The Structural Context of Executive Information Systems Adoption

Abstract

While some firms are developing computer-based Executive Information Systems EIS to support key executives and managers, a large number of organizations are presently not using EIS. Our focus here is on structural factors associated with the adoption of EIS capabilities that support managerial communication, coordination, control, and planning. A national survey was conducted to collect data for the empirical study. Our analysis uses data from 210 organizations representing adopters and non-adopters of key EIS capabilities. Adopters of each of the four EIS capabilities have higher levels of environmental dynamism, heterogeneity, and hostility than their non-adopting counterparts. EIS adopters with higher levels of environmental pressures appear to be implementing distributed architectures to deliver EIS applications. Furthermore, adopters of EIS capabilities for purposes of coordination, control, and planning have larger IS departments than non-adopters. It also appears that larger organizations are implementing EIS capabilities for planning purposes to a greater degree than smaller organizations. They also have a greater proportionate representation from the for-profit sector. Implications of these findings are discussed along with directions for future research