Computers in Industry 58 (2007) 677–686

www.elsevier.com/locate/compind

Understanding the relationship between PMS and MIS in SMEs:

An organizational life cycle perspective
Patrizia Garengo a,*, Sai Nudurupati b, Umit Bititci b
a
DIMEG, University of Padua, Via Venezia, 1, 35131 Padua, Italy
b
Centre for Strategic Manufacturing, DMEM, University of Strathclyde, James Weir Building, 75 Montrose Street, Glasgow G1 1XJ, UK

Available online 12 June 2007

Abstract
This research aims to investigate the relationship between performance measurement system (PMS) and management information system
(MIS) adopting a company life-cycle approach. The scope is to show if and how MIS influences PMS and vice versa. The investigation is carried
out using the case study methodology in Italian and Scottish small and medium enterprises (SMEs). The empirical results are synthesized in two
theoretical propositions.
The first proposition underlines the presence of two circular relationships between PMS, MIS and organizational capability. The first
relationship is that; PMS implementation and use promote development in organizational capability, and that improvements in organizational
capability supports PMS implementation and use. The second relationship is that; advanced MIS create a favourable context for PMS
implementation and use, and that PMS implementation and use encourages investments in MIS.
The second proposition emphasizes that company maturity has a relevant impact on MIS and PMS development where mature organizations are
able to recognize their needs and are able to design effective MIS responding to PMS requirements. On the other hand, in less mature organizations
an external stimulus is essential for supporting MIS investment and PMS implementation and use.
# 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Management information system; Performance measurement system; Organizational capability; Small and medium enterprises

