Information Systems Management Issues Research Articles

Key issues of information systems management in Botswana

Studies on key issues in information systems (IS) management aim at finding out critical IS issues that are of concern to IS executives and business leaders. The purpose of this paper was to investigate the key IS management issues in Botswana. A questionnaire was administered to collect data from information systems professionals working from the level of a programmer and above. A simple average was used to rank the key factors while factor analysis was carried out to determine the major groups of key issues in IS management. The results of simple average calculation showed that an information system security is the key management issue in Botswana. The results of factor analysis showed that the classification of key issues of IS management put forward by Niederman et al. (1991) has continued to change with new issues such as mobile applications and ecommerce showing up strongly and information systems security becoming a group in its own right. The findings continue to show that the key issues of IS management tend to differ across space and time. Culture and level of economic development are some of the factors which can make key issues differ from one country to another.

Key issues of information systems management in Botswana

Key issues of information systems management in Botswana

Key issues in information systems management in China

PurposeTo reveal and analyze the key issues concerning information systems management in Mainland China.Design/methodology/approachBased on data collected from 286 Chinese companies, 12 top key issues in information systems management in Mainland China are ranked and compared with the results of an earlier study, as well as those from western countries.FindingsWhile the top three critical issues remain unchanged, largely due to the centralized decision‐making mechanism, mandatory management style, and less experience of IT/IS applications, there are distinguishable changes that took place in the past few years. Furthermore, there are different results between different sectors of companies, reflecting respective characteristics and historical development processes of the sectors.Research limitations/implicationsExtended data and measures are required for in‐depth investigation in specific individual industries.Practical implicationsThe study could be helpful for understanding the situations and challenges in information systems management in China and planning IT/IS strategies accordingly.Originality/valueThe paper offers practical help for managers to better understand the IT/IS application context in China. Meanwhile, researchers interested in IT/IS management in China can use the information provided by this paper to guide their inquiry.

Key Information Systems Management Issues in Estonia for the 2000s and A Comparative Analysis

This study reports key information system (IS) management issues in Estonia, for a second time since 1993. The study enlists the views of knowledgeable practitioners from both the information technology (IT) and non-IT (business managers) fields. The primary objective was to compare and contrast the findings in the previous study with the present effort. Other secondary objectives included investigating the views across professional classifications and sectors. Further, a comparison between Estonia (an emerging economy) and Norway (a developed country) was made. The findings of the study indicate the following: 1) the past decade has produced salient changes in the ranking of key IS issues for Estonia, 2) there are significant differences in key IS issues across professional groupings (IT and non-IT), 3) a convergence of opinions regarding key IS issues seems to be noticeable in Estonian public and private sectors, and 4) there is a significant difference in the ranking of comparable issues between Estonia and Norway. The implications of the study for both research and practice are discussed.

Information systems management in practice: An empirical study of UK companies

Using the experience of several organisations from the manufacturing and service sectors in the UK, this paper seeks to explore the management efforts put into the successful exploitation of technology. In the context of this study, information systems management (ISM) is defined as the managerial and technical strategies and competencies that significantly improve or add value to the use of information systems within an organisation. Initially, a set of ISM ‘competence building blocks’ were developed based on an extensive trawl of the literature and existing theories. This was then used to map the practical experiences of the companies concerned. Data collection made use of semi-structured interviews with senior business and IT managers of these companies to elicit their views on ISM issues and particularly to understand how their respective organisations are addressing these issues. Whilst the majority acknowledges that IT is now an inescapable part of doing business (strategic necessity), the importance of its management is not yet fully understood particularly by senior business managers. It would seem that the more competitive and fast moving the environment, the more likely the organisation's management to be supportive and fully committed to the management of IS.

A benchmarking framework for information systems management issues in Kuwait

Purpose – Aims to demonstrate the importance of reporting IS management constructs rather than reporting and ranking the individual management issues; determine whether the ratings of IS management factors differ across organizational and personal variables; and benchmark the position of Kuwait's results on dimensionality and determinants of IS management issues with that of other previous studies.Design/methodology/approach – This field study considered only the opinions of the highest ranked executives of the IS functions within their organizations. A seven‐page structured interview guide was used for data collection. Principal component factor analysis was performed on the issue ratings in order to determine underlying IS management factors. Confirmatory factor analysis was performed to further assess how well the factors fit the issue data and to test the fit of the resulting factor model. Finally, t‐tests were performed to test whether the differences between factors were significant in order to demo...

