Acceptance of automation manufacturing technology in China: an examination of perceived norm and organizational efficacy

Abstract

With a shift to more automation technology, social acceptance of technology plays an important role in the manufacturing sector. To what extent this occurs, and affects the adoption of technology, has been less researched, but is important in deciding how such technology is introduced, and the nature of the shift from labour-intensive manufacturing to automation. This research applies the revised technology acceptance model (TAM) to examine the impact of social and individual antecedents on the acceptance of automation manufacturing technology. Survey data are collected from 258 Chinese manufacturers. Results suggest that perceived norms significantly affect organizational intention to use automation manufacturing technology both directly and via perceived usefulness; organizational efficacy explains the intention to use via mediating effect of perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use. This research is one of the first extending and applying TAM from individuals to organizations.     

Confirmatory factor analysis and factorial invariance of the impact of information technology instrument

Organizations increasingly evaluate information technology in terms of its impact on the individual and his/her work. Academics have shown increased attention to developing measures of technology success in terms of impact on work. One of these efforts produced an instrument that measures how extensively information technology applications impact task productivity, task innovation, customer satisfaction, and management control. These constructs reflect perceived usefulness of information technology application for work. This paper reports on confirmatory analysis and factorial invariance tests of the impact of information technology instrument. The recommended four-factor instrument contains 12 items, seems to be factorially invariant across two samples from the US and Mexico and across two managerial levels, and has high reliability and validity.     

A Model of the Antecedents of Perceived Ease of Use: Development and Test*

The Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) has been widely used to predict user acceptance and use based on perceived ease of use and usefulness. However, in order to design effective training interventions to improve user acceptance, it is necessary to better understand the antecedents and determinants of key acceptance constructs. In this research, we focus on understanding the determinants of perceived ease of use. Data from three experiments spanning 108 subjects and six different systems supported our hypothesis that an individual's perception of a particular system's ease of use is anchored to her or his general computer self-efficacy at all times, and objective usability has an impact on ease of use perceptions about a specific system only after direct experience with the system. In addition to being an important research issue in user acceptance research, understanding antecedents of perceived ease of use is also important from a practical standpoint since several systems in which millions of dollars are invested are rejected because of poor user interfaces. Moreover, the actual underlying problem might be low computer self-efficacy of the target user group. In such cases, training interventions aimed at improving computer self-efficacy of users may be more effective than improved interface design for increasing user acceptance.     

Job characteristics as predictors of ill-health and sickness absenteeism in different occupational types--a multigroup structural equation modelling approach

The objective of the present study was to test for multigroup invariance in measurement models and structural models between job characteristics, psychosocial intervening variables, health outcomes and sickness absenteeism. Four types of occupation were represented in the study: blue-collar workers ( n = 241), white-collar workers ( n = 209), elderly-care workers ( n = 338) and child-care workers ( n = 336). A first-order, six-factor multigroup confirmatory factor analysis model (i.e. measurement model) composed of two perceived job characteristics ( job autonomy and skill discretion), appraised workload, job satisfaction, stress-related ill-health and sickness absenteeism provided a good model fit. Invariance tests showed that the six-factor model fits well for all occupations. A partially recursive mediated multigroup structural model showed both similarities and differences across occupations as regards the relationships between independent latent variables ( job autonomy, skill discretion), intervening latent variables (appraised workload, job satisfaction) and dependent latent variables (stressrelated ill-health, sickness absenteeism). By comparing a generic model with occupation-specific models across occupations, this study showed that occupation-specific models were more plausible. The results indicate that it is important to examine different occupational contexts in detail to better understand how certain psychosocial factors at work influence strain in different occupations. Since job characteristics can potentially be amended, the findings have important implications for the differentiation of prevention and intervention in different occupations.     

