Impact of user's internal flexibility and participation on usage and information systems flexibility

Information systems (IS) need to be flexible enough to satisfy the users' requirements especially in turbulent environments. The main purpose of this study is to empirically examine the impact of user's internal flexibility and participation on usage and information systems flexibility. A research model has been evolved based on a review of the literature. Research hypotheses were derived to examine the various components of the model. In order to empirically test the model and hypotheses a questionnaire survey was administered to obtain responses from users of various levels. The survey data was collected from 296 users from 42 organizations spanning 8 industries and a statistical analysis was carried out. The major findings of the study are: (i) a user's internal flexibility enables the user to effectively participate in IS planning and increases IS flexibility, (ii) user participation improves usage and IS flexibility, (iii) a user's internal flexibility increases usage flexibility and (iv) usage flexibility increases IS flexibility. Based on the empirical findings, the implications for theory and practice are given along with future areas of research. © Global Institute of Flexible Systems Management 2013.