User perception of expert system advice

Expert Systems represent a major investment to many organizations. To capit alize on the investment requires that users take advantage of the advice pr ovided. This study examines novice decision makers in a constructed setting to see if they perceive an expert system to have value in the decision pro cess and to determine if expert systems can be favorably viewed. Results in dicate that the subjects find the expert system in the study to be structur ed, satisfactory and an enhancement to the decision process. But even thoug h a positive impression is made by the system, the users did not feel a sen se of accomplishment. Management can build expert systems expecting the dec ision to be well received, but should not expect a stimulating task environ ment without additional design effort. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Inc. All r ights reserved.