Technology acceptance model in the context of a computer-aided software engineering tool upgrade

Upgrading information systems from one release to another can be costly and counter-productive in the system development life-cycle process. No prior research studies have addressed this important issue of information technology upgrade and its theoretical framework. In this research study, the upgrade of a CASE tool to a new release is studied utilizing the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) as a starting point. TAM is one of the most researched and dominant models in the study of the determinants of information technology acceptance. TAM achieves two major goals: First, it provides theorists with a validated and well-tested theoretical model for acceptance of new technologies based on two main constructs, perceived ease of use (EOU) and perceived usefulness (U). Second, it provides practitioners with diagnostic tools to predict information technology acceptance and facilitate design changes before information systems go into the production phase. In this research study the TAM model is modified and empirically tested through a questionnaire to create a new model that depicts the determinants of the acceptance of a CASE release upgrade. Statistical analysis of the collected data indicates that Long-Term Consequences and a newly identified factor Delta Construct determine the acceptance of a new release of the CASE tool under investigation. Long-Term Consequences captures the perceived potential benefit a software engineer could attain from using the new release. The Delta Construct describes the perceived difference in functionality and user interface between the two releases. In addition, the study utilizes psychometric questionnaire items introduced by previous research as well as new psychometric items to validate the model. Similar to TAM, this research study furnishes two helpful tools: first, it provides a simple yet useful conceptual model that explains the determinants of acceptance of a new CASE tool upgrade. Second, the study provides a validated psychometric instrument that can be used as a diagnostic tool to predict the acceptance of a new CASE tool release upgrade. Such a psychometric instrument could prove to be an inexpensive, effective, and easy to administer method that helps determine the maturity of the new release of the CASE tool in question.