| Summary: | The widespread distribution of personal computers (PCs) throughout organizations has made a substantial impact on information systems. Additionally, the tremendous growth of the Internet has changed the way business is carried out. As the user population evolves into a much more technical and demanding group, their needs are also changing. With this change, Management Information Systems (MIS) departments must develop new ways of providing service and support to the user community.
This study investigates the relationship between information systems support structures, support services, service quality and the characteristics of a diverse user population. This includes investigating technical support issues influencing user satisfaction. This study attempts to improve the understanding of the support function within MIS. The results of this study clarify the support needs of the users and identify user satisfaction factors, as well as factors relative to the quality of the support received.
Six streams of prior research were reviewed when developing the research framework. These include: user support, end users and end-user computing, identifying and classifying user types, information centers, user satisfaction, service quality and other sources of computer support.
A survey instrument was designed using the (UIS) user satisfaction instrument developed by Doll and Torkzadeh (1988) and the SERVQUAL instrument as modified by Kettinger and Lee (1994). The survey was distributed to 720 individuals. A total of 155 usable responses were analyzed providing mixed results. Of the ten hypotheses, only four were rejected. The finding of this study differ from those in earlier studies. The variables that were found to be significant to the users for service quality are the method of support that is provided to the user, i.e., help desk or local MIS support and the support technician's experience level.
For user satisfaction the location of the service personnel made a difference to the end user. As with service quality, the support technician's experience level added to the users' satisfaction with MIS support. The results of this study are pertinent to managers of MIS departments as it clarifies the support needs of the users and identifies issues of user satisfaction and service quality.
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