The Strategic Usefulness of Management Information as Perceived by Middle Managers

Abstract

The study sought to investigate the impact of the contextual variables of decentralization and environmental uncertainty on the strategic usefulness of management information as perceived by middle managers of an overseas subsidiary of a large, diversified multinational corporation. Management information was expressed in terms of the characteristics of aggregation, scope, and timeliness. Factor analysis was used to verify these dimensions. Data were collected through the use of a questionnaire. Three hypothesized relationships between the contextual variables and the information characteristics were tested through multiple regression analysis. The results indicated that there was a significant relationship between the management information characteristics and perceived environmental uncertainty. Two of the information characteristics-scope and timeliness-showed no significant relationship with decentralization. Aggregation of information, however, only showed a relationship with decentralization through the interaction of environmental uncertainty and decentralization. Implications of these findings for management and organizations are discussed.