Factors causing the relationship gap between top management and IS personnel

Abstract

Purpose

The gap between top management and IS personnel is preventing organisations develop a competitive advantage based on IS. The purpose of this paper is thus to improve the understanding of the relationship between top management and IS personnel and to identify the key factors that are important in this relationship.

Design/methodology/approach

Two separate questionnaires were used for IS department managers and top management to identify key factors in the relationship. In total, 221 CIOs and 93 CEOs agreed to participate in the research. To identify factors in the business-IS relationship an exploratory factor analysis was used. Further, factor scores were calculated and the independent samples t-test was used to compare these factor scores to reveal any significant differences in perceptions between CIOs and CEOs.

Findings

The empirical investigation reveals the existence of nine factors that are important in the business-IS relationship. Seven factors are perceived differently by top management and IS management and thus causing the gap in the relationship, while two factors are similarly perceived.

Practical implications

The paper presents the key areas business and IS personnel should pay attention to. Therefore, it enables reducing the business-IS gap by considering the identified factors and dedicating significant effort to the factors with significant differences.

Originality/value

The paper contributes to understanding the key factors in the relationship between top and IS managers as it identifies factors that are causing the business-IS gap. Thus, it develops the existing literature since it is simultaneously focusing on managerial and IS side. The study is also valuable for researchers enabling future research in exploring these factors in detail.

Citation

Manfreda, A. and Indihar Štemberger, M. (2014), "Factors causing the relationship gap between top management and IS personnel", Journal of Enterprise Information Management, Vol. 27 No. 2, pp. 107-121. https://doi.org/10.1108/JEIM-05-2012-0021