Communication competence factors as moderators to the relationship between user participation and information quality

participation in predicting the success of the outcome
(Edström [10]; Guimaraes, Staples, and McKeen [15];
McKeen, Guimaraes, & Wetherbe [29]; Robey and
Farrow [33]. Edström [10] found that ineffective
communication had a negative effect on system success.
McKeen, Guimaraes, and Wetherbe [29] found that user-
developer communication has a direct positive impact on
user satisfaction. Nonetheless, past research integrating
participation and communication has left room for future
research. McKeen, Guimaraes, and Wetherbe [29] urged
future researchers to further investigation of the
interactions between communication constructs and user
participation.

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COMMUNICATION COMPETENCE FACTORS AS MODERATORS TO THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN USER
PARTICIPATION AND INFORMATION QUALITY
Journal of Information Technology Management Volume XX, Number 4, 2009
3
Impacts of Communication Factors in User
Participation Context
Information sharing has been considered as an
important component of participation. As Latham,
Winters, and Locke [21] stated, “If subordinates have
task-relevant knowledge and are allowed to share and
implement it, the resulting decisions should have a
positive effect on performance. [italics added]” Because
information sharing is an indispensable process during
user participation, it is important to study the factors
influencing the sharing of user’s information.
It has also been recognized that effective
communications between users and system developers
plays a vital role in information sharing during
participation (Cavaye [3]; Edström [10]; Gallivan and
Keil [13]; Guimaraes, Staples, and McKeen [15];
McKeen, Guimaraes, & Wetherbe [29]; Mumford and
Henshall [31]; and Robey and Farrow [33]. Davis [4] also
stated that communications between users and system
analysts and user’s unwillingness to provide requirements
are some of the important obstacles in requirements
determination.
Although a few studies tested the effects of user-
developer communications (both as moderator and as
independent variable) on system success, results were
mixed. For example, McKeen et al. [29] found that user-
developer communication was both a significant
moderator to the relationship between user participation
and user satisfaction and a significant predictor of user
satisfaction. However, Guimaraes et al. [15] did not find a
significant 
relationship 
between 
user-developer
communication and system quality. A limitation of the
user-developer communication construct was the fact that
it had been measured by a set of questionnaire items
pertinent to system developers’ communication only.
Communication from the users’ perspective has been
absent from prior research. Moreover, past research that
studied the effects of communications in the user