The assessment of information systems success from the organizational context perspective

The question of why particular information system encountered unanticipated resistance and never met expectation is often justified by the statement that this information systems did not fit the organizational culture. This paper introduces and validates a four-stage socio-technical model coined as System Behavioral Success Model (SBS), which explains how the behavioral context of an IT organization led by their IT executives would lead to the success of the IS function. This was conducted by exploring the four dimensions: stretch, trust, support and discipline, as the shapers of the behavioral context of the organization, and relates them to the IS success as represented by system performance, information effectiveness and service performance. Data were collected from 316 MSC status companies. The results show good support for the model. Except trust, behavioral context dimensions are proved to be a major factor for the success of information systems in the organization, especially when the organization acts ambidextrously within the information systems context.