Does Culture Matter? An Examination of Information Systems Planning in the Subsidiaries of Multinational Firms

Hofstede's national culture model has been applied in prior research to better understand the management of multinational firms. That research suggests that national culture may influence the information systems planning autonomy of the subsidiaries of multinational firms. A postal survey of 130 chief information officers and 103 senior non-IS managers of U.S. subsidiaries of such firms collected data to test hypotheses based on the model. Structural equation modeling using PLS-Graph 3.0 revealed that Individualism-Collectivism and Masculinity-Femininity predicted IS planning autonomy in general, whereas those dimensions plus Uncertainty Avoidance predicted it for particular IS planning phases. IS planning autonomy (as rated by the CIOs) predicted IS planning effectiveness (also as rated by the CIOs), which in turn predicted IS contribution (as rated by the senior non-IS managers). The findings demonstrate the relevance of the national culture model to IS planning effectiveness and IS contribution. They also suggest to subsidiary managers that an understanding of the national culture of their parent firm can help them gain an insight into the parent's management perspective.