ABSTRACT
The frequency of these different outcomes presented in Figure 2.1 are the estimates made by Mowshowitz (1976) of the impact of information technology systems
inNorthAmerica.Hesuggeststhat20%ofsystemsimplementedachievesomething liketheirintendedbenefits,40%failandtheremaining40%makeonlyamarginal impactontheorganisation.WhilstnocomprehensivesurveyexistsforGreatBritain,a numberoflimitedstudiespointinasimilardirection.Ofthe20OfficeAutomation projectssponsoredbytheDepartmentofTradeandIndustry,only15werecontinued whenthetrialperiodwasover(DTI,1986),andsomethatcontinuedhadnotachieved theplannedobjectives.Wroe(1986)examinedtensystemsimplementedbysmall buildersofwhichfourwereratedassuccesses,fourwerediscontinuedbeforeimplementationandintwocasesthefirmswerestillstrugglingafteralongimplementation period.McCosh(1984)reports15small-scale,decisionsupportsystemswhichhewas personallyinvolvedindesigning.Heestimatedthatfivewereasuccess.Ina notoriouslydifficultapplicationareathisisagoodratetoachieve.Onemight anticipatethatwordprocessorapplicationswouldbemorestraightforward.Ina surveyof92systems(Pomfrettetal.1985)thegeneralrateofbenefitachievementwas 77%whichimpliesasignificantfailurerate.Ingeneralwefindthattheimplementationofinformationtechnologysystemsisahighriskprocess.Completefailureisnot uncommonandmarginalimpactwithunwantedandnegativeconsequencesis commonplace.
