An empirical investigation on factors affecting software developer acceptance and utilization of electronic process guides

Abstract

Our objective is to perform an empirical investigation on factors affecting software developer acceptance and utilization of electronic process guides (EPGs) and to discuss the implications of the findings. The potential benefits of EPGs can only be realized when key capabilities are not only adopted, but also infused across the organization. We conducted a survey of 97 software developers in a medium-sized software company to test the importance of organizational support and four factors on the perceived attributes of using the EPG to its infusion. The results showed that perceived usefulness is the fundamental driver in explaining current system usage and future use intentions, and furthermore, that perceived compatibility, perceived ease of use, and organizational support were the key determinants of perceived usefulness. This study advances our understanding of software developers' acceptance and utilization of EPGs in a voluntary setting. This way, software organizations can learn more about the determinants of successfully adopting and infusing EPGs and, accordingly, to take more appropriate actions.