Top Management Support, External Expertise and Information Systems Implementation in Small Businesses.

Author List: Thong, James Y. L.; Yap, Chee-sing; Raman, K. S.;
Information Systems Research, 1996, Volume 7, Issue 2, Page 248-267.
Top management support is a key recurrent factor critical for effective information systems (IS) implementation. However, the role of top management support may not be as critical as external IS expertise, in the form of consultants and vendors, in small business IS implementation due to the unique characteristics of small businesses. This paper describes an empirical study of the relative importance of top management support and external IS expertise on IS effectiveness in 114 small businesses. Partial least squares (PLS) was used for statistical testing. The results show that top management support is not as important as effective external IS expertise in small business IS implementation. While top management support is essential for IS effectiveness, high quality external IS expertise is even more critical for small businesses operating in an environment of resource poverty. These findings call for more research efforts to be directed at selecting and engaging high quality external IS expertise for IS implementation in small businesses.
Keywords: Consultant; External Expertise; Small Businesses; Top Management Support; Vendor
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List of Topics

#192 0.431 small business businesses firms external firm's growth size level expertise used high major environment lack resources companies internally factors internal
#198 0.182 factors success information critical management implementation study factor successful systems support quality variables related results key model csf importance determinants
#113 0.119 support decision dss systems guidance process making environments decisional users features capabilities provide decision-making user paper findings systems.decision components computer-based
#240 0.068 systems information management development presented function article discussed model personnel general organization described presents finally computer-based role examined functional components
#11 0.066 structural pls measurement modeling equation research formative squares partial using indicators constructs construct statistical models researchers latent analysis results sem
#251 0.053 implementation erp enterprise systems resource planning outcomes support business associated understanding benefits implemented advice key implementing scope functional post-implementation implementations