Organization Size and Information System Use: An Empirical Study

Abstract:Organization size has often been viewed as a predictor of the adoption of administrative innovations, including computerization or information system use. Increasing size is said either to necessitate IS use (to solve communications and integration problems which arise from increasing size) or at least to facilitate such use (by providing greater opportunity to achieve benefits through computerization). To investigate this relationship, IS use (as measured by expenditures for computing) as a function of various measures of organization size is studied for sixty-six units of the National Forest System. The results are not in accordance with theory or previously reported studies—little significant relationship is found between size and IS use. Possible explanations of these results include differing levels of IS advocacy among individuals on the staffs of the units studied.

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