Eskom Transmission division, like many other organisations has implemented a quality management system according to the ISO 9001 standard. The ISO 9001 standards provide the foundation and development of a quality management system. The implementation of a quality management system (QMS) enables organisations to define and manage processes that ensure delivery of product or services that meet customer requirements and needs. Some of the main requirements of the ISO 9001 standard are to plan and manage internal audits, control non conforming products, manage and implement corrective and preventative actions, and conduct management reviews.
These above requirements are managed using the system called Transmission Action Management System (TAMS). The TAMS system is a web-based collaboration tool. This system is mainly used as a tracking tool and is instrumental in satisfying not only the quality requirements but other operational processes. The issue of sustainability of a quality management system and the retention of ISO 9001 certification is critical for Eskom Transmission and lies partly in the users’ acceptance and willingness to use TAMS. Understanding why employees accept or reject information technology is one of the most important issues in information system research.
The technology usage and its effective implementation depends upon users, having positive attitude towards it. Although the number of registered users of the system has grown recently, there is some evidence that TAMS acceptance is faced with problems. This evidence is supported by the number of outstanding non conformance reports and unclosed findings that remain open in the system for a long time. The overdue action figures from TAMS database are listed in Appendix A. 1. BACKGROUND
Quality management initiatives in Eskom Transmission division started in 2002 when it was noted that the maintenance management process was not performing as anticipated. The then