Developers, Decision Makers, Strategists or Just End-Users? Redefining End-User Computing for the 21st Century

Abstract

The acceleration of technology in business since the 1980s suggests that traditional management techniques, systems, and strategies employed in a business environment should be challenged. As a consequence of this acceleration, end-user computing (EUC) and end-user development (EUD) have also grown. Definitions of EUC developed in the 1980s continue to be used by contemporary researchers without regard to the changing technological environment, user experience, and user needs. Therefore, the authors challenge traditional definitions of EUC developed and used by researchers to ascertain whether they meet the needs of management for the 21st century. There is a conflict among traditional definitions that has not been addressed since the early 1990s (Downey & Bartczak, 2005). In this regard, the authors proffer that the management strategies for end-user (EU) systems development in the 21st century should suggest a different and proactive role for users. This paper summarises key traditional definitions from the literature and evaluates their consonance with the technology and business system environment. The impetus for researchers to rethink the traditional definition of EUC is provided through a real world management project involving the development of a university staff workload database that investigated the role of end-users in system enhancement and development.