1. Introduction support performance measurement. More recently, the research

Organizations grow through expanding their range of
products and services in response to more mature and saturated
markets. The increasing in product and market heterogeneity
requires a more decentralized structure and, therefore, an
evolution in managerial system becomes essential. Perfor-
mance measurement system is often mentioned as an important
support to managerial development in SMEs. However, many
barriers seem to obstruct its implementation in these
companies; particular attention was given to the lack of IT
platforms [1–3] and people’s behaviour with information [4–6].
Over the last decade there has been an important increase in the
number of software vendors offering different IT platforms to
* Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: patrizia.garengo@unipd.it (P. Garengo),
sai.nudurupati@strath.ac.uk (S. Nudurupati), umit.bititci@strath.ac.uk
(U. Bititci).
0166-3615/$ – see front matter # 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.compind.2007.05.006
emphasizes that when managerial practices and human
behaviour in information system is advanced, there will be a
context that favours performance measurement, regardless of
the level of investment in information systems [7]. Researchers
claim that information systems must be adapted to the specific
characteristics of SMEs and further research on the relationship
between management information systems and performance
measurement (PM) is required [8,2].
Our research aims to contribute to study the relationship
between MIS and PMS implementation in small and medium
enterprises from a dynamic perspective; with the life-cycle
approach being applied to analyse if PMS and MIS are related
to company life cycle stage.
The remainder of this paper is organized in five sections.
First, the literature background on management information
systems and business performance measurement is reviewed
giving particular attention to SMEs. Secondly, the research
design is described. Thirdly, the profile of the companies
involved in the empirical study and the characteristics of their
678 P. Garengo et al. / Computers in Industry 58 (2007) 677–686
PMS implementation are described. Fourthly, the empirical
results are discussed. Finally, the answers to the predefined
research questions are summarized along with a discussion of
the main issues requiring further investigation.
2. Literature background
Since the mid-1980s, increasing attention has been given to
the study of performance measurement, i.e. the process of
quantifying the effectiveness of action. Most of these studies
underline the change from accounting and static approaches to
multidimensional and dynamic approaches considering the
whole organization. This evolution is reflected in the
characteristics of the PMS, i.e. the balanced and dynamic
system that is able to support the decision-making process by
gathering, elaborating and analysing information [8,2]. How-
ever, there is a lack of empirical quantitative research assessing
the actual characteristics of PMS. Some empirical evidence
suggests that the characteristics of a PMS are simple and
rudimentary; at first implementation, by using it, the company
enhances its functions and its scope of application [9,10].
For many years there has been constant progress in
designing performance measurement systems, while little
attention has been placed on the implementation and use of
these systems [11–13]. Also, there is a lack of empirical
research assessing the evolution of the PMS adopted in both
SMEs and big companies.
Plenty of factors are mentioned as obstacles to performance
measurement systems implementation and use in SMEs—see,
for instance, a lack of human and capital resources, managerial
capability, and the misconception of PMS [14]. Many executives
and academics believe that the main reason why PMS are short-
lived is because of people’s behaviour with the information
[6,15]. Providing performance information is not sufficient to
improve business performance results. The real success lies in
people’s behaviour with this performance information [16,4,5].
Management information system is recognized as one of the
critical success factors for PMS implementation. It is defined as
a system that deals with the planning, development, manage-
ment and use of information technology tools to help people
perform all tasks related to information processing and
management [17]. MIS should deliver many results and
benefits. However, in the context of performance measurement,
MIS is required [11] to deliver one or more of the following:
 Data collection, analysis and storage [17,18].
 Improving operational control, speed and flexibility and,
hence, improve efficiencies of business operations [15,18].
 Improving communications, supporting the efficient and
effective running of business processes [17,15].
Some studies suggest that PMS can be made less cumbersome
and more dynamic and responsive using information technol-
ogy support [19,3,20]. An inadequate information system is
described as one of the main obstacles to performance
measurement [21,5,22–24], especially in SMEs. Many authors
write that information systems must be adapted to the specific
characteristics of SMEs [25,2,26,16,8].
The introduction of powerful technological tools has often
led companies to focus their attention on technology – called
hard aspects – and to neglect managerial practices and human
behaviour—called soft aspects; insufficient attention is given to
the organizational impact of information systems [27].
According to many authors, in addition to providing hard
aspects of MIS, such as creating databases, installing servers,
automating data collection systems, etc., companies are also
required to provide soft aspects of MIS, such as Performance
Information Practices and Performance Information Behaviour
[17,28,15,23,4,5].
3. Research methodology
We carried out exploratory research [29] using a qualitative
research approach. Five cases studies were analysed to
investigate the relationship between PMS and MIS. This
technique was chosen for three main reasons [30–33]. First, the
research is explorative, since, as mentioned above, there is a
lack of research on the topic studied. Secondly, the case studies
were considered to be very useful for uncovering possible
contingency effects and for finding empirically grounded
explanations for them [34]. Finally, case studies have proven to
be one of the most powerful research methods, particularly in
development of theory [35]. Moreover, company documents
and interviews with managers were used to collect additional
information and to better understand the data gathered [31]. The
units of analysis were PM, PMS and MIS in SMEs with the
following definitions.
 PM: the process of quantifying the efficiency and effective-
ness of action [36].
 PMS: a balanced and dynamic system that supports the
decision making process by gathering, elaborating and
analysing information [2,8].
 MIS: the system for planning, developing and using the
Information Technology tools that support company mem-
bers in managing the information process [17].
 SMEs: manufacturing companies that have between 50 and
250 employees, whose capital is held by one person or a small
group of people, and that has participated in quality awards or
other improvement projects.
The data was collected by visiting companies and interviewing
persons at different organizational levels. During the first phase
some frameworks were developed to analyse the relationships
between PMS and MIS [35]. The nature of these frameworks is
described later in the paper. Then, in the second phase, the
influence of company growth and organizational capability was
investigated.
4. Empirical study
The empirical study involved three Italian and two Scottish
manufacturing SMEs. For each company we collected
information about PM, PMS, MIS and the company’s growth.
Each company’s PMS was analysed making reference to the
framework proposed by Garengo [10]. This framework is based
 P. Garengo et al. / Computers in Industry 58 (2007) 677–686 679

Fig. 1. PMS typology [10].

