommerce system. These dimensions have been defined separately for providing a clear and intuitive view which is easy to follow.

“System quality” is measured by the characteristics that are desired as well as necessary when making an ecommerce site. The characteristics are usability, availability, reliability, adaptability and response time also has important impact on the system quality. The user validates these features while using the ecommerce site of a particular organization.

Six knowledge dimensions for information system success

“Information quality” is measured by the content of the ecommerce site and various issues related to the content. The content is only valued by the user if it is relevant, personalized, easy to understand and servers the need what the users are looking for.

“Service quality” is measured by the service provided by the service provider. The service may be offered by the IS department of the organization or the third party that the organization has chosen for outsourcing of the services. However when it comes to the service quality the only important factor that really matters to the user and thus the user satisfaction is the service that they are getting on demand and how relevant they are as per the demand of the user.

“Usage” has a variety of parameters when it comes to the context of an ecommerce site. It is not only related to the visit of the website, but also includes the navigation of the website that the user visits. Additionally user also retrieve various information and often perform transaction to purchase something. All of these belong to the parameter usage.

“User satisfaction” is measured by the opinions that the customer provides through feedbacks. It plays an important role for the organizations to review the information system that has been implemented by the organization. Organizations take various means to improve the system so that it appeals to the customer. However the success of the implementation can only be understood only after the customers provides their opinions. Otherwise it is difficult to understand what the user needs, where the improvements are necessary. The satisfactions of the user refers to the experience cycle from information collecting to the purchase, payment, receipt and also the services received.

“Net benefits” are measured by reviewing the balance between the positive and negative reviews provided by the users about the service provided by the e-commerce technology.  It also tries capturing the impact, both positive and negative that the e-commerce has on the suppliers, employees and the organization itself.     

While defining the dimensions of the information system success in the field of ecommerce services, the article makes it clear that within the ecommerce context, the customers and the suppliers belongs to the category of the primary users, as they actively interact with the service. The satisfaction of the primary users and their opinions about the services is very important in measuring the success.  

System quality

The authors also explains the importance of the variables namely system quality, information quality and service quality. All of these variables, according to the article make an impact and influence the user and user satisfaction. The article presents some hypothesis based on the variables:

1. User situation has a positive impact on the user satisfaction
2. System quality of has a positive contribution to the user
3. System quality makes positive impact on user satisfaction
4. Information quality makes positive contribution to user
5. Information quality has a positive impact on the user satisfaction.

Based on this hypothesis the article has then further illustrated the concept and application of the variables in context of ecommerce sites and how this variables influence the success of ecommerce sites. This elaboration of the concepts of the variables is really helpful in making the understanding of the topic in more details.

The article has not only mentioned the literatures that have supported the framework provided by the DeLone and McLean for information system success, but also thoroughly reviewed the literatures that have criticized the model. The authors have then clearly defined the need for the improvements. The need for the improvements and the way the improvements has been performed to update the model, has also been clearly defined which makes the article a quality one in understanding and retrieving information about the information system success.      

The articles that have been cited here have one thing in common. The articles have referenced the information system success model proposed by D&M for justifying the measurement performed to evaluate the IS success model (Delone  & McLean  2003, p. 9). The researchers have opted for empirical method for the justification of the research conducted by them. The model has however has not met the cautions that the authors of the original article has mentioned. The model was cited by some researchers to proceed with the respective models chosen by the researchers. Still the researchers have not followed the measures as suggested by DeLone and Mclean while framing the original model (Delone  & McLean  2003, p. 10). The articles have defined their own set of variables in the research conducted by them. Additionally some new dependent variables have been defined by the articles. The research works have only cited the original model just for validating the findings and respective proposal. However no information about improvement to construct even more comprehensive and original model has not been provided. According to the original article by DeLone and Mclean, the success model of the information system requires more multidimensional approach as the field is continuously evolving and several new theories are coming out with each new research which often questions the validity of the previous model (Delone  & McLean  2003, p. 12). To keep up with the integrity of the model it is very much necessary to have original approach while farming any model or doing any research in the context. Originality and the ability of the model to support multidimensional approach are two important features that the researchers should address while proposing any model or even suggesting any model based on the original model by D&M. the research works has not met these criteria and overlooked this very important conclusion of the article by DeLone and Mclean. According to DeLone and Mclean, researchers should follow systematical approach and make a combination of the individual measures to make the model more effective and more easy to use while assessing the success of the information system. this combination along with systematical approach for the research make the research a quality one as the context need careful assessment of the individuals measures that are taken into account while assessing the model and the impact of the model on the success of the information system (Delone  & McLean  2003, p. 27). However the authors of the article chosen for the literature review has not followed this approach and has not taken into account the importance of measuring the various dimensions that is required for the success of the information system and the associated model.

