THE IMPLEMENTATION OF EXPERT SYSTEMS - A SURVEY OF SUCCESSFUL IMPLEMENTATIONS

A descriptive mail survey of managers of work groups using expert system (ES) technology was performed to gain insight into the management of the ES implementation process. This article presents survey results representing 45 different ES projects that have been successfully implemented in organizations. Each of the managers was asked to evaluate the importance of 13 factors to ES implementation success and to report on the organizational climate and practices related to ES implementation. The survey results are generally consistent with earlier implementation research and indicate that successful ES implementation requires management attention to a combination of organizational factors, implementation activities, and technical factors. Implementation practices that were associated with successful ES implementations were commitment to the ES project, user participation, and management support.