Exploring users' desire to be involved in computer systems development: An exploratory study

Previous research on user involvement during computer systems development has focused almost exclusively on the impact of user involvement on user satisfaction and system success. To the extent that user involvement has been found to be beneficial to the process, there is a need to study the management of the involvement process. Managing the involvement process requires (among other things) ascertaining whether the users are ready to be involved. This paper examines the antecedents of user desire to be involved in systems development. I am interested in knowing what motivates a worker to desire involvement in systems development projects. Based on the results of an empirical survey, I conclude that a user's overall satisfaction with the computer information system (CIS) function within the organization significantly affects his/her desire to be involved in system development. It is also observed that, although a user's attitude toward the CIS staff might be positively correlated with his/her desire to be involved, it is less powerful in predicting desired involvement when the user is generally satisfied with the CIS function. Copyright (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd