Computing and Information Systems, 7 (2000) p. 58-64
© 2000 University of Paisley
Attitude as a Factor for the Use of Information and
Communication Technology for Global Planning
Abel Usoro
politicians and businessmen. Before elections, keen
interest is shown in opinion pools and businessmen
spend large sums of money to gauge how consumers
respond to new products, and for existing products,
much money is spent on advertising to change
consumers’ attitude to favour the products. In the
individual and organizational context, attitude is
increasingly becoming popular as an effective tool for
carrying out and understanding change (cf Dalton and
Blau, 1996; Tesser et al, 1998). In information
systems, literature reveals interest in attitude generally
and specifically to certain technologies such as
automatic teller machines (cf Dixon, 1999; Czaja et al,
1998; Nash and Moroz, 1997; Hone et al, 1998; Bown
et al, 1998; Hillan et al, 1998; Shahaani, 1997).
Interest in the concept of attitude was initiated by
Hovland, Janis and Kelly’s publication of
Communications and Persuasion in 1953 (Insko,
1967). Since then, there has been considerable
research and theorizing on attitude from diverse
perspectives.
Some theories have overlapped
themselves while others are conflicting at least in their
implications. There is no wonder that there is yet no
general theory of attitude. So, we will only select and
use those aspects of attitude theory which appear
relevant to this study.
Information systems for global planning are necessary
in today’s fast global environment. Yet, the human
factor is important in the implementation of any
information system. This is a preliminary report of
the relationship between attitude and the use of ICT
(information and communication technology) to plan
globally.
The major recommendation of the study is to make
ICT provisions for global planning match the
expectations of managers. Also, there is the need to
expose managers to relevant education and
experience to enhance their use of ICT for global
planning.The findings have to be interpreted with care
and recommendations accepted with caution in view
of the small response rate (20%). Hence this report is
tentative until a further study collects more responses
for a sounder analysis.
1
INTRODUCTION
Much research and system development effort is put
into improving the technical provision of information
and communication technology for different uses,
which include global planning. A factor that is
sometimes neglected in this effort but has a significant
impact on the performance of information systems is
the human factor (Holt, 1998, p 69). Gelderman
(1998) in a study among Dutch managers found a high
correlation (r = 0.42) between user satisfaction and
performance of information systems. Satisfaction is
an aspect of the affective component of attitude. This
paper reports on preliminary findings of a study which
attempts to link the use of ICT for global planning
with attitude for this technology. The paper will
present (a) a brief literature review of attitude as an
important factor in predicting human behaviour; (b)
the research questions; (c) method of study; (d)
findings and discussions; (e) major conclusions and
recommendations; and (f) areas for further studiess.
2
ATTITUDE
2.1
Why attitude is a key factor
2.2
What attitude is
As with any concept, there are several definitions of
attitude. Allport (1966) defines attitude as “individual
mental processes which determine both the actual and
potential responses of each person in the social
world.” (p 19). “Mental processes” infers thoughts
and feelings towards an object such as information
and communication technology. Allport’s definition
also indicates that attitude could determine
“responses” or reaction to occurrences around the
individual. Such a reaction can be positive or
negative.
Other definitions and descriptions of
attitude are as follows:
“… a complex of feelings, desires, fears,
convictions, prejudices, or other tendencies that
have given a set or readiness to act to a person
because of varied experience.” (Chave, 1928, p
365)
Attitude is an important concept that is often used to
understand and predict people’s reaction to an object
or change and how their behaviour can be influenced
(cf Fishbein and Ajzen, 1975; Allport, 1966). Interest
in this concept can be observed not only among social
psychologists but also among others such as
“… an enduring organization of motivational
emotional, perceptual, and cognitive processes
58
with respect to some aspect of the individual’s
world” (Krech and Crutchfield, 1948, p 89).
technologies. Many psychologists have theorised
attitude as a significant personal attribute that tends to
predict behaviour. For instance, Ajzen and Fishbein
(1980) concluded in their study that provided attitudes
are appropriately measured, they are sufficient to
predict intentions (behaviour). Moghaddam (1998)
presents both sides of research and arguments as to
whether attitude predicts behaviour. He tends to
conclude that we can use attitude to measure
behaviour provided (a) we are relatively specific in
our measure; and (b) we measure all the components
to provide a better chance of capturing all the facets of
the attribute.
“… a learned predisposition to respond in a
consistently favourable or unfavourable manner
with respect to a given object.” (Fishbein and
Ajzen, 1975, p 6).
“an enduring system of three components
centering about a single object: the beliefs about
the object – the cognitive component; the affect
connected with the object – the feeling
component; the disposition to take action with
respect to the object – the action tendency
component”. (Krech et al, 1962, p 146)
The general characteristics
summarized as follows:
a) attitude
of
predisposes
these
can
favourable
It is widely agreed by attitude theorists that the
concept of attitude can be broken into cognitive,
affective and behavioural components (Krech et al,
1962). Leone et al (1991) are examples of modern
researchers who based their work on the premise of
the cognitive component of attitude. Edwards (1990)
research findings underscored the theoretical as well
as the practical importance of distinguishing between
affect- and cognitive-based attitudes. The same
conclusion was reached by Millar, M and Millar K
(1990) though their conclusion as to how each of the
two components can be influenced differs from that of
Edwards (1990). Kay (1990) is an example of a
researcher whose researched focused on behaviour as
a distinct aspect of attitude. However, the predictive
power of the behaviour component of attitude is under
dispute and therefore some researchers prefer to leave
it out of the attitude scale (cf Moghaddam, 1998).
Thus, this study measured attitude from the subscales
of cognitive and affective components.
be
or
unfavourable reaction to an object1 such as
information and communication technology;
b) attitude is enduring, relative to other related
concepts such as motive2;
c) attitude is mostly learned3;
d) attitude can change with more learning and
experience; and
e) attitude can be split into cognitive, affective
and behavioural components.
From these features we may describe attitude as a
complex, mostly learned and enduring but changeable
system of cognition and affection which predisposes
an individual to favourable and unfavourable action or
reaction to an object.
3
RESEARCH QUESTION
While attitude studies have been conducted generally
on computer use and specifically on some aspects of
information technology, no study has been conducted
on the use of ICT for global planning. The research
question is therefore: Is there a relationship between
managers’ attitude to ICT and their use of this
technology for global planning?
Attitude to the use of ICT is a likely personal factor
that could influence the use of global planning
1
Object could be people, events, actions, things, ideas or
institutions (The Open University, 1977).
Data was also collected on the personal factors of age,
experience and education and their relationship with
the use of ICT and attitude to the use of ICT for global
planning is investigated.
2
See Fishbein and Ajzen (1975 p 11-3) for detail
discussion.
3
There are a few who maintain that attitude emanates from
physiological basis as well. Examples are The Open
University (1977, p 13) and Allport (1966) who states that
attitude “combines both instinct and habit” (p 15).
However, the sociological basis of attitude has a good
following. For instance, Brand et al (1991) has used the
notion of socialization as the basis for attitude formation to
carry out a research on effective parenting to produce
desired attitude. It does not serve our purpose to be overly
interested in the instinctive basis of attitude since we cannot
change that in managers but we may be able to change their
socially formed attitude.
4
METHOD AND LIMITATIONS
Likert scale type of questionnaire was developed to
measure (a) the extent to which planners use global
planning tools, and (b) their cognitive and affective
attitudes to the use of ICT for global planning. To
each of the main categories of planning tools,
respondents had to indicate whether they use the tools
daily, weekly, monthly, half yearly, yearly or never.
59
Thus the extent of use of ICT for global planning was
measured.
Cognitive attitude refers to knowledge
about ICT and its capabilities whereas affective
attitude refers to feelings about ICT (see Appendix I).
Cognitive and affective attitude subscales were
adapted from the ones developed by Robin Kay (see
Appendix II). Kay’s scales have been tested for
validity and reliability (Kay 1990, pp 456-63).
apparently is the reflection of the rarity of having
female top managers heading global operations.
Future increased response may make the analysis of
gender possible.
5.1
Attitude and the use of ICT
Attitude was measured using the cognitive and the
affective components. Taking the two components
together in a correlation with the use of ICT for global
planning results in little or no relationship (r = -0.08,
p-value = 0.745). This suggests that factors other than
attitude affect managers’ use of ICT for global
planning. This may be yet another case where attitude
does not affect behaviour (cf Moghaddam, 1998).
Questionnaires were distributed by post to 100
multinationals in the UK. Twelve responses were
initially received. A telephone follow-up produced a
further 8 responses, making a total of 20 responses.
The low response rate (20%) is possibly due to the
necessary constraint on the questionnaire that
respondents should be involved in global planning and
thus the respondents were often chief executives who
may find it hard to sacrifice time for research. A few
of the non-responses have apologised on the grounds
of time and some actually state that because of time
constraint, their current company policy is not to
complete research questionnaires.
5.1.1
Affective attitude
The relationship between affective component
(feelings) with the use of ICT is very negligible and
insignificant (r = -0.008, p-value = 0.973). This
suggests that there are other explanatory factors eg the
lack of choice in the technology available.
In the presentation of findings, correlation
coefficients4 are used to determine the magnitude and
direction of relationships. The significant levels (see
Appendix 2) for the correlations were very low (p >
0.05 in each case). However, this result should be
interpreted with care bearing in mind the small sample
size (n = 20). Greater future response along with a
review of the measuring instrument should provide a
stronger basis for more rigorous conclusions. Though
findings are not conclusive at this stage, they are
presented in comparison with other studies.
However, when the different components of feelings
are examined (see Appendix III), user’s feelings that it
is a good idea to use ICT for global planning has the
highest positive relationship (r = 0.4, p-value = 0.08).
This is followed by the feeling that the ICT they use
enhances their competence in planning (r = 0.36, pvalue = 0.12). Other factors with positive values are
feelings of happiness and satisfaction when using the
ICT. This outcome suggests that if feelings of
competence and satisfaction are increased in ICT
provisions, the use of ICT for global planning can be
enhanced.
5
5.1.2
FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS
Findings are presented on attitude and its affective and
cognitive components. The study also sought to relate
the use of ICT to the personal factors of gender, age,
experience and education. Gender was dropped in the
analysis because all respondents were male. This
Cognitive attitude
Cognitive attitude (knowledge), as a component of
attitude, exhibits a negative and an insignificant
relationship with the use of ICT (r = -0.11, p-value =
0.64). This finding is at variance with findings of
other studies that propose that cognition should be
positively related to behaviour (cf McGuire et al,
1995, pp 54-5; Vickers, 1997, pp 2-9). To measure
cognitive attitude, respondents had to indicate the
extent to which they know ICT could aid global
planning. Thus, respondents indicated their awareness
of how ICT could help with global planning. The
non-significant relationship suggests that the ICT that
the managers use does not the fit the knowledge
expectation of managers. The systems are not
performing according to the expectation of the
managers.
4
Correlation coefficients represent relationships of two sets
of data at a time. Their values range from –1 (perfect
negative correlation) to + 1 (perfect positive correlation).
The nearer the coefficients are to these two values, the
stronger the relationship. The more the coefficients are
close to 0, the less the relationship; at 0, there is no
relationship (Carlson and Thorne, 1997). Spearman’s rho
() is the best known and used in social and behavioural
science to measure correlation from ordinal-level data such
as are produced by the Likert scale. However, Pilcher
(1990, p 95) warns that Spearman’s  loses its effectiveness
as a measure of association as the number of tied ranks
increases. He suggests Pearson’s correlation coefficient (r)
will provide a better measure in this circumstance. Thus,
since there were several ties in the data for this study,
Pearson’s correlation coefficient (r) was used.
5.2
Other findings - Age, Experience, and
Education
The rest of the factors, as earlier ones, exhibit little
and non-significant relationship with the use of ICT
60
for global planning (see Appendix III). Education
even exhibits a negative though very small
relationship (r = -0.169; p-value = 0.48) and
experience (r = 0.281; p-value = 0.231) is also
insignificantly related to the use of ICT for global
planning. The non-significance of education as a
factor is in contrast with study conducted by McGuire
and Hillan (1999, pp 54-5) who found that the
although midwives had a positive attitude towards
computers, they did not feel they had the necessary
skills to find information.
Igbaria and Chakrabarti
(1990, pp 229-41) also found computer training to be
contributing strongly to decrease in computer anxiety.
Our comparison of education (see Appendix IV) with
attitude indicated a non-significant relationship (r =
0.029; p-value = 0.904). The non-significance of
education to the use of ICT and to attitude towards the
use of ICT suggests that the form of education
obtained by these managers are not relevant to their
use of ICT for global planning.
work. This appears to be the case when it is noticed
that there is some feeling of competence to perform
global planning associated with the use of ICT.
An examination of the cognitive subscale of
attitude revealed that ICT for global planning do
not appear to match the expectations of managers.
So, it is a major recommendation that
improvements be made on ICT provisions to meet
the needs and expectations of managers. Though
not statistically significant, findings indicate that
the more satisfied managers would be with ICT,
the more likely will they use the system.
7
AREAS FOR FURTHER STUDIES
A further study should examine how to make ICT for
global planning meet the expectations of managers
and how to give managers the relevant education and
experience on the use of this technology. Also, it will
be useful to refine the measurements used in this work
using the feedback from this study. Thereafter, more
questionnaires need to be administered to get a much
larger response so as to form a more sound basis for
conclusions.
The lack of significant relationship (r = 1.73; p-value
= 0.465) between experience and attitude towards the
use of ICT is not consistent with studies by Walters
and Necessary (1996, pp 623-11) and Igbaria and
Chakrabarti (1990, p 229-41). An explanation is that
these studies were examining experience in computer
use rather than experience with the job and the
organization which our study was examining. This
difference in findings suggests that experience has to
be relevant to positively affect the attitude and also the
use of ICT for global planning.
Studies by Parish and Necessary (1996) and Czaja and
Sharit (1998, pp 329-40) support the finding with
regarding the relationship of age to attitude to the use
of ICT for global planning (r = 0.143; p-value =
0.574). Parish and Necessary found that, apart from
computer liking (a subscale of their attitude scale and
where the younger users were more inclined to
computers), other sub-scales of attitude exhibited no
significant relationship with age. Czaja and Sharit
found no difference in overall attitude between the
young and the old, though the young felt less
dehumanized and loss of control.
Computer
experience resulted in more positive attitude for all,
indicating that computer attitude can be modified in
all age groups.
6 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
This study sought to investigate whether attitude is
related to managers’ use of ICT for global planning.
Our findings indicate that this is not the case,
suggesting that factors other than attitude would
influence the managers’ use of ICT for global
planning. An example of such a factor could be
necessity, having no choice but to get on with the
61
Appendix 1
Cognitive attitude
Please indicate, by circling your chosen options, the degree to which you agree or disagree with these statements:
Strongly
Strongly
agree
disagree
B04 Information technology (IT) would help me keep in
close contact and share knowledge, information and data
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
with my colleagues within and outside the country.
B05
IT would significantly speed up my analysis of planning
data.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
IT would help me build different planning scenarios for
analysis.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
B07
IT can handle “soft”, unstructured, data.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
B08
IT would help me make better planning decisions.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
B09
IT can help me monitor environmental and internal
company factors needed for planning.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
B06
Affective attitude
(F) Your general feelings about computer systems for global planning
If you use computer systems for global decision making and planning, how would you score your general feelings
about them? Circle the relevant number on the scales, please.
