Information Systems Usage and the Operational Effectiveness of Multinational Oil Marketing Firms in Kenya

Abstract

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.