IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/inm/orisre/v7y1996i2p248-267.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

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

Author

Listed:
  • James Y. L. Thong

    (Department of Information Systems and Computer Science, National University of Singapore, Singapore 119260)

  • Chee-Sing Yap

    (Department of Information Systems and Computer Science, National University of Singapore, Singapore 119260)

  • K. S. Raman

    (Department of Information Systems and Computer Science, National University of Singapore, Singapore 119260)

Abstract

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.

Suggested Citation

  • James Y. L. Thong & Chee-Sing Yap & K. S. Raman, 1996. "Top Management Support, External Expertise and Information Systems Implementation in Small Businesses," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 7(2), pages 248-267, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:inm:orisre:v:7:y:1996:i:2:p:248-267
    DOI: 10.1287/isre.7.2.248
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1287/isre.7.2.248
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1287/isre.7.2.248?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:inm:orisre:v:7:y:1996:i:2:p:248-267. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Chris Asher (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/inforea.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.