Job characteristics as predictors of ill-health and sickness absenteeism in different occupational types--a multigroup structural equation modelling approach

The objective of the present study was to test for multigroup invariance in measurement models and structural models between job characteristics, psychosocial intervening variables, health outcomes and sickness absenteeism. Four types of occupation were represented in the study: blue-collar workers ( n = 241), white-collar workers ( n = 209), elderly-care workers ( n = 338) and child-care workers ( n = 336). A first-order, six-factor multigroup confirmatory factor analysis model (i.e. measurement model) composed of two perceived job characteristics ( job autonomy and skill discretion), appraised workload, job satisfaction, stress-related ill-health and sickness absenteeism provided a good model fit. Invariance tests showed that the six-factor model fits well for all occupations. A partially recursive mediated multigroup structural model showed both similarities and differences across occupations as regards the relationships between independent latent variables ( job autonomy, skill discretion), intervening latent variables (appraised workload, job satisfaction) and dependent latent variables (stressrelated ill-health, sickness absenteeism). By comparing a generic model with occupation-specific models across occupations, this study showed that occupation-specific models were more plausible. The results indicate that it is important to examine different occupational contexts in detail to better understand how certain psychosocial factors at work influence strain in different occupations. Since job characteristics can potentially be amended, the findings have important implications for the differentiation of prevention and intervention in different occupations.     

The effects of self-efficacy on computer usage

This paper examines the effect of self-efficacy, belief in one's capabilities of using a computer in the accomplishment of specific tasks, on computer usage. It introduces an extended technology acceptance model (TAM) that explicitly incorporates self-efficacy and its determinants (experience and organizational support) as factors affecting computer anxiety, perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness and the use of computer technology. A survey of 450 microcomputer users in Finland found strong support for the conceptual model. In accordance with TAM, perceived usefulness had a strong direct effect on usage, while perceived ease of use had indirect effect on usage through perceived usefulness. Self-efficacy had both direct and indirect effects on usage, demonstrating its importance in the decision to use computer technology. It also had a strong direct effect on perceived ease of use, but only an indirect effect on perceived usefulness through perceived ease of use. Computer experience was found to have a strong positive direct effect on self-efficacy, perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness and usage. Organizational support and computer anxiety had only indirect effects on usage, mainly through perceived usefulness. Implications of these findings are discussed for researchers and practitioners.     

Technology Acceptance Model 3 and a Research Agenda on Interventions

Prior research has provided valuable insights into how and why employees make a decision about the adoption and use of information technologies (ITs) in the workplace. From an organizational point of view, however, the more important issue is how managers make informed decisions about interventions that can lead to greater acceptance and effective utilization of IT. There is limited research in the IT implementation literature that deals with the role of interventions to aid such managerial decision making. Particularly, there is a need to understand how various interventions can influence the known determinants of IT adoption and use. To address this gap in the literature, we draw from the vast body of research on the technology acceptance model (TAM), particularly the work on the determinants of perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use, and: (i) develop a comprehensive nomological network (integrated model) of the determinants of individual level (IT) adoption and use; (ii) empirically test the proposed integrated model; and (iii) present a research agenda focused on potential pre‐ and postimplementation interventions that can enhance employees' adoption and use of IT. Our findings and research agenda have important implications for managerial decision making on IT implementation in organizations.     

PERCEIVED USEFULNESS OF INFORMATION: A PSYCHOMETRIC EXAMINATION*

The perceived usefulness of information is an important construct for the design of management information systems. Yet an examination of existing measures of perceived usefulness shows that the instruments developed have not been validated nor has their reliability been verified. In this paper a new instrument for measuring two dimensions of perceived usefulness is developed. The results of an empirical study designed to test the reliability and construct validity of this instrument in a capital-budgeting setting are presented.     

Reactions of leaders to 360-degree feedback from subordinates and peers

The current study examined factors related to leaders' reactions to 360-degree feedback. The total sample consisted of 220 supervising managers from a large public utility. We collected data in three waves which involved pretest, performance rating, and posttest surveys (49 leaders had valid data from all three waves of measurement). We hypothesized that overall ratings, organizational support, and perceived rater ability would be positively related to four reaction criteria (acceptance and perceived usefulness of subordinate feedback and peer feedback). Results showed that overall ratings were related to acceptance of peer and subordinate feedback, but were less consistently related to perceptions of feedback usefulness. For perceived usefulness of subordinate feedback, organizational support accounted for unique variance beyond overall ratings, and perceived rater ability was marginally significant. None of the predictions for perceived usefulness of peer feedback were significant. The authors discuss limitations, implications, and suggestions for future research.     

