Blackwell Reference Online

Extract

There is a high failure rate in the design and implementation of information system applications. Failed information system applications result in high costs for organizations and potentially serious consequences for individuals whose lives or properties depend on them. Therefore, both management of organizations and those involved in information system projects should be aware of the factors that are associated with success; they should also understand how to diagnose and learn from failures. Evaluation of information system applications does not usually result in binary judgment of success or failure. They are judged across a continuum that ranges from complete and obvious failure to high success. Applications found at the failure end of the spectrum are judged as failures because they do not meet or exceed some threshold of performance on one or more key dimensions. For example, an application may fail to meet user expectations for streamlining work or the implementation of an application may be plagued by delays. In either case, the application may be redesigned, under‐utilized, or even abandoned. Although there are many reasons for abandoning an application, the clearest measure of failure occurs when the application is discarded with the perception that it was a failure. Perceptions of system stakeholders (users and others who are interested in the success or failure of ... log in or subscribe to read full text