Choice Models for the Evaluation and Selection of Software Packages

Abstract:

Microcomputer users are faced with an increasingly difficult choice problem in the evaluation and selection of software packages. For many reasons, users frequently must rely on expert evaluations of the technical functions and features of packages. This paper explores the extent to which multi-attribute choice models are capable of extracting the information content of performance ratings. Five choice models are applied to the expert ratings of software packages in the following areas: word processing, database management systems, and spreadsheet and financial planning. The evaluations and selections made under each model are compared for each software type, and guidelines are suggested for choosing between choice strategies for software evaluation.

Key Words and Phrases:

• software selection
• choice models
• decision theory

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Evan E. Anderson

Evan E. Anderson is Professor and Department Chairman of Decision Sciences in the School of Business Administration at George Mason University. He received a B.B.A. from the University of Iowa, an M.B.A. from the University of Wisconsin (Madison), and a Ph.D. from Cornell University. He has held faculty positions at Tulane University, Vanderbilt University, the University of Texas at Dallas, and has been a visiting scholar at the University of Chicago and St. Antony’s College, Oxford University, England. His papers have appeared in Journal of Business (University of Chicago), Operations Research, Omega, Management Science, Operational Research Quarterly. Decision Sciences, Accounting Review, Managerial and Decision Economics, Naval Research Logistics, MIS Quarterly, and others. He is a member of the American Economic Association, Decision Sciences Institute, Institute of Management Science, Operations Research Society of America, and the Society of Information Management.