Why are they grumbling about my new system? Theoretical foundation and empirical evidence of employee grumbling as a user resistance behavior

This research theorizes employee grumbling as a user resistance phenomenon observed during early information system (IS) implementation phases. When the usage of new IS is mandatory, user resistance cannot be observed when focusing technology usage, instead, employees protest against the IS implementation, or spoke rather negatively of it. This form of user resistance behavior is conceptualized by the newly proposed variable employee grumbling, which provides a different perspective on user resistance that can be used especially in early implementation phases to observe resistance behaviors. Perceived ease of use and usefulness, affective and cognitive resistance to change, and individual differences and basic tendencies are analyzed as antecedents based on study with 106 employees during an IS implementation. The results of the analysis reveal that especially affective resistance to change determine employee grumbling, and technology perceptions are less important in early implementation.