Engagement of External Expertise in Information Systems Implementation

Journal of Management Information Systems, Vol. 11, No. 2, pp. 209-231, 1994

23 Pages Posted: 25 Mar 2012 Last revised: 23 Oct 2013

See all articles by James Y.L. Thong

James Y.L. Thong

HKUST Business School

Chee-Sing Yap

affiliation not provided to SSRN

K. S. Raman

affiliation not provided to SSRN

Date Written: January 1, 1994

Abstract

Most small businesses lack computer experience and do not have sufficient internal computer expertise. Hence, small businesses are more dependent on external expertise such as consultants and vendors than are larger businesses. This paper compares the information systems (IS) effectiveness of a group of small businesses that engage separate consultants and vendors (consultant-vendor approach) with that of another group of small businesses that engage vendors who also provide consultancy service (vendor-only approach). The results show that small businesses that adopt the vendor-only approach have more effective information systems than small businesses that adopt the consultant-vendor approach. Further, the vendor-only approach results in the same level of consultant effectiveness and a better level of vendor support for small businesses compared with the consultant-vendor approach. The relationship between vendor and other parties in the IS implementation project is found to be an important predictor of IS effectiveness.

Keywords: small business, consultant, vendor, information systems success, IS effectiveness, outsourcing

Suggested Citation

Thong, James Y.L. and Yap, Chee-Sing and Raman, K. S., Engagement of External Expertise in Information Systems Implementation (January 1, 1994). Journal of Management Information Systems, Vol. 11, No. 2, pp. 209-231, 1994, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1978688

James Y.L. Thong (Contact Author)

HKUST Business School ( email )

Clear Water Bay
Kowloon
Hong Kong

HOME PAGE: http://jthong.people.ust.hk/

Chee-Sing Yap

affiliation not provided to SSRN ( email )

K. S. Raman

affiliation not provided to SSRN ( email )

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