User Acceptance of a Key Performance Indicators Monitoring System (KPI-MS) in Higher Education: An Application of the Technology Acceptance Model Balakrishnan Muniandy 1 , Mei Yean Ong 1 , Kia Kien Phua 2 , Saw Lan Ong 3 1 Centre for Instructional Technology & Multimedia, Universiti Sains Malaysia 2 Institute for Research in Molecular Medicine, Universiti Sains Malaysia 3 School of Educational Studies, Universiti Sains Malaysia Abstract. The purpose of this paper is to study users’ acceptance of the Key Performance Indicator Monitoring System (KPI-MS) developed using PHP 5.2 as the scripting language and MySQL Community Server 5.0 as the databases management system. The acceptance of KPI-MS system is in terms of its perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use. The data for the study was collected using a survey instrument which was modified from Davis’s study on Technology Acceptance Model (TAM). A total of 78 participants from all the schools and centres in one of the public universities in West Malaysia participated in this study. This instrument was validated by three experts in the related field and scored the reliability with Cronbach alpha value of 0.955. A descriptive analysis was conducted to indicate the mean scores of KPI-MS rated by the users. The findings showed that the users rated KPI-MS as very useful in monitoring KPI performance of their schools or centres. In conclusion, the KPI-MS system is accepted by the users in terms of perceive usefulness and perceive ease of use on the system. Keywords: Key Performance Indicators, Key Performance Indicator Monitoring System, Technology Acceptance Model, Perceive Usefulness, Perceived Ease of Use 1. Introduction Key Performance Indicator Monitoring System (KPI-MS) is an online monitoring system of Key Performance Indicator (KPI) that can be accessed anywhere and anytime. It was developed to be a robust central database storing various performance data. This system is an intelligent database system and it is able to calculate raw data automatically to produce performance outputs such as reports and charts. It has a single file structure which is easily maintained and compatible with corporate database structure. KPI-MS system is able to store schools’ and centers’ performance information for a number of years with cumulative annual data that can be retrieved and compared with different years. This system is developed with the purpose of helping schools and centers at a university in West Malaysia to store their KPI data, calculate KPI marks and then generates reports and charts. Besides, KPI-MS is developed to provide value-added services, such as online monitoring of each school’s or centre’s KPI accomplishments including performance comparison by year, between targeted and current accomplishment as well as between schools and centers in the university. 1.1. KPI-MS and Ministry of Higher Education (MoHE) Key Performance Indicators (KPI) is an index that evaluates the qualitative and quantitative performances of an organization or institution. In higher education institutions, KPI is an effective measure of the quality of the universities’ output used in planning and improving universities’ performance. According to Chan and Chan [1] , KPI addressed several issues of output and outcomes as the measurement of performance. In Malaysia, KPI is used as a requirement for the public higher education institutions in improving quality. The quality level of the higher education institutions were determined by the effectiveness and efficiency of their performance [2] . The benchmark of the performance indicators was determined by the Ministry of Higher Education (MoHE) Malaysia. Key Performance Indicators Monitoring System (KPI-MS) 2011 2nd International Conference on Education and Management Technology IPCSIT vol.13 (2011) © (2011) IACSIT Press, Singapore 179