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Dissertation Information for Cynthia Mathis Beath

NAME:
- Cynthia Mathis Beath

DEGREE:
- Ph.D.

DISCIPLINE:
- Management

SCHOOL:
- University of California, Los Angeles (USA) (1986)

ADVISORS:
- None

COMMITTEE MEMBERS:
- None

MPACT Status: Incomplete - Not_Inspected

Title: MANAGING THE USER RELATIONSHIP IN MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEMS PROJECTS: A TRANSACTION GOVERNANCE APPROACH

Abstract: This dissertation is part of a larger search for a basis on which to understand the determinants of success in managing Management Information Systems (MIS) system development projects. In the context of that larger search, this work focuses on the relationship between a systems development team and the new system's user. The importance of this relationship is almost axiomatic in the MIS literature. The current work examines a new paradigm, based on the Transaction Cost approach (Williamson, 1975; Ouchi, 1980), for understanding this relationship. This new view can be summarized as follows: (1) The project is seen as an exchange (transaction) between the user and the development team. (2) Exchanges vary in certain important ways, due to two human characteristics, bounded rationality (small minds) and a tendency to behave opportunistically (hard hearts). (3) There is a variety of mechanisms for governing exchanges, and these economize on governance costs in different ways.

The basic hypothesis which derives from this new paradigm is that there is an interaction effect between characteristics of an exchange and the governance mechanism used to manage it. To explore this hypothesis a field study was conducted combining quantitative and qualitative investigation of 15 recently completed system development projects. Results of the quantitative analysis are suggestive but inconclusive; case studies of four exemplar projects support the interaction hypothesis. In addition, the case studies lead to an elaborated model of the relationship between project characteristics, governance, and outcomes.

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