How User’s Participation in Feasibility Study Enhances Use of Business Intelligence Systems

Abstract

Business Intelligence (BI) system is a strategic tool that presents an analytical perspective about business and external environments. Even though its strategic value was well known, users often avoid using it or adopt it ceremonially. In fact, over 50 per cent of BI projects worldwide are reported to end in failure. Such an unexpectedly lower success rate has been a key issue in BI studies. In order to enhance a proper use of information systems, MIS field provided a number of theoretical constructs. One example is Goodhue & Thompson’s Task-Technology Fit (TTF). In addition, internalization, the degree to which people make their own effort to modify behavior, was recently suggested as another important determinant of use. Though in MIS community both TTF and internalization proved to be a key determinant of system use, there has been not much study aiming to discover antecedents influencing these constructs. In this study we assert that user participation should be highlighted in BI projects. Especially, we emphasize user participation at the phase of feasibility study that is mainly conducted to determine whether a BI system is essentially necessary and practicable. Our research model employs participative feasibility study as a major antecedent for TTF and internalization that consequently will lead to user satisfaction and actual use. This model was empirically tested on 121 BI system users. The result shows that user participation in feasibility study is positively associated with TTF and internalization, each being related to user satisfaction and system use. It implies that, if an organization has BI users get involved in strategic feasibility study phase, the BI system would turn out to fit users’ tasks and, furthermore, users would put more efforts spontaneously in order to use it properly.