Implementing decision support systems: Correlates of user satisfaction and system usage

This paper reports the results of a field study of 32 decision support systems (DSS) in 9 organizations that was conducted to examine the effects of certain factors which influence DSS implementation success. Based on a framework of decision support system implementation, variables related to the characteristics of the decision support system, the users, the decision environment, and the implementation process were measured to identify the critical factors affecting DSS use and user satisfaction with the DSS. Three factors-system flexibility, user participation in implementation, and user willingness to change-were found to exert the strongest influence on both user satisfaction and system use.