Understanding the Factors That Influence Information System Effectiveness in Higher Education

Abstract

ABSTRACT Facing a more competitive environment, institutions in the higher education sector increasingly deploy enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems to facilitate better decision making. Of more recent origin, business analytics approaches are supplementing this technology. However, based on anecdotal accounts, many of these organizations have not reaped the advantages that were sought from these advances. The current research explores this conundrum by proposing and testing a model of perceived ERP effectiveness. Using data collected in a survey of colleges in the U.S., the results show that although distinctions between information quality and systems quality tend not to be made, overall perceived input quality is associated with ERP effectiveness. ERP effectiveness is only indirectly affected by general information technology competence. Here, perceived organizational support exists as an important mediating construct, but business analytics are not perceived to play a consequential role. JEL Classifications: C3; L3; I22. Data Availability: Survey data available upon request.