Encouraging user management participation in systems design

Abstract Although the need for managers of user functions to be involved in the design of information or decision support systems (DSS) is broadly accepted as one of the essential principles of information systems development, we know little about why some firms have been able to achieve high levels of such managerial participation while others have been less successful. Though field interviews with MIS directors, it was possible to identify three widely held assumptions concerning the organizational level factors which might facilitate middle management participation from user organizations in systems design. To explore the relationship between these factors and user middle management participation, 152 user managers (functional area department heads) were studied from 55 firms. The results suggest that many firms may, unknowingly, manage their information system function in a manner which does not encourage user middle management involvement in the design of the systems they use.