The Role of Security Clearance, Users' Involvement, and Computer Self-Efficacy in the Efficiency of Requirements-Gathering Process: An Information-Systems Case Study in the U.S. Military

• Main Author: Igbonagwam, Okey Azu
• Format: Others
• Published: NSUWorks 2008
• Subjects: IS development phase; Requirements; Requirements Gathering; Security; Security Clearance; User Involvement; Computer Sciences
• Online Access: http://nsuworks.nova.edu/gscis_etd/184; http://nsuworks.nova.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1183&context=gscis_etd

The central research problem of this study was the challenges that occur with the United States Joint Warfighters Center's (JWFC) implementation of information systems (IS) requirements-gathering process. Thus, this study investigated the contribution of perceived security clearance (PSC), developer perceived user involvement (DPUI), and computer self-efficacy (CSE) to efficiency of the perceived requirements-gathering process (PERGP). Due to the perceived efficiency of IS development, the U.S. Department of Defense statutory document called the Joint Capability Integration and Development System (JCIDS), mandated that as an IS development requirement, the rapid development of IS was needed to sustain U.S. warfighters. As a result, the central aim of this study was to look at several variables that may predict the efficiency to the IS requirements-gathering process at JWFC. The central research question behind this study was: What are the contributions of PSC, DPUI, and CSE to the PERGP at the JWFC? This study proposed a theoretical model, and two statistical methods were used to formulate models and test predictive power: Multiple Linear Regression (MLR) and Ordinal Logistic Regression (OLR). The sample size of this study included 61 IS developers from JWFC. The results of this study indicated a strong reliability for the measures of all variables (PSC, DPUI, CSE, and PERGP). Moreover, results of both models developed indicated that DPUI is a significant contributor to PEGRP, while CSE was demonstrated to be significant contributor to PEGRP only via the OLR model providing the indication that the relationships among the measured variables was non-linear. Additionally, results demonstrated that DPUI was the most significant contributor to PEGRP in both models, while PSC had little or no contribution to the dependent variable, PEGRP. This study also identified two key implications for practice and research. The first impaction of this study is the investigation of unique factors such as PSC and PEGRP in the context of military-based IS development within DOD organizations. Results of this study can help managers in government organizations that are faced with security clearance issues to identify contributors in the early phase of IS development that could possibly hinder PEGRP. The second implication of this study is the non-significant results related to PSC in this investigation. For researchers, such results may need future validation in other governmental and military-based organization. Moreover, such results may indicate to managers in government organizations that are faced with security clearance issues that security clearance, at least as indicated by the results of this study, has no major hindering on the PEGRP. These results maybe profound in their implications and, as such, needed additional validations.