Survey research

Richard T. Watsonrwatson@terry.uga.educopyright © 2003

Key issues – a sample survey

Key issues studies have been conducted in several countriesSimilar to Delphi approachThe 1988 Australian study exemplifies several features of a sample surveyA modification of earlier US studies– Rating rather than ranking– Feedback to population

Watson, R. T. Key issues in information systems management: an Australian perspective – 1988. Australian Computer Journal. 1989; 21(3): 118-129.

The population

MIS managers of Australia’s top 200 organizations

Australian Business Review Weekly list

Used library resources to find address and SIC (standard industrial code)

Response rates

Number of responses for each round

Round 1 Round 2 Round 3

24 24 24

10 - 10

9 9 -

- 14 14

9 - -

- 8 -

–––– –––– ––––

Totals 52 55 48

Non-response problem

24% response rate is low but typical2 = 10.52 with p = .31

Distribution by industry for the population and the sample

Industry Population Sample

Frequency Percentage Frequency Percentage

Construction 4 2.0 0 0.0

Finance 43 21.5 6 12.5

Manufacturing 55 27.5 16 33.3

Mining 18 9.0 4 8.3

Primary 3 1.5 1 2.1

Public service 7 3.5 5 10.4

Retail 8 4.0 1 2.1

Service 12 6.0 3 6.2

Transport 24 12.0 6 12.5

Wholesale 26 13.0 6 12.5

Totals 200 100.0 48 100.0

How many rounds?

Average standard deviation of ratings for each round

(Based upon the issues in the first round)

Round Average standard

deviation

1 2.58

2 1.85

3 1.79

1 2 30

1

2

3

4

Averagestandarddeviation

Round

Extending the study

Comparison with other key issue studies– Cultural differences– Stage of economic development– Local conditions– Watson, R. T.; Brancheau, J. C. Key issues in information

systems management: an international perspective. Information & Management; 1991; 20(3): 213-223.

Determinants of key issues– Watson, R. T. Influences on information systems managers'

perceptions of key issues: information scanning and relationship with the CEO. MIS Quarterly. 1990; 14(2):217-232.

Comparative analysis

International Issues in IS ManagementRegional Rankings

Overallranking

International Issue Aust'88

Europe'88

Sing'87

US'86

Averageranking

StdDev

Spread

1 Strategic Planning 1 1 11 1 1.00 0.00 0.00

2 Organizational Alignment 5 2 15 5 4.00 1.73 3.00

3 Competitive Advantage 7 4 8 2 4.33 2.52 5.00

3 IS's Role & Contribution 6 3 9 4 4.33 1.53 3.00

5 Information Architecture 3 5 -- 8 5.33 2.52 5.00

6 Organizational Learning 10 8 3 3 7.00 3.61 7.00

6 Human Resources 2 7 5 12 7.00 5.00 10.00

8 End-User Computing 8 14 2 6 9.33 4.16 8.00

8 Data as a Resource 9 12 -- 7 9.33 2.52 5.00

10 Software Development 4 14 12 13 10.33 5.51 10.00

11 Telecommunications 13 9 -- 11 11.00 2.00 4.00

12 Integrating Technology 18 10 4 10 12.67 4.62 8.00

13 Measuring Effectiveness 19 11 1 9 13.00 5.29 10.00

14 Security & Control 17 18 6 18 17.67 0.58 1.00

15 IS Funding Level 27 6 -- 20 17.67 10.69 21.00

Correlation analysis

Correlation of ranking of key issuesKendall's tau (probability)

Australia Europe Singapore USA

Australia 1.00 0.33 (.09*) -0.53 (.02**) 0.30 (.13)

Europe 1.00 -0.44 (.06*) 0.36 (.06*)

Singapore 1.00 -0.05 (.82)

USA 1.00

* Significant at 10% level * *Significant at 5% level

Correspondence analysis

Determinants

What ‘causes’ key issues?

Contextual factors

Individual factors

Conceptual model

Environmental factors

Organizational factors

IS departmentalfactors

IS manager's characteristics

IS manager'sscanningbehavior

IS manager's perception

of key issues

Contextualfactors

Individualcharacteristics

Research model

IS manager'sscanningbehavior

IS manager'srelationship

with the CEO

IS manager'sperception

of key issues

Measuring information scanning

Reported hours of scanning– IS literature– Management literature

Reported number of sources– IS literature– Management literature

Measure correlation with top five issues

Information scanning

Key issues by scanning behaviorCorrelation (Prob > |R| under H0: ρ = 0)

IS management issues Management issues Key issue Hours of Breadth of Hours of Breadth of

scanning scanning scanning scanning

IS strategic planning -0.04 (0.815) 0.02(0.924) -0.11 (0.498) 0.05 (0.769)

Human resources -0.03 (0.837) 0.28 (0.064) -0.04 (0.818) -0.13 (0.424)

Information architecture 0.08 (0.604) 0.01 (0.926) 0.01 (0.945) 0.02 (0.878)

Software development -0.01 (0.967) 0.27 (0.085) -0.01 (0.939) 0.17 (0.273)

Alignment with organization 0.10 (0.515) 0.08 (0.632) -0.05 (0.778) -0.09 (0.568)

Measuring relationship with CEO

Reporting level

Physical location with respect to the CEO

Communication with the CEO– two-way

• face-to-face• telephone

– one-way• written• via boss

Closeness to CEO

Key issues by closeness to the CEOCorrelation (Prob > |R| under H0: ρ = 0)

Reporting Location Communication Key issue level re CEO with CEO

IS strategic planning 0.31 (0.044) 0.03 (0.861) 0.44 (0.003)

Human resources -0.05 (0.736) 0.19 (0.233) 0.08 (0.595)

Information architecture 0.21 (0.177) 0.13 (0.398) 0.14 (0.359)

Software development -0.07 (0.658) -0.15 (0.332) -0.06 (0.704)

Alignment with organization 0.35 (0.020) -0.01 (0.931) 0.33 (0.030)

Research contribution

Knowledge of key concerns of Australian MIS managers

Impact of culture on key issues

Identification of a determinant of a key issue

Variations on key issues studies

Q-sorting– Overcome independence of rating– Not as cognitively difficult as ranking– Identify multiple perspectives

Interpretive structural modeling– Uncovering relationships– Root cause analysis

A second comparative analysis

Conceptual model

Key issues

National culture

Economic structure

Political/legal environment

Technological status

Impact of national culture

Uncertainty avoidance

Powerdistance

Well-Oiled machine

Pyramid of people

Village market

Family

Low

High

Low High

AustraliaUnited KingdomUnited States

Gulf CooperativeSlovenia

Hong KongIndiaTaiwan

Correspondence analysis

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

Australia

EstoniaEurope

GCC

Hong Kong

India

Slovenia

Taiwan

UKUS

US MNC

Issue

Region

1 Strategic planning 2 IS organizational alignment 3 Information architecture 4 Competitive advantage 5 Data as a resource 6 Human resources 7 Security & control 8 Integrating technology 9 Software development10 IS's role and contribution

Cloud map

Village market-developed

AustraliaU.K.U.S.

Family-developed

Hong Kong

Family-developing

IndiaTaiwan

Pyramid of people-developing

GCCSlovenia

Conclusion

What are the nuggets?