Key information systems management issues: A comparative study in South Africa

The identification of key Information Systems (IS) management issues is important for all players in the industry. Most academic research has followed the form of the Society for Information Management (SIM) studies, originating in the early 1980’s in the United States of America (USA), and since replicated in many countries, yet no comprehensive recent study had been carried out in South Africa. This study was performed within weeks of September 11, 2001 on a sample of 121 members of the Cape IT Initiative (CITI), and of the Computer Society of South Africa (CSSA), from a range of industries and geographical regions. Highest rated issues were business intelligence, a responsive IT infrastructure and disaster recovery, while Business Relationship and Technical Infrastructure issues were prominent overall. Demographic factors did not significantly influence overall results. Rankings were correlated with an earlier South African study and with 1997 Australian research, but not with a 1995 USA study. The economic developmental status of a country was found to be linked to the key issues that country faces.

Key Issues in Information Systems Management: A Comparative Study of Academics and Practitioners in Thailand

This study was designed to examine the information systems (IS) key issues in Thailand by comparing IS academics and practitioners within the country, and by comparing Thailand as a whole with other developed and developing countries. The economic development based on GDP per capita was used to classlfj, the developed and developing countries. The Q-Sort method, a ranking technique, was used to rank the IS key issues. The data were collected through an Internet survey website. The findings show that the issue of building information technology (Ig infrastructure was projected to be the top issue over the next three to five years in Thailand. The importance ranking of IS key issues in Thailand was similar to the studies from developed countries but dlflerent than the studies from developing countries. There was a signljkant dlflerence in the importance rankings of IS key issues between academics and practitioners in Thailand. However, they were in agreement on the first and second ranking IS key issues, which were building IT infrastructure and IS strategic planning, respectively.

Critical issues of information systems management in the Greek Public Sector

Extensive research has been conducted on the main issues that organizations face concerning Information Systems (IS) management, in order to exploit the capabilities of the rapidly evolving Information and Communications Technologies (ICTs) to the highest possible extent. However most of this research has been directed towards the private sector. The present study attempts to contribute to the research of the critical issues of IS management in the public sector. Based on 32 interviews with IS Managers of Greek Public Sector organizations using a structured questionnaire, the main issues and challenges that the organizations of the Greek Public Sector face concerning the whole cycle of IS management are investigated. From this investigation it is concluded that the most important IS management issue currently faced is to hire 'New IS Human Resources', followed by the issues of 'Extending Use of Office Automation' and of 'Management and Use of Data Resources'. The results shed light on the profile of the modern IS management function, which has become highly complex and multidimensional, containing many both technical and non-technical management issues, which can be either internal or external to the IS Unit. The results also show the highly horizontal nature of the IS function: its success depends more on issues concerning its cooperation and relationship with the other functions of the organization, than on issues concerning its own functional expertise. From the study of the main expected IS management issues after 3 years, it is concluded that about one third of the main agenda currently faced by IS management is expected to change within three years, confirming the highly dynamic nature of the IS management function. The results of the present study were also compared with the results of previous studies of IS management issues conducted in Greece and in USA. From the comparison were determined both similarities and differences as to the main IS management issues faced. Therefore some of the main IS management issues faced by organizations are universal, while some others are specific to particular sectoral and national contexts.

Key Issues in IS Management in Norway

Information systems (IS) departments face many challenges in today’s rapidly changing environment. One approach to understanding these challenges is to survey IS managers to elicit what they consider are key issues. Studies of key IS management issues have been conducted for some years in many nations and regions. However, most of these surveys lack a theoretical basis for the selection of key issues. Furthermore, most studies have used a single-round or a multi-round Delphi method. This paper provides an overview of research approaches to key issues studies combined with key issues results from previous research. The paper presents methodological issues and choices for a survey on key issues in IS management which was conducted in Norway. A three step procedure for key issues selection is introduced, and a Q-sort analysis is adopted. The paper presents results from the Q-sort survey and analysis. The highest ranked key issue in Norway, according to the survey, is concerned with improving links between information systems strategy and business strategy.