(Likable) 1
2
3
4
5
6
7 (Unlikable)
(Good) 1
2
3
4
5
6
7 (Bad)
(Happy) 1
2
3
4
5
6
7 (Unhappy)
(Comfortable) 1
2
3
4
5
6
7 (Uncomfortable)
(Calm) 1
2
3
4
5
6
7 (Anxious)
(Exciting) 1
2
3
4
5
6
7 (Dull)
(Competent) 1
2
3
4
5
6
7 (Incompetent)
(Pleasant) 1
2
3
4
5
6
7 (Unpleasant)
(Satisfactory) 1
2
3
4
5
6
7 (Unsatisfactory)
Appendix II
Item Statements for Computer Attitude Measure (CAM) developed by Robin H Kay
1
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Cognitive Scale (7-point Likert scale)
Computers would help me be more creative.
Computers would not significantly improve the quality of education for my students.
Computers would help make my work more interesting.
It is important that I keep up with educational computer innovations.
I would not need a computer in my classroom.
My student's mental abilities would improve significantly by interacting with computers.
Computers would make my students lose valuable skills.
Computers would help me be more productive.
Computers would motivate my students to do better work.
Computers would make my life in the classrooms more difficult.
62
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Affective Scale (7-Point Semantic Differential Scale)
Unlikable – Likable
Good – Bad
Unhappy – Happy
Uncomfortable – Comfortable
Calm – Tense
Empty – Full
Natural – Artificial
Exciting – Dull
Suffocating – Fresh
Pleasant – Unpleasant
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Behaviour Scale (7-point Likert Scale)
Use a word processor.
Use a computer on a regular basis.
Do a significant task on a computer.
Buy or borrow computer software or hardware.
Use a disk operating system.
Investigate different kinds of software.
Work with computer-aided instruction.
Experiment with a new computer software package.
Work with a computer graphics package.
Use data-base software.
Appendix III
Correlation of Factors with Use of ICT for Global Planning
Factor
Knowledge
Feelings
Likable
Good
Happy
Comfortable
Calm
Exciting
Competent
Pleasant
Satisfaction
Age
Education
Experience
Correlation with
Use
-0.111
-0.008
-0.002
0.403
0.051
0.181
-0.119
-0.046
0.355
-0.280
0.033
0.111
-0.169
0.281
p-value
0.641
0.973
0.994
0.078
0.832
0.446
0.618
0.846
0.124
0.231
0.889
0.641
0.476
0.231
Appendix IV
Correlation of Factors with Attitude to the Use of ICT for Global Planning
Factor
Age
Education
Experience
Correlation with
Attitude
0.134
0.029
0.173
63
p-value
0.574
0.904
0.465
Automatic Teller Machines: an Investigation of
User Attitude and Performance, Ergonomics Vol
41 No 7 pp 962-81 July.
References
Ajzen, I and Fishbein, M (1980) Understanding Attitudes
and Predicting Social Behaviour London:
Prentice-Hall.
Igbaria, M and Chakrabarti, A (1990) Computer anxiety
and attitudes towards microcomputer use,
Behaviour and Information Technology Vol 9
(May-Jun 90), p.229-41.
Allport, G W (1966) Attitudes in the History of Social
Psychology, in Jahoda, M and Warren, N (eds)
Attitudes: Selected Readings England: Penguin
Books Limited.
Insko, C A (1967) Theories of Attitude Change New
York: Appleton-Century-Crofts.
Brand, HT and Ellis, E G (1991) “Use of the Hereford
Parent Attitude Survey as an Outcome Measure
in Parent Education Research” Psychology
Reports April, Vol 68 No 2 pp 428-8.
