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

LITERATURE REVIEW
The relationship between user participation and
system success has long been studied in the MIS field.
Although user participation has been found to have a
positive impact on system success (e.g., DeBrabander and
Thiers [5]; Franz and Robey [12]; Guimaraes and Igbaria
[17]; Kappelman and McLean [18], some empirical
evidence has shown the opposite (e.g., King and Lee [20];
Robey and Farrow [33]; Tait and Vessey [39]). Some
research has found that user participation has both
negative and positive impacts on system success. For
example, Lawrence, Goodwin and Fildes [22] laboratory
study and found that user participation had a positive
effect on satisfaction but a negative effect on accuracy of
the output.
A way to solve the problem of conflicting results
in the user-participation arena is to take into account
possible contingencies. Contingency variables affecting
the relationship between user participation and system
success are of two types: personal and situational
contingencies. Prior research has delved into the effect of
user’s psychological factors and capabilities. For
example, Kappelman and McLean [18] found an
interaction effect between user participation and user
involvement. Saleem [34]found that users’ system-related
functional expertise moderates the relationship between
user participation and system acceptance. Tait and
Vessey[39], studying situational contingencies, found
significant moderator effects of system complexity and
resource constraint on the relationship. McKeen and
Guimaraes [28] found that task complexity and system
complexity moderate the relationship between user
participation and user satisfaction. Moreover, Lin and
Shao [23] found that the relationship was contingent upon
system impact, system complexity, and development
methodology.
In spite of extensive research to determine when
and how participation increased satisfaction, very little of
this research emphasized the communication component
of participation. Many researchers agreed that effective
communication played an important role during user