• Brian Whitworth
• Jerry Fjermestad
• Karen Hare
• Karen Patten
• Bruce Foreman
• Edward Mahinda

Description:

IS researchers may wonder why computing advances often confound expectations. The leisure society, the paperless office, and programmer decline are just a few predictions that didn't happen. As we create e-systems to rival ourselves, and networks to match society, the problem may be a limited view of system performance. The Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) sees performance as functionality plus usability. The Web Of System Performance (WOSP) model extends TAM to include other requirements common in performance research literature. WOSP is a theoretical framework for the balanced design and evaluation of advanced information systems, as now being created on the Internet and elsewhere. It analyses performance via four fundamental system elements: boundary, internal structure, effectors and receptors. Each can be designed for opportunity or risk, giving eight performance goals, whose design tension comprises a "web" of performance. It explains why advances sometimes "bite back", and need creative system requirements integration. The theory applies to hardware, software, cognitive, or social system levels, but as each level is a different "world", it cannot be instantiated across levels.

The WOSP model should interest those designing or evaluating advanced software systems. Examples of the wide applicability of the WOSP model include the following research areas:

• Means of systematically evaluating the performance of information systems
• The incorporation of flexibility in the IT organizations of enterprises
• Enhancing the information technology alignment of the clinical side of healthcare systems
• The consequences of information disclosure and related issues on online customer relationship

Publications in this area include:

Whitworth, B., & Zaic, M. (2003). The WOSP Model: Balanced Information System Design And Evaluation. Communications of the Association for Information Systems, 12, 258-282.

Whitworth, B., Fjermestad, J., Mahinda, E. (2005) The Web of System Performance: A Multi-Goal Model of Information System Performance in Press, Communications of the ACM.

Mahinda, E. & Whitworth, B., 2005, The Web of System Performance: Extending the TAM Model, Americas Conference on Information Systems, August 11-14, Omaha, Nebraska, USA.

Patten, K., Whitworth, B., Fjermestad, J., Mahinda, E., 2005, Leading IT Flexibility: Anticipation, Agility and Adaptability, Americas Conference on Information Systems, August 11-14, Omaha, Nebraska, USA.

Hare, K., Whitworth, B. and Jekelis, A., 2005, How Do We Get The Clinical Side Of Healthcare On Par With The Administrative Side Of Healthcare With Respect To Information Technology Alignment? Richard Tapia Celebration of Diversity in Computing Conference, Oct. 19-22, ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.

Foreman, B. & Whitworth, B., 2005, Information Disclosure and the Online Customer Relationship, Quality, Values and Choice Workshop, Computer Human Interaction 2005, Portland, Oregon.

Mahinda, E. and Whitworth, B. 2004, Evaluating Flexibility and Reliability in Emergency Response Information Systems, International Workshop on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management, Tilburg, The Netherlands (peer review, 6 pages)