Discriminant validity assessment has become a generally accepted prerequisite for analyzing relationships between latent variables. For variance-based structural equation modeling, such as partial least squares, the Fornell-Larcker criterion and the examination of cross-loadings are the dominant approaches for evaluating discriminant validity. By means of a simulation study, we show that these approaches do not reliably detect the lack of discriminant validity in common research situations. We therefore propose an alternative approach, based on the multitrait-multimethod matrix, to assess discriminant validity: the heterotrait-monotrait ratio of correlations. We demonstrate its superior performance by means of a Monte Carlo simulation study, in which we compare the new approach to the Fornell-Larcker criterion and the assessment of (partial) cross-loadings. Finally, we provide guidelines on how to handle discriminant validity issues in variance-based structural equation modeling.

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A new criterion for assessing discriminant validity in variance-based structural equation modeling

Ten years ago, we presented the DeLone and McLean Information Systems (IS) Success Model as a framework and model for measuring the complex-dependent variable in IS research. In this paper, we discuss many of the important IS success research contributions of the last decade, focusing especially on research efforts that apply, validate, challenge, and propose enhancements to our original model. Based on our evaluation of those contributions, we propose minor refinements to the model and propose an updated DeLone and McLean IS Success Model. We discuss the utility of the updated model for measuring e-commerce system success. Finally, we make a series of recommendations regarding current and future measurement of IS success.

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The DeLone and McLean Model of Information Systems Success: A Ten-Year Update

How has Japan become a major economic power, a world leader in the automotive and electronics industries? What is the secret of their success? The consensus has been that, though the Japanese are not particularly innovative, they are exceptionally skilful at imitation, at improving products that already exist. But now two leading Japanese business experts, Ikujiro Nonaka and Hiro Takeuchi, turn this conventional wisdom on its head: Japanese firms are successful, they contend, precisely because they are innovative, because they create new knowledge and use it to produce successful products and technologies. Examining case studies drawn from such firms as Honda, Canon, Matsushita, NEC, 3M, GE, and the U.S. Marines, this book reveals how Japanese companies translate tacit to explicit knowledge and use it to produce new processes, products, and services.

The knowledge-creating company : how Japanese companies create the dynamics of innovation

A separate and distinct interaction with both the actual e-vendor and with its IT Web site interface is at the heart of online shopping Previous research has established, accordingly, that online purchase intentions are the product of both consumer assessments of the IT itself-specifically its perceived usefulness and ease-of-use (TAM)-and trust in the e-vendor But these perspectives have been examined independently by IS researchers Integrating these two perspectives and examining the factors that build online trust in an environment that lacks the typical human interaction that often leads to trust in other circumstances advances our understanding of these constructs and their linkages to behavior

Our research on experienced repeat online shoppers shows that consumer trust is as important to online commerce as the widely accepted TAM use-antecedents, perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use Together these variable sets explain a considerable proportion of variance in intended behavior The study also provides evidence that online trust is built through (1) a belief that the vendor has nothing to gain by cheating, (2) a belief that there are safety mechanisms built into the Web site, and (3) by having a typical interface, (4) one that is, moreover, easy to use

Trust and TAM in online shopping: an integrated model

Much previous research has established that perceived ease of use is an important factor influencing user acceptance and usage behavior of information technologies. However, very little research has been conducted to understand how that perception forms and changes over time. The current work presents and tests an anchoring and adjustment-based theoretical model of the determinants of system-specific perceived ease of use. The model proposes control (internal and external--conceptualized as computer self-efficacy and facilitating conditions, respectively), intrinsic motivation (conceptualized as computer playfulness), and emotion (conceptualized as computer anxiety) as anchors that determine early perceptions about the ease of use of a new system. With increasing experience, it is expected that system-specific perceived ease of use, while still anchored to the general beliefs regarding computers and computer use, will adjust to reflect objective usability, perceptions of external control specific to the new system environment, and system-specific perceived enjoyment. The proposed model was tested in three different organizations among 246 employees using three measurements taken over a three-month period. The proposed model was strongly supported at all points of measurement, and explained up to 60% of the variance in system-specific perceived ease of use, which is twice as much as our current understanding. Important theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.

