Influence of Information Culture on Adoption of a Self-Service System

Introduction This article reports on a case study of a self-service based human resources management system (HRMS) in a Utilities Company (code name) in Canada, by extending the adoption analysis beyond previously illuminated cognitive aspects (Travica, 2007). The self-service model of information systems (IS) requires end-users to manipulate the system entirely and directly, with no help from an intermediary. Cash machines, various online services (banking, travel, exchanges) and stores accessible via the Internet, and you-scan-it checkout systems in grocery stores are some of many examples of self-service information systems. The focus of this study is on the self-service IS that support organizations internally. Examples include the student course registration system by which students today choose courses without facing registration clerks, and desktop applications for cubing data warehouses. The elimination of intermediaries in using self-service IS brings casual users to the foreground. These users can no longer count on help from specially trained users. Jumping into the seat of primary user can challenge the accustomed ways of manipulating information and working. Acquiring a broader access to data can generally be considered a beneficial outcome (Bhappu & Shultze, 2006; Curran, Meuter, & Suprenat, 2003). Still, this benefit needs to be paid by the work of operating a computer software and hardware. While the balance in this case is likely to be on the benefit side, the benefit differential may diminish when an increment in work is associated with less certain benefits. For example, a doctor that directly enters prescriptions in an electronic medical record system has lost the convenience of having a nurse record orally-conveyed prescriptions and may be losing time that otherwise would be allocated to diagnostic and other eminently professional work (cf. Lapointe & Rivard, 2005). Furthermore, as any other IS, a self-service system must be easy to use in order to achieve a higher adoption rate (Davis, 1989). This principle becomes even more urging with self-service IS because these typically employ some enterprise resource planning (ERP) software that usually is difficult or too expensive to supply with an easy to use user interface. Another consequence of an enterprise system is that the processes it supports cut across organizational functions. If the process owner is clearly defined, this owner cannot have authority over system adopters in other than his/her area of responsibility (e.g., human resources, or marketing). If the process owner is not clearly defined due to inter-departmental tensions (say, a process spans over the marketing and sales department), system adoption at large is rendered to a laissez faire. In either scenario, the enforcement of self-service system adoption is unravelled. Moreover, while supporting a larger and diverse body of users, the process of adoption a self-service system can trigger creation of elaborate mental imagery that is nearly impossible to control, and some of this imagery can work against adoption efforts (Travica, 2007). The discussion above outlines the space of a new research problem the importance of which is likely to grow with increasing use of self-service systems: What are the key factors in adopting intra-organizational self-service systems? The study presented here addressed this problem by investigating a self-service HRMS based on Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software by SAP[TM]. While there is no direct literature support for this particular topic, the topic references several established segments of literature. These include the literature on ERP systems (e.g., Bulkeley, 1996; Krumbholz & Maiden, 2001; Markus & Tanis, 2000), self-service variants of ERP and other enterprise systems (Lapointe & Rivard, 2005; Larsen & Myers, 1999; Stein, Hawking, & Wyld,, 2005), systems adoption theory (Davis, 1989; Rogers, 2003), and self-service technology in the extra-organizational context (Bhappu & Shultze, 2006; Curran et al. …