The relationship between organizational characteristics and information system structure: An international survey

The flexibility allowed by an increasingly convergent set of computing and communication technologies can potentially facilitate a centralized, distributed or decentralized structures for hardware deployment, This study explores the relationship between these structures and a number of contextual factors such as firm size, economic sector, organizational structure and role of information technology (IT). Using operationalizations consistent with previous research, these relationships were studied in three distinct cultural contexts, Measures of perceived information systems success were also obtained in order to extend previous studies in this area. The results provided some support for the relationship between decision making structure and hardware deployment in US firms. However, the only consistent finding among all countries was the positive relationship between the role of IT and perceived system success. These results highlight the increasing complexity surrounding IT deployment decisions.