Beyond the information center: An instrument to measure end-user computing support from multiple sources

Recent studies have shown that end-users may be dissatisfied with support received from the centralized information center. While this has been the predominant source of formal support in the past, contemporary studies have identified a more decentralized form of support: local MIS staff. A third popular support source for end-users is the informal network of friends and colleagues. The relative degree of support that end-users receive from each of these sources is not evident. The lack of a reliable instrument to measure end-user support may have contributed to this absence of evidence. This paper presents an instrument that was designed to measure support from a set of diverse sources, such as the information center, local MIS staff, and informal sources. The instrument was pre-tested and refined prior to collecting data from 108 middle-level managers. The construct and convergent validities of the instrument appear to be strong. This instrument will be useful to researchers and practitioners who would like to identify support functions best provided by a specific support source.

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