Executive computing in a developing country: a case study evaluation of Turkish experience

Executives have long been regarded as the last group of people in an organization to use computers. There are several reasons for this: their work highly unstructured and non-repetitive; they rely on verbal communication more than any other type of communication; they already have support staff for their information needs; and it is difficult for system analysts to "make them talk" about their information requirements. Moreover, they are busy people who might not have time to acquire the skills needed to use computers. However, a new type of information system, known as Executive Information System (EIS), emerged in the 1980s aimed at executive users and this has achieved some success. This research is an exploratory analysis of EIS implementations in the conditions of a Less Developed Country (LDC), namely Turkey. Although Turkish organizations are fairly computerized compared to many other LDCs, the concept of EIS is in its infancy in the country and there are very few EIS implementations. Four pioneering organizations were identified and extensive interviews were conducted with both the executive users and the support staff. The scarcity of EIS applications in the country required such a qualitative case study approach. By any measure EIS is a newly emerging type of IS (Information System) in the country, and only general observations rather than specific recommendations could be provided about its development, implementation and usage. This is true for not only Turkey, but almost all other developing countries. Like most types of IS, almost all research in this emerging field comes from western countries (mainly US) where conditions are very different from developing countries. The reasons for such differences in conditions are manifold: The maturity level of IT (Information Technologies) and the sociocultural environment are the most important ones. It is obvious that the cultural environment has very important implications for organizational and managerial practices as well as for the implementation of information technologies in a country. Hence, researchers in developing countries have the immediate task of establishing robust research practices to foster information technologies in the context of their own cultural settings.