A Grounded Approach to Understanding Information Systems User Competency
COM1 Level 2
SR2, COM1-02-04
ABSTRACT:
Users differ in their abilities to use IS effectively, with some demonstrating IS user competency or the ability to achieve the most beneficial outcomes from IS. This research advances the conceptualization of IS user competency by studying individuals who have achieved IS user competency versus those who have not. Using the Repertory Grid technique for data collection and qualitative analysis of the data collected, various components of IS user competency emerged that we conceptualized as Enacted IS User Competence, Embedded IS User Competence, and Environmentally-Constructed IS User Competence. This research reveals a set of IS user competency components that are idiomatic to highly competent IS users and their ability to thrive as users of IS. It also proposes a conceptualization of IS user competency that can be utilized and applied both in practice and future research.
BIODATA:
Fiona Fui-Hoon Nah is a Professor of Business & Information Technology at the Missouri University of Science and Technology (formerly known as the University of Missouri-Rolla). Her research interests include human-computer interaction, virtual communities and virtual worlds, electronic commerce, cybersecurity, and neuro-IS. Her publications have appeared in journals such as MIS Quarterly, Journal of the Association for Information Systems, and International Journal of Human-Computer Studies. She is a co-Founder and former Chair of the Association for Information Systems Special Interest Group on Human-Computer Interaction (SIGHCI). She received her Ph.D. from University of British Columbia.