How involvement, IS management effectiveness, and end-user computing impact IS performance in manufacturing firms

A rapidly changing environment requires firms to adopt a customer-driven approach in managing their information systems. Study results indicate that firms with high levels of organizational involvement in IS related activities have higher levels of IS management effectiveness. In turn, these higher levels lead to lower levels of end-user self-reliance in application development and higher levels of end-user dependence on IS expertise. In our study, end-user self-reliance indicated the presence of independent end-users circumventing the IS unit by developing software applications and engaging in traditional IS activities. In contrast, end-user dependence on IS expertise indicated that end-users believed that the IS unit was a valuable and reliable source of technical knowledge and application support. More effective IS management practices, combined with higher end-user dependence on the IS expertise, were found to lead to improved perceptions of IS performance. Data were collected from 265 senior manufacturing managers who were selected because their perspective of IS activities and performance was desired and manufacturing units are an important user of the services. Structural equation modeling was used to test our hypotheses.