Managing information systems to support functional business requirements in China

摘要

An important problem for organizations is managing information systems (IS) to support important business functions. The purpose of this research was to investigate and determine the extent, if any, that perspectives of IS planning and management advocated in the US literature could be found in practice in Chinese business organizations. Semi-structured interviews with general managers and IS directors in five Chinese business organizations were conducted to address this problem in the four areas of IS planning support, IS planning methodologies, data resource management, and the IS manager's role. The results reveal that Chinese 4business organizations do not automate administrative and business record keeping activities as their first step. Instead, they place highest priority on implementing systems that provide information to support management control decision making in meeting planned business performance objectives, such as achieving sales quotas or filling customer contracts on time. The results of this study show that the five Chinese businesses aligned their IS applications with a specific few business functions that were critical to successful achievement of their goals. The IS manager served as a manager of technical issues, which reinforced a technical database modelling approach to managing the data resources for IS applications. Implications and recommendations for incorporating IS into business activities are discussed and presented at the end of the paper for multinational business organizations interested in conducting business in China. An appendix briefly discusses the role that Chinese political, environmental and marketing factors play in affecting the management and use of IS in Chinese businesses.