Effects of General and ERP Self-Efficacy Beliefs on the Acceptance of ERP Systems

Abstract

The impact of computer self-efficacy (CSE) on acceptance and utilisation of enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems is widely recognised in the literature. However, past ERP adoption research has mostly used CSE as a universal and general computer cognitive variable across the computing domain. While CSE is a multifaceted concept which can be conceptualised and assessed at the general computer or application-specific level, past studies did not differentiate between the general and application self-efficacy belief in examining the acceptance of ERP systems. This study aims to address this issue and make a clear distinction between general computer and application (ERP) self-efficacy beliefs and examines the effects of both types of efficacy beliefs on known determinants of acceptance and use of ERP systems. The results provide strong support for the effects of self-efficacy beliefs at the ERP level. The results show that the effects of CSE beliefs at the ERP level are stronger than those of general CSE beliefs on ERP acceptance behaviour.