Research Motivation
With the driven of emerging technologies, firms depend on information system to execute a variety of operational, tactical, and strategic processes under an environment with an increased complexity. An individual’s acceptance of information system determines whether a firm can gain efficiency, effectiveness or productivity (Huang & Liao, 2015). Conducting training for information system implementation can be an effective way to enhance an individual’s information system acceptance and decrease resistance (García-Peñalvo, Colomo-Palacios, & Lytras, 2012; Niu, 2014).
Recently, more and more information system vendors provide specific system training programs for university teachers. For example, SAP, one of the global largest enterprise resource planning (ERP) vendors, cooperates with several famous universities in Taiwan via “seed teacher” programs. Teachers joining the programs can bridge their knowledge gaps between theory and practice through ERP systems implementation. When teachers go back to school to teach what they have learned, students can benefit from learning ERP systems and thus are capable of implementing ERP systems before graduation. Consequently, universities are motivated to provide more ERP training courses to enhance student workplace competitiveness. Understanding students’ acceptance of information system is important, since it can not only determine whether a university allocates resources efficiently and effectively, but also help teachers design training courses to facilitate students’ learning intentions and behaviors. A student’s information system acceptance is not only concerned about information system itself, but also his/her characteristics and the interaction with other members (Islam, 2014; Moss, O’Connor, & White, 2010).
For university students, subjective norms and personality traits are important factors which may influence their information systems acceptance behavior. Subjective norms refer to social pressures an individual perceives with respect to system usage (Venkatesh & Bala, 2008). Subjective norms are relevant and important in determining successful student performance, since students are influenced by their classmates, friends, parents and elders (Park, 2009; Yueh, Huang, & Chang, 2015). However, the influence of subjective norms on students’ learning behavior is neglected in the context of educational setting (Moss et al., 2010). In addition, personality is commonly used in psychological research to explain beliefs and behavior. For university students, personality plays an especially critical role, due to their lower degree of socialization from work experience (Hampson, Andrews, Barckley, & Severson, 2006). However, most previous studies emphasized the direct effect of personality on perception and behavior intention (Barnett, Pearson, Pearson, & Kellermanns, 2015; Devaraj, Easley, & Crant, 2008). Accordingly, personality may interact with external variables to directly or indirectly influence an individual’s perception and behavior intention (Svendsen, Johnsen, Almås-Sørensen, & Vittersø, 2011).