The role of senior managers’ positive self-image in supporting MIS implementation

Abstract

Purpose Researchers have long been interested in how the psychology of senior managers affects their behaviours. This paper aims to present the results of a questionnaire into how positive self-image influences how well senior managers in UK manufacturing organisations support the implementation of management information system (MIS). This study developed two scales, one to measure senior managers’ attitudes and the other to measure support of MIS implementation. It also sought to investigate the impact of senior managers’ positive self-image on their support of MIS implementation in UK manufacturing organisations. Design/methodology/approach The authors tested the hypotheses on a data set of 400 senior managers from UK manufacturing organisations. Two unidimensional scales to measure senior managers’ attitude and support level towards MIS implementation were developed. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was used to validate the scales. The study also examined the impact of senior managers’ positive self-image on their attitude and support from the perspective of UK manufacturing organisations by using structural equation modelling. Findings The study found that senior managers’ positive self-image is a significant contributing factor to their attitude. Also, senior managers’ attitude has a strong positive impact on their support in the MIS implementation process. A strong mediating relationship was found to exist between senior managers’ positive self-image and support through their attitude towards MIS implementation. Originality/value Although past literature has examined the importance of senior managers’ attitude and support in successful MIS implementation, there has been no specific scale around management support and attitude towards MIS implementation developed to date. Thus, a contribution of this study is its development of two new scales based on a survey of senior managers of UK manufacturing organisations. The scales can be used to evaluate senior managers’ perception towards MIS implementation and the support they are willing to give whilst implementing MIS. Another contribution of this study is the analysis of positive self-image via item-parcelling which improves model efficiency and provides more stable estimates of the construct.