Presentation of the paper 'Information System Infusion: The Role of Control and Empowerment' at ICIS 2012, Orlando. By Jan-Bert Maas, Paul van Fenema and Joseph Soeters

1. IS Infusion:
The Role of Control
and Empowerment Jan-Bert Maas
Paul van Fenema
Joseph Soeters
Tilburg University
Netherlands Defense Academy

2. Introduction
• Organizations struggling with ERP implementations
• High IS usage necessary for ERP benefits
• Challenge: Under-utilization of ERP (Hsieh & Wang, 2007)
• Important: Deep IS use or Infusion
Highest level of individual level IS use
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3. Introduction
• ERP Logic: Fundamental changes to tasks and jobs
• ERP supports control and empowerment (Sia, 2002)
• How do these phenomena affect system usage?
RQ: To what extent does control and empowerment
induced by ERP systems, influence infusion of the ERP
user and to what extent does this account for changes
in ERP success?
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4. Conceptual Background: Infusion
• Different measures of IS Usage
• Lean and Rich Measures (Burton-Jones & Straub, 2006)
• Infusion: Comprehensive use (Saga & Zmud, 1994)
• Extended use: using more of the system features to
complete tasks,
• Integrative use: using the system to reinforce linkages
among tasks
• Emergent use: using the system in an innovative manner to
support tasks
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5. Conceptual Background: Control
Ability to ‘gaze’
Self-discipline
Bentham’s Panopticon (Foucault, 1977)
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6. Conceptual Background: Control
• ERP can be seen as information panopticon (Zuboff, 1988)
Not physical but by the use of IT representations
X
Management Control
• Stores actions real-time in database
• Drill down tracking capability
• Information transparency Peer Control
X X X
System Tracking Capability
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7. Conceptual Background: Empowerment
1) Greater access to information (procedural formality)
• Changing formal authority/roles – value added role
2) Higher task concentration/job scope (job discretion)
• Cross-functional integration
3) Increased decision making (job discretion)
• More insight in processes, more information
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8. Research Framework
H2/3:curvilinear relationship between the perceiveduser of
H1: A The higher the perceived user of an ERP of a control
H4: The higher the infusion of a empowerment system,
an an ERP user ERP system the infusion of an ERP system user.
of ERP system,and the infusion of an ERP user exists.
the higher the the higher success will be.
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9. Methodology
• Survey in public organization in the Netherlands.
• Total sample: N = 220 ERP Users
• Matched with 73 supervisors: Rated the level of
infusion of their subordinates (Common Rater Effect).
• Analysis: Multiple Regression & SEM
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10. Results
‘Linear’ control not significant, quadratic control significant.
Sweet spot of Control
Trade-off between
self-discipline and
‘distrust’.
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11. Results
• All other hypotheses accepted by Multiple Reg./SEM
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12. Discussion
1) Curvilinear influence control on infusion
• Optimization of control, not mini- or maximization.
• Differentiations of sweet spot: e.g. work ethic.
2) Empowerment and infusion positively related
• Supportive work environment is important.
• Empowered employees engage in higher system use.
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13. Discussion
3) Control & Empowerment not related directly
• Concepts coexist next to each other: paradox
• Take both in to account when managing ERP.
4) Link between deep use of ERP and success.
• Infusion mediates empowerment and control.
• Study usage as a rich instead of a lean concept.
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14. Implications & Further Research
• Encourage empowerment by giving users means.
(deep, extended user training, key user support)
• Optimize the control of ERP users.
• Make sure the ‘advantages’ of system use outweigh
the ‘disadvantages’.
Further Research:
• Longitudinal designs: Changes over time?
• Add more individual characteristics of users.
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15. IS Infusion: Thank you for
The Role of Control your attention!
and Empowerment
Questions?
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