Confirmatory Factor Analysis of the End‐User Computing Satisfaction Instrument: Replication within an ERP Domain*

Over the past decade, organizations have made significant investments in enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems. The realization of benefits from these investments depends on supporting effective use of information technology (IT) and satisfying IT users. User satisfaction with information systems is one of the most important determinants of the success of those systems. Drawing upon a sample of 407 end users of ERP systems and working within the framework of confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), this study examines the structure and dimensionality, and reliability and validity of the end‐user computing satisfaction (EUCS) instrument posited by Doll and Torkzadeh (1988) . In response to Klenke's (1992) motion to cross‐validate management information system (MIS) instruments and to retest the end user computing satisfaction instrument using new data, this study's results, consistent with previous findings, confirm that the EUCS instrument maintains its psychometric stability when applied to users of enterprise resource planning application software. Implications of these results for practice and research are provided.     

Continued usage of technology versus situational factors: An empirical analysis

Mainstream technology management literature suggests that research on continued usage of technology is largely based on two perspectives, namely (i) a forward-looking perspective that underpins the technology acceptance model (TAM), and (ii) a retrospective perspective that is based on the expectation disconfirmation theory (EDT). We propose an extended framework to re-examine continued usage of technology by combining these two perspectives and incorporating individual, social and environmental factors as additional variables. Our study, in the context of users’ continued usage of e-learning tools, reveals that in addition to user satisfaction and perceived usefulness, self-efficacy, system service support and social pressure are significant factors that affect continued usage of technology. Our findings enrich the theoretical framework of continued usage of technology, and provide e-learning developers with managerial insights on how to entice learners to continue using their e-learning tools.     

Information Technology Acceptance by Individual Professionals: A Model Comparison Approach*

The proliferation of innovative and exciting information technology applications that target individual “professionals” has made the examination or re‐examination of existing technology acceptance theories and models in a “professional” setting increasingly important. The current research represents a conceptual replication of several previous model comparison studies. The particular models under investigation are the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), and a decomposed TPB model, potentially adequate in the targeted healthcare professional setting. These models are empirically examined and compared, using the responses to a survey on telemedicine technology acceptance collected from more than 400 physicians practicing in public tertiary hospitals in Hong Kong. Results of the study highlight several plausible limitations of TAM and TPB in explaining or predicting technology acceptance by individual professionals. In addition, findings from the study also suggest that instruments that have been developed and repeatedly tested in previous studies involving end users and business managers in ordinary business settings may not be equally valid in a professional setting. Several implications for technology acceptance/adoption research and technology management practices are discussed.     

即时通讯服务使用行为的影响因素实证研究

基于因特网的即时通讯(instant m essage,IM)因其即时、快速、有效的优点,使用者越来越多。随着V oIP技术的发展,其大有取代电子邮件和固定电话之势。基于技术接受模型(TAM),从感知的有用性、感知的易用性、“沉浸”体验、感知的趣味性和隐私5个方面分析我国互联网用户接纳IM应用服务这种行为意向的影响因素,并采用结构方程模型(SEM)实证分析了5个因素对即时通讯使用行为意向的影响,最后提出了对策建议以及进一步研究的方向。     

基于TAM的移动内容服务采纳分析

3G时代,提供能被消费者接受的移动内容服务是移动运营商和内容提供商实现利润的重要前提,其关键是明晰影响用户采纳移动内容服务的主要因素和影响途径。本文以技术接受模型为理论基础,在移动商务的环境下对其进行扩展,建立了整合用户创新性、外部影响和感知财务费用的移动内容服务采纳模型,并在此基础上提出了相应的假设,并通过结构方程模型的方法对假设模型进行了验证。实证研究发现,技术接受模型在移动商务环境下依然有效,而且用户自身的创新性、外部的影响和使用成本也影响消费者的采纳意图。     

感知价值和个人特质对用户移动购物采纳意图的影响研究

从消费者感知价值和自我效能感的角度,以基于价值的采纳模型和技术接受模型为理论基础,通过调研问卷方法研究影响消费者移动购物意图的若干关键因素.结果表明,用户对于移动购物的感知有用性和自我效能感影响了感知价值,并与感知价值一起影响采纳意图.所提出的移动购物采纳模型解释度较高,对用户采纳意图给出了技术特性视角和个人特质视角的比较全面的解释,并结合研究结果对移动购物的发展提出了具体的建议.     

