Colin Furness
PhD Candidate
FIS

KMDI Fellow: 2006-2007

PhD Thesis: A case study investigating the relationship between the normative influences of workplace groups on the individual, and patterns of use (and non-use) of a collaborative information system

Supervisor: Dr. Chun Wei Choo (FIS, KMDI)

Profile
[KMDiary 2007 Volume 8 Issue #2]

KMDI Graduate Fellow Colin Furness is a Ph.D. candidate in the Faculty of Information Studies (1). His dissertation is a case study investigating the relationship between the normative influences of workplace groups on the individual, and patterns of use (and non-use) of a collaborative information system. This topic emerged from Colin’s own observations in industry that large information systems intended to foster collaborative knowledge work are often built at great expense and subsequently underused.

A number of theories, models and dimensions have been proposed to explain patterns of adoption and rejection of information systems. One prominent model is Fred Davis’ Technology Acceptance Model (TAM). It distills the myriad possible causes of instances of failure to adopt technology into a simple questionnaire comprising two dimensions: individuals’ perceptions of usefulness and their perceptions of ease of use. The TAM provides a measure of ‘intention to use’ a given technology, and it has shown excellent predictive power for actual use of technology in many contexts. In the setting of an organization however, it has often been observed that users’ measured intention to use information systems in an organization often does not consistently predict actual use very well. In such cases, something would appear to be intervening between intention and subsequent behaviour.

Colin proposes that a plausible candidate to explain this discrepancy between intention and subsequent behaviour is the normative influence of the group on the behaviour of the individual. (Indeed, the parent theory from which the TAM is derived, Ajzen’s Theory of Planned Behaviour, does include the dimension of ‘social influence’ but it was discarded by Davis.) In particular, it may be that the behaviour of individuals in using collaborative information systems is significantly influenced by group behavioural norms regarding practices and processes around the creation, use and sharing of information. These can be called information behavioural norms.

Colin has found a dearth of research measuring the group influence of information behavioural norms in the effective use of collaborative information systems. This may be due in part to methodological and epistemological challenges in conducting this research, including developing operational definitions for the difficult constructs of ‘information behavioural norms’ and ‘effective use’ of information systems, as well as locating a suitable research setting. Colin conceptualizes information behavioural norms using four dimensions drawn from Marchand’s theory of Information Orientation: information sharing, information transparency, information integrity, and the proactive use of information. ‘Effective use’ is operationalized as an amalgam of actual use statistics, subjective ratings of usefulness and organizational impact, and qualitative interviews to deepen understanding of what effective use connotes at the firm being studied.

Colin’s research approach is a mixed-methods, case study of an installation of a collaborative information system at Atlantis Systems International, a medium-sized engineering firm based in Brampton, Ontario. A naturalistic approach is required for this research, because the independent variable is the behavioural norms of groups of workers. Such norms will tend to develop over time among a stable group of individuals who work together closely in a real-world setting, but will not exist among a group of strangers in the laboratory. The information system in question is Knowledge Forum™ (2), a networked database for idea and knowledge building and learning. KF was created at the Department of Curriculum, Teaching and Learning, OISE/UT (3), a member unit of the KMDI family. KF includes its Analytic Toolkit, which allows for sophisticated system usage measurement, such as discriminating the behaviours of reading vs. posting.

Colin is hopeful that his research will be useful beyond addressing the relationship between behavioural norms and information systems use, in four ways. First, a focus on ‘effective use’ in lieu of simpler, traditional measures such as ‘actual use’ may help frame future research to be more oriented toward improving industry practices. Second, he wonders if group norms will be able to be gauged as effectively as individual perceptions (embodied in the TAM), to allow for easier assessment of what practices, policies and behaviours may facilitate or impede information systems adoption. Third, he believes that his research could help clarify the oft-invoked but seldom defined construct of ‘information culture’ in an organization. Finally, Colin maintains that while there is broad recognition of the central role of the user as the object of design in the academy, such enlightenment seems less common in industry. Because this research will have implications for business use of collaborative systems, his findings may help narrow the gulf between ivory tower and office cubicle.

In addition to Colin’s dissertation research, he has been a Teaching Assistant in several KMD Collaborative Program, FIS, and UofT courses since 2002, including Fundamental Concepts in Knowledge Media Design (now KMD: Fundamental Concepts), Introduction to Technology Applications, Research Frontiers in Knowledge Media Design (now KMD: Contexts and Practices), Human-centred Design, Introduction to Information Systems, Core Seminar in Knowledge Media Design. Colin has also been an Information and Knowledge Management Consultant since 2001 in New York and Toronto, with a focus on evaluation and design improvement of knowledge-oriented information systems. His recent clients include: Visa Canada, Borden Ladner Gervais, and PricewaterhouseCoopers.

(1) http://www.fis.utoronto.ca; www.fis.utoronto.ca/phd/furness
(2) http://www.ikit.org/
(3) http://www.oise.utoronto.ca/