Enterprise Systems Training Strategies: Knowledge Levels and User Understanding

Enterprise systems (ESs) are customizable, integrated software applications designed to support core business processes. This paper reports research contrasting the relative effectiveness of two strategies for ES end-user training that differentially reflect the Sein, Bostrom, and Olfman (1999) hierarchical knowledge-level model. One strategy— procedural—involves training that targets the three lowest knowledge levels of the model (command-based, tool-procedural, and business-procedural); the other— tool-conceptual—involves training that also includes a higher knowledge level (tool-conceptual). A non-equivalent quasi-experimental design was used for groups of senior business students being trained to use an authentic ES. Performance measures were administered during training and ten days after training concluded. Both experiments demonstrated that training involving the tool-conceptual knowledge level leads to superior mental models, compared with training oriented toward lower knowledge levels, as expressed in the recollection and communication of ES concepts. Tool-conceptual knowledge-level training can be used to promote understanding and communication, and should be incorporated into training strategies for ES.