Empirical investigation of the impact of open source information technology software quality characteristics on business value of an adopting organization: a case study of openERP in AUN.

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to investigate the impact of information technology software quality characteristics on the business value of an adopting organization. This phenomenon was explored empirically by examining three research questions; 1.) What is the impact of system quality of open source ERP on business value of an adopting organization? 2.) What is the impact of information quality of open source ERP on business value of an adopting organization? 3.) What is the impact of service quality of open source ERP on business value of an adopting organization? Adoption of open source ERP has been on the increase. The research problem thus arises as scanty empirical works exist to explain how its software quality characteristics impact on business value. To answer these research questions, the quantitative research method, employing the survey strategy, supported by positivists was adopted. The research explored the OpenERP system used by American University of Nigeria, been the case study. The research was targeted at identifying the significant relationship between system quality, information quality and service quality on business value (directly) and when moderated by extended use. Single source of quantitative data (questionnaire survey) was used to collect data. The research model used for the data analysis was developed from a conceptual framework synthesized from relevant literatures, by Delone & Mclean. The findings debunked hypothesis one, while that of two and three were validated, thereby giving rise to empirical (academic) contributions, and practical contributions. The practical relevance is based on helping management prioritize on the three quality characteristics, vis-à-vis business value. This work therefore provides empirical evaluation of the impact of software quality characteristics of open source information technology on business value.