The impact of farm management on value of management information systems

The value of management information systems (MISs) arises from improved managerial decision making and, therefore, will vary from farm to farm. Insight into this variation will be of use not only to farmers who consider (new) MIS investments, but also to companies that design and market MISs. In this study, the impact of farm management on the value of sow-herd MISs is investigated. Within the same research population, farm management is assessed with two conceptually different classification approaches - the sociological 'style of farming' approach and the farm-economic 'management level- approach. Management levels of sow farmers turned out to be positively correlated with MIS value (r = 0.35, P = 0.02). Although farmers with high management levels tend to be better informed anyway than farmers with low management levels, they get more added value from MISs. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.