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THE IMPACT OF SUBCULTURES ON DECISION SUPPORT SYSTEM USAGE (ORGANIZATION CULTURE, MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEMS, Q-SORT METHODOLOGY)
Abstract
The concept of organizational culture has excited interest recently, playing a key role in the understanding of behavior in organizations and as a determining agent in organization success. A related issue, as yet not well explored, is the extent to which subcultures affect the workings of organizations. In addition, the introduction of decision support systems (DSS) into organizations has met with mixed success. Clearly, if culture is a key to understanding organizational behavior, then a study of the links between culture and the use of DSS is of great interest. A number of user behavior characteristics are of interest. This study will consider user satisfaction with DSS and user involvement with DSS, both quantity and quality. In addition, the effectiveness of decision making from an organizational viewpoint is examined. The primary thrusts of the study, then, are to explore: (1) Whether or not subcultures exist in the organization. (2) If so, what is the nature of the subcultures. (3) How are the subcultures associated with characteristics of decision support system usage. In this study, 24 DSS users from three functional areas in a single organization are Q-sorted into three distinct subcultures. Individuals in the first of these subcultures are characterized by a strong, positive identification with the company image. Members of the second subculture are typified by a highly professional orientation. The third subculture is characterized by strong hostility directed toward the systems staff. None of the three subcultures is strongly associated with demographic or situational variables. The demographic and situational variables include functional area, sex, length of DSS experience, and level of hierarchy. Membership in the subcultures is more strongly associated with the thirteen items measuring user satisfaction with DSS. On the other hand, the demographic and situational variables are more strongly associated with quality of DSS usage. Both sets of independent variables are associated equivalently with effectiveness of decision making from an organizational perspective.
Subject Area
Management
Recommended Citation
BUFFINGTON, JAMES RAY, "THE IMPACT OF SUBCULTURES ON DECISION SUPPORT SYSTEM USAGE (ORGANIZATION CULTURE, MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEMS, Q-SORT METHODOLOGY)" (1986). ETD collection for University of Nebraska-Lincoln. AAI8614444.
https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/dissertations/AAI8614444