Decision Sciences Journal
Volume 27, Number 4
Fall 1996
Involving Information System Users in Defining System
Requirements: The Influence of Procedural Justice Perceptions on
User Attitudes and Performance
James E. Hunton
School of Accountancy, College of Business Administration,
University of South Florida, 4202 East Fowler Avenue, BSN 3403,
Tampa, FL 33620-5500
ABSTRACT
This study incorporates the theoretical framework of procedural
justice into the information system (IS) user participation
research paradigm. In a field setting, 726 subjects representing 59
local newspaper sites took part in a fully randomized, longitudinal
experiment. Four increasing levels of participation concerning
specifying system requirements were manipulated: mute, voice,
choice, and voice plus choice. As the participation level
increased, procedural justice judgments increased correspondingly.
Perceptions of control over the development process, satisfaction
with the outcome, and objective measures of performance increased
from the mute to voice conditions, were unchanged from the voice to
choice conditions, and increased again as participation was
manipulated at the highest levelþvoice plus choice. The rich
contextual field setting in which this experiment was conducted,
combined with strong attitudinal and performance results, encourage
researchers to integrate the psychology of procedural justice into
the study of IS user participation.
Subject Areas: Managerial Problem-Solving Processes and
Organizational Behavior.
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