Taxonomic Analysis of Perceived Risk: Modeling Individual and Group Perceptions Within Homogeneous Hazard Domains

Previous studies of risk perception have typically focused on the mean judgments of a group of people regarding the riskiness (or safety) of a diverse set of hazardous activities, substances, and technologies. This paper reports the results of two studies that take a different path. Study 1 investigated whether models within a single technological domain were similar to previous models based on group means and diverse hazards. Study 2 created a group taxonomy of perceived risk for only one technological domain, railroads, and examined whether the structure of that taxonomy corresponded with taxonomies derived from prior studies of diverse hazards. Results from Study 1 indicated that the importance of various risk characteristics in determining perceived risk differed across individuals and across hazards, but not so much as to invalidate the results of earlier studies based on group means and diverse hazards. In Study 2, the detailed analysis of railroad hazards produced a structure that had both important similarities to, and dissimilarities from, the structure obtained in prior research with diverse hazard domains. The data also indicated that railroad hazards are really quite diverse, with some approaching nuclear reactors in their perceived seriousness. These results suggest that information about the diversity of perceptions within a single domain of hazards could provide valuable input to risk-management decisions.     

基于TAM的移动证券消费者信任实证研究

电子商务环境下的消费者信任研究比较多,但是移动商务环境下消费者对交易型服务的信任研究相对较少。基于技术接受模型,以移动证券业务为研究对象,构建移动商务环境下的消费者信任模型,分析感知的易用性、感知的有用性、感知的安全、信息质量、便利性和信任倾向对移动证券信任的影响以及移动证券的信任、感知的易用性和感知的有用性对消费者使用意愿的作用。通过问卷调查,收集224份有效问卷,采用SPSS和PLS-Graph软件进行统计分析。实证结果表明,感知的有用性、感知的安全、信任倾向和信息质量正向影响消费者对移动证券的信任,感知的易用性和便利性对移动证券的信任没有显著影响,信任是消费者对移动证券产生使用动机的关键要素。最后,对移动证券的服务提供商提出对策建议并指出进一步研究的方向。     

Explaining information technology usage: A test of competing models

While much of the prior information technology (IT) research has attempted to explain users’ acceptance of new IT, recent research has focused on IT continuance or continued usage. The technology acceptance model (TAM) and the expectation–disconfirmation theory (EDT) are currently the dominant referent theoretical frameworks explaining user acceptance and continuance of IT, respectively. However, no study to date has yet empirically compared the relative ability of the two competing theories in explaining IT continuance intention. This paper fills this gap in the literature by comparing the explanatory ability of the two models via a longitudinal study of computer-based tutorial usage. Our findings confirm that both models have good explanatory power with the TAM providing a better prediction of intention. An integrated model, combining TAM and EDT, provided a marginally better explanatory power.     

Measurement Equivalence Using Generalizability Theory: An Examination of Manufacturing Flexibility Dimensions

As the field of decision sciences in general and operations management in particular has matured from theory building to theory testing over the past two decades, it has witnessed an explosion in empirical research. Much of this work is anchored in survey‐based methodologies in which data are collected from the field in the form of scale items that are then analyzed to measure latent unobservable constructs. It is important to assess the invariance of scales across groups in order to reach valid, scientifically sound conclusions. Because studies have often been conducted in the field of decision sciences with small sample sizes, it further exacerbates the problem of reaching incorrect conclusions. Generalizability theory can more effectively test for measurement equivalence in the presence of small sample sizes than the confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) tests that have been conventionally used for assessing measurement equivalency across groups. Consequently, we introduce and explain the generalizability theory (G‐theory) in this article to examine measurement equivalence of 24 manufacturing flexibility dimension scales that have been published in prior literature and also compare and contrast G‐theory with CFA. We show that all the manufacturing flexibility scales tested in this study were invariant across the three industry SIC groups from which data were collected. We strongly recommend that G‐theory should always be used for determining measurement equivalence in empirical survey‐based studies. In addition, because using G‐theory alone does not always reveal the complete picture, CFA techniques for establishing measurement equivalence should also be invoked when sample sizes are large enough to do so. Implications of G‐theory for practice and its future use in operations management and decision sciences research are also presented.     

移动商务网站关键成功因素研究

基于DeLone和McLean的信息系统成功模型、TAM(技术采纳模型)及信任理论,分析了移动商务网站关键成功因素(CSF)及其作用机理。模型假设作为关键成功因素的网站质量(包括系统质量、信息质量、服务质量)通过有用性、易用性和信任影响用户满意度。通过对收集的数据采用SEM进行分析,发现系统质量是影响网站易用性的主要因素,而信息质量是影响网站有用性的主要因素,服务质量显著影响用户信任和网站易用性,但对网站有用性没有显著作用。网站有用性、易用性、用户信任三者共同决定满意度。