Assessment of End-User Computing from an Organizational Perspective

While the end-user computing (EUC) phenomenon has been investigated by several researchers, few efforts have been made up to now to rigorously define the dependent construct that should be used in this research, namely EUC success. This paper presents the results of an empirical study designed to determine the actual importance, from an organizational perspective, of 30 EUC success criteria identified in the literature. An attempt was also made to verify whether this importance changes as end-user computing evolves in organizations. Results indicate the presence of five components underlying the success criteria. In order of decreasing importance for organizations, EUC success criteria pertain to organizational effectiveness, user appreciation, quality, efficiency and adequacy of EUC applications. This order remains the same whatever the level of EUC growth attained. However, the emphasis placed on effectiveness, quality and efficiency increases as end-user computing matures within organizations.