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Determinants of Perceived Ease of Use: Integrating Control, Intrinsic Motivation, and Emotion into the Technology Acceptance Model

A hallmark of the new economy is the ability of organizations to realize economic value from their collection of knowledge assets as well as their assets of information, production distribution, and affiliation. Despite the competitive necessity of becoming a knowledge-based organization, senior managers have found it difficult to transform their firms through programs of knowledge management. This is particularly true if their organizations have long histories of process and a tradition of business success. This research examines the issue of effective knowledge management from the perspective of organizational capabilities. This perspective suggests that a knowledge infrastructure consisting of technology, structure, and culture along with a knowledge process architecture of acquisition, conversion, application, and protection are essential organizational capabilities or preconditions for effective knowledge management. Through analysis of surveys collected from over 300 senior executives, this research empirically models and uncovers key aspects of these dimensions. The results provide a basis for understanding the competitive predisposition of a firm as it enters a program of knowledge management.

Knowledge Management: An Organizational Capabilities Perspective

Recently, Adams, et al. (1992) presented the results of two studies designed to replicate previous work by Fred Davis (1989) regarding perceived usefulness, ease of use, and their influence on the usage of information technology. Specifically, these authors sought to: (1) evaluate the psychometric properties of the ease of use and usefulness scales, and (2) empirically examine the relationship between the constructs (or traits) of usefulness, ease of use, and reported levels of usage.

Re-examining perceived ease of use and usefulness

The development and psychometric evaluation of scales which measure unobservable (latent) phenomena continues to be an issue of high interest among researchers within the information systems community. Accurate measurement of structurally complex constructs provides a potentially powerful means for empirically exploring relationships between information technology and individual, organizational, and industrial phenomena. In exploratory contexts, measurement properties of psychometric scales are evaluated using traditional techniques such as item-to-total correlations, reliability analysis, and exploratory factor analysis. In instances of strong theoretical rationale, contemporary techniques, such as confirmatory factor analysis, are utilized as a means of assessing model efficacy. An essential, but often overlooked, property of measurement which is assumed in both exploratory and confirmatory statistical techniques is unidimensionality. Scales which are unidimensional measure a single trait. This property is a basic assumption of measurement theory and is absolutely essential for unconfounded assessment of variable interrelationships in path modeling. In this paper, a paradigm for developing unidimensional scales is presented and illustrated. Built on similar frameworks within the disciplines of psychology, education and marketing research, this paradigm is offered as a means of formally defining unidimensionality, distinguishing the concept from traditional reliability-based metrics, and describing a structured technique for empirically testing its existence.

Assessing the unidimensionality of measurement : a paradigm and illustration within the context of information systems research

Strategic information systems planning success: an investigation of the construct and its measurement

The arrival of the ?information age? holds great promise in terms of providing organizations with access to a wealth of information stores. However, the free exchange of electronic information also brings the threat of providing easy, and many times unwanted, access to personal information. Given the potential backlash of consumers, it is imperative that both researchers and practitioners understand the nature of consumers' concern for information privacy and accurately model the construct within evolving research and business contexts. Drawing upon a sample of 355 consumers and working within the framework of confirmatory factor analysis, this study examines the factor structure of the concern for information privacy (CFIP) instrument posited by Smith et al. (1996). Consistent with prior findings, the results suggest that each dimension of this instrument is reliable and distinct. However, the results also suggest that CFIP may be more parsimoniously represented as a higher-order factor structure rather than a correlated set of first-order factors. The implication of these results is that each dimension of CFIP as well as the supra dimension derived from the associations among dimensions are important in capturing CFIP and associating the construct to other important antecedents and consequences.

Albert H. Segars

Papers

Knowledge Management: An Organizational Capabilities Perspective

Re-examining perceived ease of use and usefulness

Assessing the unidimensionality of measurement : a paradigm and illustration within the context of information systems research

Strategic information systems planning success: an investigation of the construct and its measurement

An Empirical Examination of the Concern for Information Privacy Instrument