Wafa, M A (1986) An investigation into the factors influencing the success of decision support systems in the construction industry. PhD thesis, Clemson University, USA.
Abstract
This research investigates the relationships between the variables underlying the characteristics of the decision maker, the task environment, the implementation process, and the Decision Support Systems (DSS) employed that affect the extent of usage and the overall satisfaction with the DSS in the construction industry. A research framework was developed, the relevant literature was reviewed, and the problem areas were identified. These problem areas were investigated by analyzing data collected for four managerial levels: top management, middle management, supervisory, and other levels. One hundred seven responses were analyzed. The respondents were members of several organizations from different geographical locations in the United States. In terms of general findings, the results do not provide a clear indication of the importance of one factor over another. But on a more specific basis, some conclusions were drawn from the analyzed data. At the top management level, years of experience in the current position, user involvement in the development process, and output accuracy were found to be positively associated with routine and special use of DSS. User involvement in the development and implementation process, output relevancy, and output accuracy were found to be positively associated with the overall satisfaction with the DSS. Task interdependence was found to be negatively associated with the overall satisfaction with the DSS. At the middle management level, output relevancy was found to be positively associated with routine use of DSS. Age was found to be positively associated with special use of DSS. This result is opposite to what has been found in prior studies. Task variability, degree of involvement in the development process of the system and output relevancy were found to be positively associated with the overall satisfaction with the DSS. Task interdependence was found to be negatively associated with satisfaction. At the supervisory level, educational background was negatively associated with routine use of DSS. At the "other" level, age, educational background, task interdependence and number of years the system has been installed were all positively related to special use of DSS. Years of experience in current position, task difficulty and task standardization were negatively associated with special DSS use.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | United States; accuracy; decision support; standardization |
| Index terms: | satisfaction, standardization, investigation, construction industry, implementation, interdependence, variability, United States, decision support, routine, accuracy, top management |
| Subjects: | project delivery, data collection methods, decision analysis, sociology, organizational analysis, statistical analysis, industry analysis, management, performance measurement, professional development, contractual arrangements, Geography |
| Topics: | Risk Management, Procurement, Geographical Context, Project Management, Quality Management, Research Practice, Information Management, Organizational Design |
| Descriptive scope: | 4 PCTA |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here