Information Systems Usage and the Operational Effectiveness of Multinational Oil Marketing Firms in Kenya
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Date
2011Author
King’ola, Joseph M
Type
ThesisLanguage
enMetadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Businesses globally require timely, relevant, reliable and accurate information to
survive and be competitive in the current global market environment. The market exit
trend by the multinational oil marketing firms in Kenya since the liberalization of the
sector in 1994 has been a subject of much debate among the consumers of oil
products, researchers and general public in Kenya. Many firms have invested
substantial resources in information systems (IS) such as transaction processing
systems, management information systems, decision support systems and executive
information systems to support their business operations, but the extent to which these
systems support their business operations through usage is not clear.
This study explores the relationship between information systems usage and
operational effectiveness of multinational oil marketing firms in Kenya. The research
was conducted through explanatory study design, targeting all the management
employees of the eight (8) major multinational oil marketing firms in Kenya. The
research based its findings on quantitative data collected by use of questionnaire. The
data was analyzed by the use of descriptive statistics and further subjected to
nonparametric regression analysis to establish the predictive power of information
systems usage and the operational effectiveness.
The study findings concludes that the multinational oil marketing firms in Kenya have
information systems in place, ranging from transaction processing systems,
management information systems, decision support systems and executive
information systems; which are extremely important in the organizations operations.
The major factors affecting the levels of information systems usage are perceived ease
of use, cost of information systems support and global economic competition. The
study also deduced that usage of information systems in production, innovation, sales,
marketing, supply chain, customer service and business processes influence the
operational effectiveness; reliability, efficiency, quality, and cost of operations in the
firms. The study recommends management in the multinational oil marketing firms in
Kenya to ensure that all the employees have access and adequate training on the usage
of information systems in their operations for information systems to have optimal
effect on the operational effectiveness in their organizations.
Sponsorhip
The University of NairobiPublisher
University of Nairobi, School of Business