Critical Issues of Information Systems Management in Kuwait

The purpose of this study is to investigate IS managers' perceptions of the IS management issues in Kuwait, in particular, and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, in general. The study uses a structured interview technique as the primary data collection method. The opinions of the highest ranked executives or managers for the IS functions are solicited for a sample of Kuwaiti organizations. The participating IS executives and managers are from a variety of organizations, both public and private. The results indicate that IS managers are equally concerned with managerial and technology related issues. The overriding priorities are strongly related to the general category of information infrastructure issues. The responding organizations tended to perceive most of the issues more as opportunities rather than problems. A comparative analysis reveals some similarities and differences in the type and ranking of the key issues between Kuwait and the U.S. Moreover, substantial differences exist in this study's key issue framework compared to that of the GCC study that was conducted a decade ago. Thus, the challenge facing these countries is not so much a lack of IT resources, but how to manage, deploy, and leverage these resources to get optimal utilization.

Studies of key issues in IS management around the world

Information systems (IS) departments face many challenges in today's rapidly changing environment. One approach to understanding these challenges is to survey IS managers to elicit what they consider are key issues. Studies of key IS management issues have been conducted for some years in many nations and regions. Based on such studies and a theoretical framework, this paper predicts the following key issues into the 21st century: (1) improving links between information systems strategy and business strategy, (2) developing and implementing an information architecture, (3) implementing knowledge management systems, and (4) reducing IT projects’ completion time and budget deviations. For future studies of key issues in IS management around the world, this paper provides an overview of research approaches to initial key issues selection and key issues surveys.

Global Comparisons of Key Issues in IS Management: Extending Initial Selection Procedure and an Empirical Study in Norway

Information systems (IS) departments face many challenges in today's rapidly changing environment. One approach to understanding these challenges is to survey IS managers to elicit what they consider are key issues. Studies of key IS management issues have been conducted for some years in many nations and regions. However, most of these surveys lack a theoretical basis for the selection of key issues. Furthermore, most studies have used a single-round or a multi-round Delphi method. This chapter provides an overview of research approaches to key issues studies combined with key issues results from previous research. The chapter presents methodological issues and choices for a survey on key issues in IS management which was conducted in Norway in 1998. A three step procedure for key issues selection is introduced, and a Q-method analysis is adopted. The chapter presents results from the Q-sort survey and analysis. The highest ranked key issue in Norway, according to the survey, is concerned with improving links between information systems strategy and business strategy. Global comparisons of key issues in information systems management confirm this top ranked issue. Also, the issue of planning information technology projects for competitive advantage is a high ranking issue in Norway and most other countries. Improving interorganizational information systems planning was the third highest ranked issue in Norway, but it is non- existent in other survey lists. This can be partly explained by the lack of theoretical framework when issues were selected in other studies and by the small organizational sizes in Norway.

Information Systems Management Issues: Reporting and Relevance*

ABSTRACTReports of key information systems issues have been published over the last two decades in many journals. Leading IS journals (e.g., MIS Quarterly, Information & Management, among others) have published key IS management issue reports every three or four years over the last 15 years, and will probably continue to provide such reports in the future. Although these reports claim to provide decisional guidance to practitioners, researchers, consultants, etc., the authors in their experience have noted concerns about their usefulness. While not questioning the validity of the methods and analysis conducted in these studies, we address two important questions in this article: the manner of reporting of the key issue results (which might be misleading), and the relevance of the results (are they providing what they intended to?). We hope that our discussion will provide new perspectives in making resource allocation decisions to both readers and authors of key issue articles.

A CEO View of Key Issues in Australian Information Systems Management - 1997

As part of a research programme on key information systems management issues, a survey of Australasia's largest 500 organisations was conducted to identify which issues were perceived by their chief executive officers (CEOs) as being important, problematic and critical over the next three to five years. The results reported are based on a relatively low response rate (though perhaps reasonable for the target group) so should be regarded as only exploratory. The most critical issues were revealed to be a mix of technology management issues (IT infrastructure, disaster recovery), strategic management issues (BPR, competitive advantage, information architecture), people management issues (organisational learning), systems development and data management issues (effective use of the data resource, effectiveness/productivity of IS, effectiveness of software development), and their own support systems (EIS/DSS). This reflects their interest in a wide range of issues, but all with an organisation-wide focus. Non-critical issues were mostly related to the individual technologies and the place and role of IS in the organisation. While the CEOs showed some agreement with their chief information officers (CIOs) on issues such as the IT infrastructure, competitive advantage, and organisational learning some distinct differences exist, particularly in relation to the quality and effectiveness of systems and processes and also how CEOs and CIOs perceive each other.

