An exploration of information systems adoption: Tools and skills as cultural artefacts - The case of a management information system

Abstract

This paper explains the development of a skills-focused approach which can assist organizations to better anticipate hurdles to successful information systems adoption. This approach is utilized in an interpretive field study in an Australian information technology company. From a perspective that views information systems as tools, the approach is used to analyze the management control skills required to use a specific management information system. A skills match between the set of management control skills assumed by the tool maker and the skills possessed by the tool user shows why a group of users with a high degree of match adopted the tool, while another one with a low degree of match did not. The study demonstrates that the skills-focused approach is a valid and effective way of determining the appropriateness of an information system. © 2007 International Federation for Information Processing.