Kay, R H (1989) A practical and theoretical approach to
assessing computer attitudes: the computer
attitude measure (CAM), Journal of Research on
Computing in Education Summer, p 456-63.
Brown, T S, Williams, R K, Brown, J T (1998)
Comparison of Attitudes toward Computers
among Business Professionals in China, Japan,
and the United States Journal of Computer
Information Systems Vol 38 No 3 pp 1-5, Spring.
Kay, R H (1990) Predicting student teacher commitment
to use of computers, Journal of Educational
Computing Research Vol 6 No 3 pp 299-309.
Krech, D and Crutchfield, R S (1948) Theory and
Problems in Social Psychology New York:
McGraw-Hill.
Carlson, W L and Thorne, B (1997) Applied Statistical
Methods New Jersey: Prentice Hall.
Leone, C; Taylor, L W and Adams, K C (1991) Selfgenerated Attitude Change: Some Effects of
Thought, dogmatism, and Reality Constraints,
Personality and Individual Differences Vol 12
No 2 pp 233-40.
Chave, E J (1928) A New Type Scale for Measuring
Attitudes, Religious Education Vol 23, pp 364-9.
Czaja, S J, Sharit, J (1998) Age Differences in Attitude
towards Computers, Journal of Gerontology
Series B-Psychological Sciences and Social
Sciences Vol 52 No 5 pp 329-40 September.
McGuire, M and Hillan, E (1999) Obstacles to using a
database in midwifery, Nursing Times, Vol 95,
No 3, 20 Jan, p.54-5.
Dalton, JA and Blau, W (1996) Changing the practice of
pain management - An examination of the
theoretical basis of change, Pain Forum Winter,
Vol 5, No 4, pp 266-72.
Millar, M G and Millar, K U (1990) Attitude Change as a
Function of Attitude Type and Argument Type,
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
Vol 59 No 2, pp 217-28.
Dixon, P R (1999) The Behavioural Side of Information
Technology, International Journal of Medical
Informatics Vol 56, pp 117-37.
Nash, J B and Moroz, P A (1997) An Examination of the
Factor Structures of the Computer Attitude Scale,
Journal of Educational Computing Research Vol
17 No 4 pp 341-56.
Edwards, K (1990) The Interplay of Affect and Cognition
in Attitude Formation and change, Journal of
Personality and Social Psychology Vol 59 No 22
pp 202-16.
Pilcher, D M (1990) Data Analysis for the Helping
Professions: A Practical Guide London: Sage
Publications.
Fishbein, M and Ajzen, I (1975) Belief, Attitude, Intention
and Behaviour: An Introduction to Theory and
Research London: Addison-Wesley Publishing
Company.
Shashaani, L (1997) Gender Differences in Computer
Attitudes and Use Among College Students,
Journal of Educational Computing Research Vol
19 No 1 pp 37-51.
Gelderman, M (1998) The Relation between User
Satisfaction, Usage of Information and
Performance, Information and Management Vol
34 No 1 pp 11-8.
Tesser A, Whitaker D, Martin L, and Ward D (1998)
Attitude heritability, attitude change and
physiological responsivity, Personality And
Individual Differences January, Vol 24, No 1, pp
89-96.
Hillan, E M; McGuire, M M; Cooper, M (1998)
Computers in Midwifery Practice: a View from
the Labour Ward, Journal of Advanced Nursing
Vol 27 No 1 pp 24-9 January.
The Open University (1977) Attitudes and Beliefs Sussex:
Coes the Printers Limited.
Holt, D H (1998) International Management: Text and
Cases London: The Dryden Press.
Walters, J E and Necessary, J R (1996) An attitudinal
comparison
towards
computers
between
underclassmen
and
graduating
seniors,
Education, Summer, Vol 116, No 4, pp 623-11.
Hone, K S; Graham, R; Maquire, M C; Barber, C;
Johnson, G I (1998) Speech Technology for
Dr. A. A. Usoro is a Lecturer at the University of
Paisley
64