On Measuring the Criticality of Various Variables and Processes in Organization Information Systems: Proposed Methodological Procedure

Abstract

This paper proposes methodological procedures to be used by the accounting, organizational and managerial researchers and executives to ascertain the criticality of the variables and the processes in the measurement of management control system. We have restricted the validation of proposed methods to the extraction of critical success factors (CSF) in this study. We have also provided a numerical illustration and tested our methodological procedures using a dataset of an empirical study conducted for the purpose of ascertaining the CSFs.

The proposed methods can be used by the researchers in accounting, organizational information systems, economics, and business and also in other relevant disciplines of organizational sciences. The main contribution of this paper is the extension of Rockart’s work (1986) on critical success factors. We have extended the theory of CSF beyond the initially suggested domain of information into management control system decision making. The methodological procedures developed by us are expected to enrich the literature of analytical and empirical studies in accounting and organizational areas where it can prove helpful in understanding the criticality of individual variables, processes, methods or success factors.

Keywords: Success factors, Criticality analysis, Perceptual criticality, Critical success factors

JEL Classification: M40, M41, M49