on two groups of dimensions. The first is called PMS For a better understanding of each case study, Figs. 1 and 2
characteristics and it considers how a company is using the highlight the parallel evolution in PMS and business growth of
measures to manage performance. The second group is called each company. The relationship between PMS and MIS for the
PMS scope and it refers to what the company is measuring, i.e. empirical cases are described in the following sections.
the existence of many perspectives to measure performance.
The evolution of the PMS and company life cycle is shown in 4.1. Case A
Fig. 1; the initial company’s position is marked with an outline
and number 1, the final company’s position is re-marked with a An entrepreneur founded Company A in 1962 for machining
continuous line and number 2 (Fig. 1). and anodising aluminium components. It specialises in
Considering recent research on information systems designing and manufacturing handles, trims, panels and knobs
[37,17,28,12], MIS was studied—taking into account both hard for the appliance industry. It employs 57 people and turnover is
and soft dimensions, i.e. technology and managerial practices and almost 7.6 million Euros.
human behaviour with information. These aspects were inves-
tigated using two main tools: the first one was a questionnaire
based on the literature available and the second a predefined tool
for studying managerial practices in SMEs [38,14].
During the empirical study, a relationship between PMS and
company growth seemed to have emerged. Many models, based
on the organizational life cycle, have been proposed over the
past decades [39–44]; in this study company growth was
investigated using the Scott and Bruce model [45]. The choice
of an appropriate life-cycle model to identify different
configurations in complex settings was a crucial process.
The Scott and Bruce model was chosen for two main reasons.
First, the model is able to cover a complete company life cycle
from birth to death. Second, the characteristics of each stage are
described in detail and the model is suitable to be used
empirically.
The evolution of the company life cycle is shown in Fig. 2;
number 1 shows initial companies position; number 2 shows
final companies position. Fig. 2. A model for small business growth [45].
680 P. Garengo et al. / Computers in Industry 58 (2007) 677–686
Since the Company was established, for 20 years it grew up
quite quickly in different market segments. During the1980s the
Company went into crisis, brought about by increasing
competitiveness, lack of strategy and managerial culture
(A1—see Figs. 1 and 2). In order to bring back the business
into the market and compete with competitors, there was a need
to change both managerial and operational practices, as well as
redefine the strategy. For achieving this it was necessary to
adopt suitable tools to manage it. However, the founder was not
able to do that; he could not change his managerial approach. In
1989, the entrepreneur was retired and his son took up the
management of the firm. The new manager stated the necessary
reorganization and a focused/specialized strategy was imple-
mented. The re-organization involved both the core business
and the managerial practices. The customer focus was given as
one of the Company’s main interests. Soon the Company tried
to acquire new markets and a new business model was proposed
to answer to the needs of new customers.
This new strategy and management style required more
information. A quality manager with PMS experience was
engaged and he encouraged management approach based on
quantitative data. He introduced some key performance
indicators (KPIs) and in a short time these KPIs increased
the entrepreneur’s control. The need to improve the manage-
ment information system was highlighted, but the entrepreneur
did not want to invest the necessary financial resources to
implement an integrated PMS. However, using free software
and internal knowledge, the MIS was improved to support
performance measurement system. In a few months, the
advantage of the new system was highlighted and new
investments in MIS were planned.
The quality and information director managed the invest-
ment in the information system. MIS development supported
the initial collection of data for performance measurement. The
PMS moved from a dual basic PMS used during the stages 1
and 2 to a balanced advanced system to get over the
organizational crisis (Figs. 1 and 2). The PMS was improved
using an incremental process, which required years to
overcome internal barriers. However, it had an important
impact on the organizational capability. As reflected in quality
award results, the improvement in MIS and PMS supported the
development of organizational capability of the company and
further investment in PMS and MIS were planned (Fig. 3).
Recent interviews with the management team lead us to
suppose that the company could get into a new organizational
crisis (A2—see Fig. 2). Further growth of the company would
Fig. 3. PMS implementation in company A.
require delegation and empowerment. Management considers
that PMS will be the main tool supporting this further growth
from stage 3 to stage 4 and prevent the managerial crisis.
4.2. Case B
Company B produces castings in nodular cast iron and grey
iron. It employs 180 people and its turnover is about s 31
million. An Italian entrepreneur founded it in 1958 and it was
sold 10 years later to a family company. Turnover, employees
