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Dissertation Information for Mary Jean Culnan

NAME:
- Mary Jean Culnan

DEGREE:
- Ph.D.

DISCIPLINE:
- [No Discipline Recorded]

SCHOOL:
- University of California, Los Angeles (USA) (1980)

ADVISORS:
- None

COMMITTEE MEMBERS:
- None

MPACT Status: Incomplete - Not_Inspected

Title: ORGANIZATIONAL INFORMATION FLOWS AND THE INDUSTRIAL LIBRARY: AN EMPIRICAL INVESTIGATION

Abstract: A recent survey indicated that more than 300 of the Fortune 500 companies had at least one library. Because these libraries routinely acquire and disseminate published information which can support managerial decision making, industrial libraries represent one type of management information system. This role has not, however, been recognized in the MIS literature. The purpose of this research was to investigate the management use of industrial libraries, and the ways that the use of these libraries is influenced by task variables, perceptions about the task environment, and an individual's disposition toward boundary spanning.

The research was conducted as a field study in two, large, California-based organizations, a bank, and a manufacturing firm. Both organizations have libraries which serve their corporate headquarters. Data was collected by means of a questionnaire. The subjects were professionals employed in the corporate headquarters of the two organizations and represented a variety of functional areas and different levels of responsibility. The overall response rate for the survey was 80% (362 usable responses).

Significant intra-organizational differences were found to exist in the amount of library usage by functional area and by level of responsibility. There was no significant inter-organizational difference in the overall amount of library use nor in the frequency of library usage, relative to other channels. Significant differences were found in the overall amount of boundary-spanning performed by the two organizations, and in the frequencies that the library was used to support various activities with the exception of current awareness (or scanning).

Second, the concept of industrial libraries as management information systems is supported by this data. Managers in both organizations make use of the library. Further, when the frequencies that the library is used to support various activities are ranked, there are no significant differences among the rankings for subjects based upon the level of responsibility. In the manufacturing organization, the library is used most heavily by subjects without any subordinates, and library use declines as the number of subordinates increases. However, comments made by the subjects indicate that in some instances, there exists an indirect flow of information from the library to the managers through subordinates.

Third, ten hypotheses were tested in order to determine if a relationship exists between amount of library usage and the independent variables employed in this study. In both organizations, library usage was positively related to frequency of use of external information, and in a general sense, frequency of channel use was positively related to perceptions of channel accessibility. In the bank, library usage was positively related to being located in close physical proximity to the library. In the manufacturing organization, task complexity and perceptions of the library as both a high quality and an accessible information source were positively related to library usage: perceived uncertainty was negatively related to use of the library. In both organizations, there was no significant relationship between amount of library usage and dynamism, the superior's perception of the library, and disposition toward boundary-spanning.

Finally, overall models were constructed for each organization which confirmed the results of the individual hypotheses. The differences in library use are attributed in part to the ability of each library to serve as a boundary-spanner for its parent organization, and to the overall climate for information-sharing within the two organizations.

MPACT Scores for Mary Jean Culnan

A = 0
C = 1
A+C = 1
T = 0
G = 0
W = 0
TD = 0
TA = 0
calculated 2008-05-30 12:08:23

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