Management theory perspectives: Significant influential factors for Wisconsin managements' and social workers' attitudes toward computer usage

New federal regulations are mandating a significant increase in the use of information systems by state agencies. At times, however, there is reluctance by some social workers to accept these systems, resulting in a negative impact to the clients who need these services the most. To investigate factors contributing to this resistance, an empirical research was completed on the implementation of the state of Wisconsin's child welfare automated information system to meet the requirements of the Adoption Assistance and Child Welfare Act of 1980 (Public Law 96-272). This law requires state welfare agencies to promote and implement computer data systems to track, or monitor, child welfare cases.; The critical research question was what demographics (e.g. gender, educational level) and attitudes (e.g. computer dislike) of Wisconsin social workers influenced their computer usage. State and local government officials were interviewed with particular attention to the functional status of earlier social service information systems used in the state. Surveys were used to determine the difference among groups of social workers using a sample of 59 graduate students enrolled in the school of social work, 41 administrators from social service, and 487 social work practitioners. The research showed that negative attitudes, computer anxiety, lower confidence, and computer disliking; along with a perceived lack of usefulness discouraged computer usage. The research reinforced the generally held belief that older workers have a lower positive attitude toward computer applications while workers with higher levels of education showed a higher computer liking. Given other relevant factors, both men and women alike showed negative attitudes toward computer applications.; The research demonstrated that state organizations must pay attention to the demographics and attitudes of their social workers to ensure effective deployment of advanced computer systems. It is hoped this research will raise the conscience level of the social work profession to understand and address the importance of attitudes in deploying information systems. The research also provides insights to other federal agencies facing the deployment of new systems.