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Background <p>In 2021, Uganda's Ministry of Public Service launched a Human Capital Management System (HCMS). By 2025, none of the Ugandan public universities had fully adopted the system due to its complexity—exasperated by insufficient digital literacy and inadequate infrastructure. These usability barriers emphasize the need to understand how perceived ease of use shapes HCMS adoption, especially during the early stages of implementation, such as in Uganda's public universities.</p> Objective <p>This study adapted the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) to investigate Effort Expectancy's influence on behavioral intention to adopt HCMS, while assessing the moderating effects of age, gender, and experience as guided by the UTAUT framework.</p> Method <p>A quantitative e-survey was conducted with 362 respondents from three public universities. Cluster sampling was employed, and the sample size adequacy guided by (1) criteria. Instrument validity and reliability were ensured through pilot testing, Cronbach’s alpha reliability checks, principal component analysis for construct validity, and procedural and statistical controls to minimize common method bias. Linear regression analysis was used to evaluate the influence of Effort Expectancy, while PROCESS Macro assessed the moderating variables’ effects.</p> Results <p>Effort expectancy was found significantly influence intention to adopt HCMS, confirming its centrality in early-stage digital system adoption. Age moderated the above association, while gender and experience did not.</p> Conclusion <p>This study corroborates the UTAUT framework's assertion that effort expectancy and age influence the behavioral intention to adopt digital systems. It further presents effort expectancy as a strong determinant of intention to adopt HCMS in mandatory, resource-constrained environments during the early stages of technology adoption. The study further enhances the UTAUT paradigm by illustrating that effort expectancy functions as a psychological intermediary between usability and institutional resources like infrastructure and support meant to facilitate the ease of use of a digital system. The findings emphasize the importance of user-centered design, simplified workflows, and targeted digital skills training to reduce perceived effort to use digital systems like HCMS, thus enhancing adoption outcomes.</p>

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The influence of effort expectancy on behavioral intention to adopt human capital management systems in Ugandan Public Universities

  • 期刊论文

  • 出版模式：

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  • 发表日期：

    2026年3月26日

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  • Irene Esther Mutuzo,
  • Grace Milly Kibanja,
  • Gerald Mukisa Nsereko,
  • Richard Ssewanonda,
  • Martin Mabunda Baluku

摘要

Background

In 2021, Uganda's Ministry of Public Service launched a Human Capital Management System (HCMS). By 2025, none of the Ugandan public universities had fully adopted the system due to its complexity—exasperated by insufficient digital literacy and inadequate infrastructure. These usability barriers emphasize the need to understand how perceived ease of use shapes HCMS adoption, especially during the early stages of implementation, such as in Uganda's public universities.

Objective

This study adapted the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) to investigate Effort Expectancy's influence on behavioral intention to adopt HCMS, while assessing the moderating effects of age, gender, and experience as guided by the UTAUT framework.

Method

A quantitative e-survey was conducted with 362 respondents from three public universities. Cluster sampling was employed, and the sample size adequacy guided by (1) criteria. Instrument validity and reliability were ensured through pilot testing, Cronbach’s alpha reliability checks, principal component analysis for construct validity, and procedural and statistical controls to minimize common method bias. Linear regression analysis was used to evaluate the influence of Effort Expectancy, while PROCESS Macro assessed the moderating variables’ effects.

Results

Effort expectancy was found significantly influence intention to adopt HCMS, confirming its centrality in early-stage digital system adoption. Age moderated the above association, while gender and experience did not.

Conclusion

This study corroborates the UTAUT framework's assertion that effort expectancy and age influence the behavioral intention to adopt digital systems. It further presents effort expectancy as a strong determinant of intention to adopt HCMS in mandatory, resource-constrained environments during the early stages of technology adoption. The study further enhances the UTAUT paradigm by illustrating that effort expectancy functions as a psychological intermediary between usability and institutional resources like infrastructure and support meant to facilitate the ease of use of a digital system. The findings emphasize the importance of user-centered design, simplified workflows, and targeted digital skills training to reduce perceived effort to use digital systems like HCMS, thus enhancing adoption outcomes.