Two conflict potentials during IS development

Within the context of human functioning, this study proposes two conflict potentials that possibly occur during IS development — users’ substantive dissension and emotional hostility. Results show that negative outcomes from the process are not due to the conflict between users and developers, but rather are linked to the two potentials. That is, the construct for conflict potential is distinct from the construct for conflict itself. Our results also indicate that the negative effects of user substantive dissension may be ameliorated by user participation. We qualify the results by pointing out that societal and environmental differences between the Taiwanese sample population and analogous populations from countries with more developed information industries may affect some key factors.