User expertise in contemporary information systems: Conceptualization, measurement and application

The development of user expertise is a strategic imperative for organizations in hyper-competitive markets. This study conceptualizes, operationalises and validates user expertise in contemporary Information Systems (IS) as a formative, multidimensional index. The study commenced by introducing a framework that positioned its concepts against the wealth of studies in the discipline. It then introduces the importance of ‘technology centric’ approach of expertise, highlighting the differences between Function Information Technology and Enterprise Information Technology, where the focus of this study is on the later domain. The study derives its constructs through an amalgamation of concept in computer self-efficacy and user competence, deriving a formative model that includes four constructs: skill-based, affective, cognitive, and years of experience. In testing the nomological net of expertise, the study employed knowledge sharing, arguing that experts are more likely to share knowledge with their colleagues. Such a validated and widely accepted index would facilitate progression of past research on user competence and efficacy of IS to complex contemporary IS, while at the same time providing a benchmark for organizations to track their user expertise. The study employed data gathered from 220 respondents, representing three organizations. The analysis outlines the importance of more generic motivational aspects captured through the ‘affective’ variable in defining expertise for a contemporary IS, explaining most amount of variance in the latent variable. Cognitive competence and skill-based too were significant contributors and explained adequate amount of variance in the latent construct. Years of experience, a construct considered as important in most domains, was found non-significant.