Information quality, user satisfaction, and the manifestation of workarounds: a qualitative and quantitative study of enterprise content management system users

Abstract

In this paper, we focus on a critical aspect of work in organizations: using information in work tasks which is provided by information systems (IS) such as enterprise content management (ECM) systems. Our study based on the IS success model, 34 interviews, and an empirical study of 247 ECM system users at a financial service provider indicates that it is appropriate to differentiate between contextual and representational information quality as two information quality dimensions. Furthermore, we reveal that in addition to system quality, the two information quality dimensions are important in determining end-user satisfaction, which in turn influences the manifestation of workarounds. Our study also finds that employees using workarounds to avoid an ECM system implemented several years is negatively related to individual net benefits of the ECM system. Hence, we conclude that when investigating largescale IS such as ECM systems, it is important to differentiate among information quality dimensions to more deeply understand end-user satisfaction and the resulting manifestation of workarounds. Moreover, this research guides organizations in implementing the most appropriate countermeasures based on the importance of either contextual or representational information quality.

Conceptualizing Workarounds: Meanings and Manifestations in Information Systems Research

“…But we also need more quantitative research to measure and further theorize workarounds' causes and consequences and workaround behaviors. Of all the studies in the review, only Laumer et al (2017) used quantitative methods. Since workaround behaviors can take different forms in different settings, we need to understand the context and phenomena before using quantitative data-collection methods, which makes studying workarounds ideal for multi-method research that combines qualitative and quantitative methods (Venkatesh, Brown, & Bala, 2013;Ågerfalk, 2013 surveys and system data could provide data that could strengthen or contradict existing findings and provide new theories that researchers can further explore using qualitative methods.…”

“…Laumer, Maier, and Weitzel (2017) extended the IS success model (DeLone & McLean, 1992 with workarounds as a construct and concluded that user satisfaction negatively relates to workarounds and that both system quality and information quality play an important role in determining user satisfaction. Laumer et al (2017) also concluded that workarounds negatively relate to net benefit. Parks et al (2017) developed the unintended consequences of privacy safeguard enactment (UCPSE) framework to explain how individuals evaluate the consequences that may arise from enacting privacy safeguards.…”

“…Almost all studies that theoretically explained workarounds used process theories. As an exception, Laumer et al (2017) not only developed but also tested their model using surveys and statistics. They built their model on DeLone and McLean's (2003) IS success model with an added construct for measuring workarounds, which they developed when conducting interviews.…”

“…Journal Workarounds have negative consequences (Ferneley & Sobreperez, 2006;Ignatiadis & Nandhakumar, 2009;Laumer et al, 2017) 3…”

“…The designed path may have a block for several reasons. For instance, blocks can arise due to flaws in the IS such as lack of features (Novak, Brooks, Gadd, Anders, & Lorenzi, 2012;Huuskonen & Vakkari, 2013) or a system design that does not support work practice (Azad & King, 2008;Laumer et al, 2017). However, in most cases, blocks occur in conjunction with a lack of resources (Ferneley & Sobreperez 2006;Parks et al, 2017).…”