Exploring Some Determinants of ES Quality

In this study some important determinants for expert systems (ES) quality are field-tested. To reduce possible confounding results that may occur because of interorganizational differences, a case study approach to data collection in a single company has been used. The company is E.I. DuPont de Nemours and Company, Inc., which since 1986 has implemented more than 1200 ES within the organization. The results corroborate four of the five hypothesized determinants of ES quality. One of the most important factors is the selection of an appropriate ES development shell that matches the business problem. Developer skills and the end-user characteristics addressed in this study are also directly related to ES quality as measured by user satisfaction with ES friendliness, usefulness of system documentation, and the quality of the information provided by the ES.

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