Decision Making Process

How People Make Decisions of Software Selection

• To find out who makes the final decision when purchasing any types of software products for developing and distributing distance education courses
• To meet the needs of the potential audience of the Distance Learning Application demo
• To learn about the process and the most significant concerns when choosing and purchasing a software product

Methods:

• Doing some literature review to see if there are any formal written descriptions about decision making process of software selection
• Sending questionnaire to listservs where many distance education professionals exchange their findings and opinions

1. Who makes the final decision of which product to purchase?
2. Does the decision maker decide everything by himself/herself?
3. If the decision maker has asked some help for someone else, who are those people? (instructors, students, technical staff, etc.)
4. Does the decision maker ever consult technical staff members at the organization, if any?
5. What kind of process is involved?
6. If someone does a market research of software products, how does it get done? (based on reputation, promotion, usability, brand name, etc.)
7. What are the most influential factors of selecting a software product?

Result:

• I could not find any papers which are addressing the issued discussed here. I believe some people should have done some research on decision making process, but perhaps the result is not published yet as formal papers.
• I got a positive response for the questionnaire from three people. Their answers were based on their own previous experience.  The summary of the answers is listed below.
• One of the three people who responded to the questionnaire had made the final decisions for a corporate education program. Her paper, Virtual Classrooms and Communities, is available at http://www.lucent.com/cedl/group97.html
• I got some negative feedback on the questionnaire itself from one person. His point was "Why would someone want to know the answer to those questions?"
• Some people who are in charge of some kind of distance education organization said that they have no idea about these issues.

The Summary of Answers to the Questionnaire:

1. Who makes the final decision of which product to purchase?
• Typically, the manager (project, department, division) responsible for the budget makes the final decision.
• It depends on the type of institution:
• At a small college (especially community schools) - One person can make the decision. This could be the Dean od Academics or the President.
• At state schools - There may be a Vice Chancellor or VP of Continuing (Continuous) Education with enough power to make a unilateral decision.
• At the large universities (with several colleges and schools) - The decision is generally made by a small group, and 'every tub sits on its own bottom,' which means that each unit of that university may be making its own decision.

 
2. Does the decision maker decide everything by himself/herself?
• One person said that she had primarily seen the manager decide on their own in three different organizations. Once in a while, a manager, who is confident with others' ability to make decisions, will allow others to make the decision about a product.

 
3. If the decision maker has asked some help for someone else, who are those people? (e.g. instructors, students, technical staff, etc.)
• Sometimes managers seek out the people that they feel most comfortable with. This may be technical staff, peer managers, and quite often vendor sales people. Many managers of distance learning have no technical background and find discussions with technical staff to be unhelpful, so they tend to talk to people who make them feel comfortable with all of the unknowns.
• Often, he/she will consult with the Information Technology persons and/or the Computer Science Dept. They are also being approached by many companies such as Real Education, convene, Collegis, Blackboard, Top Class, WebCT, etc. to consider adopting their courseware.

 
4. Does the decision maker ever consult technical staff members at the organization, if any?
• The decision maker consults technical staff often after they have decided on the product and/or after they buy the product.
• One person said that there were two times out of approx. eight product decisions that she saw the decision maker consult technical staff members before deciding on or buying the product.

 
5. What kind of process is involved?
• The decision maker pulls together a committee of technical, instructional and administrative staff to evaluate the products.
• Attending conventions, seminars, on technology. Having in-house presentations. Doing pilot programs with the courseware tools. Then evaluating and considering wholesale adoption.

 
6. If someone does a market research of software products, how does it get done? (e.g. based on reputation, promotion, usability, brand name, etc.)
• Vendor presentations and promotional material are the primary methods used. The next common research method is to talk to others who are using the product. If time allows, pilot testing of the product has been a third type of market research.
• By attending technology conferences and conventions, by inviting companies on campus. By using listservs over the internet, etc. There are several listservs that have offered cross-grid comparisons of the features and benefits of similar products.

 
7. What are the most influential factors of selecting a software product?
• One person said the following factors are import when they make decisions:
• Lowest common denominator usability: Can most of the staff use the product to get the work done (with minimal training.)
• Flexibility: The product will work for a variety of purposes and situations
• Brand name and financial stability of vendor
• Price
• Another person said that these issues are most important:
• How many features it has
• How reliable it is
• Whether or not it is easily navigable by learners
• Whether or not it is easy for the teachers or instructional designers to build in
• Whether or not there are services attached to the courseware - Real Education is so preferred because it provides a total solution: a registration, payment, shell around the courses, access to the library and bookstore, all software provided to the learners, marketing for the schools, surveys to evaluate the courses, help desks for faulty and learners, etc.
• Another person said that they evaluated tools based on cost and availability more than any other factors when they made the final decisions for a corporate education program.