Does user involvement during information systems development improve data quality?

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Zeffane, Rachid | Cheek, Bruce | Meredith, Paul

Affiliations: Department of Management, University of Newcastle, NSW 2308, Australia, Tel.: + 61 49 215 996; Fax: + 61 49 216 911; E-mail: [email protected]

Abstract: This paper reports on a survey of 308 IT managers and non IT managers from large organisations operating in Australia which examined the impact of end-user participation during information system development on the perceived quality of the data produced from the resultant systems. Degree of end-user involvement was found to have a significant effect upon the managers’ perception of data quality. Correlation of specific types of user involvement against aspects of data quality such as accuracy, timeliness and completeness revealed that these effects are not uniform. Based upon these findings strategies for optimising level and type of user participation throughout the systems development process are suggested.

Keywords: Information systems development, data quality, data accuracy, data sufficiency, timeliness, end-user involvement, participation, cross-functional cooperation

DOI: 10.3233/HSM-1998-17205

Journal: Human Systems Management, vol. 17, no. 2, pp. 115-121, 1998