A Theory-based Model for the Study of Executive Information Systems Adoption by the Top-level Managers

In recent years, a number of organisations have invested heavily in executive information systems (EIS) in order to improve the performance gains of their executives’ roles. Although executives presided over and authorised investment in EIS projects to support their roles, the majority of executives are unenthusiastic about using EIS because of the design flaws and failures of these systems. Studies by Nandhakumar and Jones (1997), McBride (1997) and recently Ditsa (2003) have suggested that the root of the success or failure of EIS can be attributed to social, cultural and organisational factors rather than technical factors alone. To address the problem of the low use of EIS by executives, we use social factors, habits and facilitation conditions from Triandis’(1979) framework to extend the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM). The model hypothesises that executives’ behaviour positively relates to facilitating conditions, habits and social factors. This paper is a significant contribution to management practice and academic literature.