Journal of Management Information Systems

Volume 4 Number 3 1987 pp. 28-49

Strategies for End-User Computing: An Integrative Framework

Alavi, Maryam, Nelson, R Ryan, and Weiss, Ira R

ABSTRACT: This paper develops a framework consisting of five core strategies or organizational postures vis-a-vis end-user computing (EUC). Following a description of each of the strategies, the authors employed a two-step process to represent (1) how to effectively implement a particular EUC strategy, and (2) when to adopt a particular EUC strategy. The first step, based on some field observations, resulted in a descriptive profiling of the EUC strategies via the management attributes of policy setting and planning, support, and control. The second step produced a prescriptive timing with respect to the phases of EUC strategy evolution. The integrative framework that resulted from this two-step process was based on the premise that EUC technology adoption follows a learning curve phenomenon. In essence, such a framework should serve as a tool, useful to the practitioner in coping with the dynamic environment surrounding the management of end-user computing.

Key words and phrases: human information processing, strategy formulation, technology assimilation