Adoption of an Intranet Performance Reporting System
2
real-time reporting as well as quarterly summaries for administrators and peers. Accurate and
timely detailed data are important because of the organization’s obligation to report to its funding
agency. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Cooperative State Research, Education, and
Extension Service (CSREES) requires each state unit to submit four-year plans of work and
yearly updates and accomplishment reports. Cooperative Extension is also required to collect
quantitative data from each agent and specialist on the number of contacts made as well as the
gender, nationality, and other data on participants in its numerous and varied programs (Decker
& Yerka, 1990; Gray, Douglass & Platt, 2000; Hamilton, Verma, & Burnett, 1996; Hansen,
1991; Richardson, Mustian & Gamble, 1998).
For most of its existence, Cooperative Extension used paper forms to capture data, plans
of work, and accomplishments and impact reports. In 1997, Cooperative Extension decided to
convert its paper reporting system to the web. The system was adapted from one in another state,
but tailored to the needs of the state and used proprietary software. In its RFP to commercial
software developers (Douglass, 1999), Cooperative Extension stated that new system should: 1)
operate alone on an agent, specialist or administrator’s desktop computer so staff members can
work on reports offline, 2) provide uploading to a central server through local Internet service
providers statewide, 3) allow searching, browsing, and downloading of reports, 4) and generate
reports without editing or alterations. The beta system was field tested in August 2000 with 12
staff members and subjected to retesting before rolling out to the statewide system in September
2000.
e-Power (electronic plans of work reporting) is a password-protected, searchable Intranet
system designed around an extensive SQL database that allowed data to be aggregated and
Convention