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

particular individual in a specific context” [36].
The moderators proposed in the research model
(shown in Figure 1) are derived from this formulation of
communication competence by Spitzberg and Cupach
[37, 38] as their formulation taps into an important
ingredient of competence -- motivation. The following
section discusses the literature related to each element and
how it is related to the participation concept.
Cognitive Knowledge:
This element is described in
communication literature as representing the knowledge
one has available to communicate with others. It has been
observed in past research using participative decision-
making theories that the sharing of an individual’s
expertise with others who lack such knowledge can
produce a positive impact on the quality of outcome. For
example, Scully, Kirkpatrick, and Locke [35] found
support for their hypothesis that participation could
produce positive outcomes when subordinates possessed
useful information to bring to the decision-making
situation. In the user participation arena, studies have
been conducted investigating the effects of user’s

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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
4
knowledge on system success. For example, Saleem [34]
found that “users who perceive themselves as functional
experts are unlikely to accept a system unless they exerted
a substantive influence on its design.” Kawalek and
Wood-Harper [19] reported that users served as the source
of intelligence for the system development process.
Another study by Guimaraes et al. [15] found that user’s
expertise in using a system, measured by user
experiences, could impact the system quality in a
favorable way. Such experiences can be deemed a
surrogate for user’s tacit knowledge, as the tacit
knowledge is formed by experiences. However, only the
user’s experiences in using the system were measured,
while the user’s experiences in their tasks or jobs were
omitted.