Information systems management issues in Central America: a multinational and comparative study

As business move to increased levels of globalization, information systems (IS) management issues in the global economy become increasingly significant. This study identified and evaluated the key IS management issues in two Central American countries—Costa Rica and Guatemala—and compared those issues to two other countries—Australia and the US. Good agreement was found on the importance of the issues in the two Central American countries, while the comparison of the key issues with Australia and the US showed differences between the developing and developed countries. Some issues were found to be important in all the countries compared. Based on the findings, key IS issues are classified as developed-country developing-country and universal.

Information Systems Management: an Australasian view of key issues - 1996

As part of a longitudinal study of key information systems management issues, a survey of Australasia's largest 500 organisations was conducted to identify which issues were perceived by the IS executives as being important, problematic and critical over the next three to five years. The most critical issues were revealed to be a mix of technology management issues (IT infrastructure, communications, disaster recovery), strategic management issues (competitive advantage, IS planning, aligning the IS organisation), people management issues (organisational learning, educating senior management in IT), systems development and data management issues (effective use of the data resource), and end-user computing. This reflects the need for a balance of business, technical, and people skills in an IS executive. Non-critical issues were mostly related to systems development and the individual technologies which must be integrated and managed to ensure a responsive IT infrastructure. The study also reveals that some issues are much more important than problematic (disaster recovery, competitive advantage, information architecture, and IS alignment) while others are much more problematic than important (end-user computing, IS role and contribution, and BPR). The former reflects a growing level of knowledge in handling these issues, while the latter reflects a continuing problem with them. The differences between this study and similar studies conducted in 1988 and 1992 show that there is a growing confidence in the IS executive's ability to manage the strategic issues, a continuing concern about providing a responsive IT infrastructure (especially communications), and a continuing concern with educating all 'customers' in the organisation in the effective use of IT, including senior management.

Key Issues in Information Systems Management: An International Perspective

:This study compares and contrasts the findings of recent information systems (IS) management studies in ten nations or regions as well as one U.S. multinational study. It examines the key concerns of IS executives in these areas, focusing on identifying and explaining regional similarities and differences. Internationally, there are substantial differences in key issues. Possible reasons for these differences—cultural, economic development, political/legal environment, and technological status—are discussed. The analysis suggests that national culture and economic development can explain differences in key issues. The paper concludes with a revised framework for key issues studies that will more readily support comparison across time and nations.

Information systems strategies for multinational companies in Arab Gulf countries

With the emergence of an expanding interdependent global economy, information systems (IS) strategists need to face the challenges of internationalization. The growth of multinational business has led many corporations to support significantly high level of IS operations and IS applications development in foreign environments. By developing a conceptual framework, this paper addresses multinational companies (MNCs) IS global policy formulation and several implications for IS management issues in Arab Gulf countries (AGC). The objective is to illustrate the uniqueness of the business and IS problems confronting MNCs in AGC. Insights have been gained from examining the implications of the pertinent economic, sociopolitical, legal, and cultural variables that affect MNC IS global policy formulation. The uniqueness of the business and IS problems confronting MNCs in the AGC are illustrated. Helping MNC IS executives/professionals to understand the differences between their own environment and the one in which they must operate can improve their IS functions in this region. AGC native companies with IS activities can also benefit from such an analysis in managing their multinational personnel.

Development of measures to assess dimensions of IS operation transactions

Information Systems (IS) researchers often rely on Organization Economics models to describe and explain various IS management issues. While those models are found to be useful, measures are yet to be proposed to assess the dimensions of IS transactions. In this paper we present the results of a study that was a first effort toward this end. The focus of the study was on one type of transaction, IS operations, in a particular management context, that of outsourcing. Measures were developed for four critical dimensions of IS operation transactions: asset specificity, measurement problem, origin of the most important investment, and governance mechanism. Data from 250 large Canadian firms were used to assess the measures, using the partial least squares technique.