Kailash Joshi, "The Measurement of Fairness or Equity Perceptions of Management Information Systems Users", MIS Quarterly, Sep, 1989, Vol 13, No 3, pp 343-358.
INTRODUCTORY EXPLANATION
These items measure "the perceptions of fairness or equity experienced
by users in the context of allocation of information system resources by
the centralized MIS function" (page 343). Specifically this article
concludes that equity is best measured by "averaging responses on items
E1 to E9 and E13 to E17" (page 353). The original article should be
consulted for further details.
ITEMS
The Information Systems Department has to interact with a number of
different user groups in providing information systems services and in
designing and implementing information systems in organizations. Decisions
have to be made about assigning priorities, resource allocations, design
choices, and assignment of tasks/activities to the different users. These
decisions and design choices may not be considered fair (or equitable) by
some users if they feel that: (1) some other user groups have been given
undeserved preferential treatment; or (2) the benefits they have received
are not in line with what they deserve relative to other users in the
organization; or (3) unfair procedures were used for arriving at these
decisions.
The following set of questions attempts to obtain your feelings about the
equity situation in your organization. The word "department" refers to
that part of the organization that you belong to.
In answering the following questions, please remember to compare your
situation with the situation of other similar users in your organization.
Please respond to each item using the following scale:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Strongly Slightly Slightly Strongly
Disagree Disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Agree Agree
E 1. Compared to other similar user groups
computing resources (e.g., terminals,
printers, and software packages) have
been provided to my department on a
fair basis............................. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
E 2. Compared to other similar user groups,
the budget for computing has been
allocated to my department on a fair
basis.................................. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
E 3. Compared to other similar user groups,
the requirements and concerns of my
department have been taken into account
on a fair basis in the design and
implementation of information systems.. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
E 4. Conflicts with other users about the
design of systems have been handled on a
fair basis............................. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
E 5. Compared to other user groups, priorities
for development of information systems
for my department have been assigned on
a fair basis........................... 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
E 6. Compared to other similar user groups,
the information systems department
handles our requests for changes in
the systems on a fair basis............ 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
E 7. Staff in the information systems
department behave impartially and fairly
towards my department................... 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
E 8. The benefits of our department has
received from the information systems are
fair when compared to the amount of time
and effort we have put in developing the
systems................................ 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
E 9. The benefits that our department has
received are fair when compared with the
efforts that we spend in operating the
systems (e.g., data entry, error
correction, etc.)...................... 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
E 10. We are permitted to obtain the same
computer-based information that other
similar users are allowed to obtain.... 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
E 11. Our ease of access to the computer-based
information is the same as that available
to other similar user groups........... 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
E 12. Compared to other similar user groups,
the information systems that our
department uses provide for greater
monitoring and control of our activities
and performance by higher management... 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
E 13. The tasks/activities assigned to my
department as a part of the overall
information systems design are fair.... 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
E 14. The procedures establishing priorities
for development of information systems
for my department are fair............. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
E 15. The procedures for resolving conflicting
requirements with other users are fair. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
E 16. The systems staff is assigned to my
department on a fair basis (consider
their competence and numbers).......... 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
E 17. Compared to other similar user groups,
the requirements of my department for
information systems have been attended
to on a fair basis..................... 1 2 3 4 5 6 7