Article reference	Short summary of the article	Justification for the article choice
Martinsons, M, Davison, MR  & Tse, D 1999,  ‘The balanced scorecard: A foundation for the strategic management of information systems’, Decision Support Systems, vol. 25, pp. 71–88.	The article provides instrument consisting of 33-items for measurement of the organizational benefits. The organizational success is derived from the review of information system project(Martinsons , Davison, & Tse 1999 ) .While providing the framework for measuring the success of organization, the authors divided the organizational benefits into three categories namely strategic , informational and transactional.  The proposed framework has been tested empirically. A survey was conducted using 200 IS managers and system analyst to validate the framework. This survey provides a thorough overview of the credibility of the framework (Martinsons , Davison, & Tse 1999 ) . The category of the strategic benefits has been further subdivided into competitive advantage, alignment, and customer-relations benefits. The framework is validated using surveys and practical measured. The instrument which is validated with this kind of approach provides an important way to measures the success of the information system model.	The article has defined the concept of information system clearly so that it becomes easy for the readers to follow along with the information provided. The article has not only proposed instrument for information system success measurement but also has provided necessary studies that has been used for the article. The proposed framework has also been validated with surveys that make the research more authentic and effective. In short the article is suitable for quality reference guide.
Mirani, R & Lederer, AL 1998, ‘ An instrument for assessing the organizational benefits of IS projects’, Decision Sciences, vol.29, pp.803–838.	The article has proposed a new approach for the success measurement for the organizational performance. The article has proposed for a “balanced scorecard” approach for organizational success measurement (Mirani & Lederer 1998, p. 72 )         . The balanced scorecard has defined four performance perspective: “the financial perspective, the customer perspective, the internal business process perspective, and the learning and growth perspective”. The model is evaluated in the context of information system success  (Mirani & Lederer 1998, p. 73 )                                        . A balance information system scorecard has been suggested by the authors in this context.  The scorecard discusses the importance of business value measurement to address the multidimensional aspects of information system success model  (Mirani & Lederer 1998, p. 74 )                          .  The article has  discussed about various dimensions to the business value measurement. The dimensions are both user and business process oriented  (Mirani & Lederer 1998, p. 75 )                                        . The model also claims to support the future-readiness dimension of the business process value.	The article has made the analysis of the information system success model in detailed manner. However the authors have taken enough measures not to make the analysis complicated for the end readers. The topic itself is so complicated that authors have avoided adding extra complication to the presentation style so that the information is easy to understand. The article has proposed for new frame work for measuring the success of information system. however the authors have provided details about the model and the implementation technology which makes the article a good choice for the topic .
Torkzadeh, G & Doll, WJ 1999, ‘The development of a tool for measuring the perceived impact of information technology on work’Omega—The International Journal of Management Science, vol.27, pp.327–339.	The article discusses about the instrument that can be used to measure the success of information system model. The instrument consists of four factors that have the ability to influence and measure the impact of the information system on individual level (Torkzadh & Doll 1999, p. 338) . In order to measure the effectiveness of the proposed solution a survey has been conducted by the authors with 409 end users who belongs to 18 different organizations (Torkzadh & Doll 1999, p. 337) . the authors have also illustrated the four factors:  Task productivity: It takes into account the output and the review provided by the user. According to the article the effectiveness of the application depends on the factor that how well it can address user concerns and based on that what measurements it provides to improve the user experience. Task innovation: It takes into account the ease of use that the application offers to the users. Apart from ease of use, the success of the application as per the article also depends on the effectiveness of the application in assisting the user create new ideas for the work needs (Torkzadh & Doll 1999, p. 335) . Customer satisfaction: It is measured by the ability of the application to serve the users for creating values for the external and internal consumers who belong to the organization. The users should be able to create values for their customers with the application.  Management control: The application should be able to provide the necessary measures for the organization so that it does not face difficulty in controlling and regulating the work flow process (Torkzadh & Doll 1999, p. 339) . The application should also be able to identify the areas of improvement and suggest necessary measurement for improvement as suggested by the authors.	The article has put correct amount of effort in preparing the article which is evident in the presentation style and content representation. The authors have provided enough details about the instrument that has been used to measure the success of the information system or the IS. The article has discussed the various aspects of the instrument and the details have been provided in step by step to maintain the clarity of the information. The authors also conducted surveys to measure the effectiveness of the proposed framework and adequate details have been provided about the survey like the methods used for the survey and the concerning audience for the survey is also mentioned in details in the research methodology section which helps to understand the effectiveness of the research and the validity of the research. This particular factor is very much important whenever a article is chosen for the review.

Conclusion:

The report concludes that the topic of the information system is a very complex subject as it requires through understanding of the subject not only from the theoretical perspective but also from practical point of view. The field of information system is continuously evolving with various new theories proposed with new innovations and technologies. This makes the field not only dynamic in nature but also requires new and improved measures to address the required changes to make the system compatible with the changes. Hence, it is very much important to keep originality in the research work and the researches should be open enough to allow changes to their proposed work. Constructive critique from other researchers should be also be accepted as long as it is intended to provide better assessment to the previous work and thus helps in rectifying the improvements and necessary modification  to the research work. The information system success model suggested by the DeLone and Mclean has inspired numerous research over the years. However the authors have recognized the issues pointed out by other researchers and updated the already accepted model to make it more effective for the information system success.  This kind of positive attitude towards critique is very much needed to address the dynamic natures of information system research.  

References:

Delone, William H, McLean, Ephraim R, 2003, ‘The DeLone and McLean Model of Information Systems Success: A Ten-Year Update’, Journal Of Management Information System, vol. 23,  pp. 9-30.

Martinsons, M, Davison, MR  & Tse, D 1999,  ‘The balanced scorecard: A foundation for the strategic management of information systems’, Decision Support Systems, vol. 25, pp. 71–88.

Mirani, R & Lederer, AL 1998, ‘ An instrument for assessing the organizational benefits of IS projects’, Decision Sciences, vol.29, pp.803–838.

Torkzadeh, G & Doll, WJ 1999, ‘The development of a tool for measuring the perceived impact of information technology on work’Omega—The International Journal of Management Science, vol.27, pp.327–339.