and the quality of products have grown during these 10 years.
Heavy investments have been made, aimed at guaranteeing a
flexible and competitive production system, equipped with
modern plants, able to meet sophisticated metallurgical
requirements. The company developed constantly with
improvement in different areas, such as personnel management,
high-tech structure, information technology, quality and
environment policies, and control policies. The company
regularly planned training courses intended to complete the
cultural and professional instruction of its personnel. It was one
of the first SMEs in Europe to introduce Total Quality, thus
achieving the standard required for ISO 9002 certification. The
firm has developed an environmental management system
organized according to international principles, and in February
2000 it obtained ISO 14001 environmental certification.
Relevant investments in management information systems
were supported by the interests of the IT manager and general
manager. Information technology applications and tools have
been developed internally, such as a company portal and a
series of digital control panels delivering efficient and effective
communication of information to all company users (Fig. 4).
For many years the company remained in stage 3 (B1—see
Fig. 2) and it used a partially balanced basic PMS (B1—see
Fig. 1). The company produced an internal PMS suitable to
answer the company needs. The performance measurement
system was introduced using an incremental approach. In the
first few years, it was focused on financial indicators, supplier
and production. In the next few years, the management planned
a relevant growth of the business to move from B1 to B2 position
(Fig. 2). PMS improvement was considered indispensable to do
this. Relevant investment and training activities in the
information system area were planned and MIS for PMS
improved quickly. Much data was collected and it was useful to
support the performance measurement and the managerial
processes. To control the managerial processes and to support
decision making a balanced excellent PMS was introduced
 P. Garengo et al. / Computers in Industry 58 (2007) 677–686
Fig. 4. PMS implementation in company B.
using an incremental process (B2—see Fig. 1). The PMS is
moving towards a diagnostic excellent system.
In this organization, there is significant evidence that PMS
promoted and is promoting an improvement in organizational
capability. During this time the company obtained national
quality recognitions and in 2004 it won the European Quality
Award (Special Prize Winner in Leadership and Constancy of
Purpose about SMEs category).
In this company, the MIS and PMS were not introduced to
solve a crisis. The company was mature enough to prevent this
crisis. During the years, the management understood the key
role played by PMS and MIS to manage the business and the
company growth and, as a consequence, they planned the PMS
improvement.
At present MIS and PMS are perceived as the same entity
and it is considered indispensable for managerial processes and
improvement in organizational capability.
4.3. Case C
Company C produces and sells pumps for use in industry,
civil engineering and emergency duty. The company began life
in 1932 as an individual enterprise, and pump production
commenced in 1948. Its name is known around the world for
high quality pump design and construction. Currently it
employs 110 people and its turnover is about s 23 million.
In a few years the company increased its dimensions and
now it is present in three main markets: industrial, civil
engineering and safety. The growth process emphasized the
need of organizational capability to promote empowerment,
improvement in managerial and cost control, etc. Investments
Fig. 5. PMS implementation in company C.
681
in MIS for PMS were promoted, as well as suitable learning
(Fig. 5). In company C, the entrepreneur and a part of the
management team demonstrated an in-depth interest in IT
investment. This company was one of the first Italian SMEs that
implemented an ERP system with computer-based warehouse;
large amounts of resources were spent in technological tools
and software. This generated an internal context favourable to
PMS development.
The company implemented a partially balanced advanced
PMS during the first stages (Figs. 1 and 2). However, the PM
benefits were not highlighted. Management style boycotted the
gathered information. Many detailed reports were periodically
prepared but they were not available to management. Nobody
knows the real use of it. Only one person, the account manager,
could read the information that was used to legitimize her
power position. The improvement in organizational capability
has not emerged. The company stopped taking part in quality
awards because it was clear that organizational development
was not taking place. A managerial crisis overpowered the
company and in a few months it was sold. The need for
managerial development surfaced very quickly with the new
ownership. The new management is promoting the improve-
ment of the managerial system to put the company into stage 3.
4.4. Case D
Company D, based in Perthshire, was formed in 1979 and
was established as the UK’s biggest British brand of natural
mineral water, exporting to over 50 countries worldwide. Since
the late 1970s, it has invested over £40 million, establishing
Blackford as one of Europe’s most modern natural mineral
682 P. Garengo et al. / Computers in Industry 58 (2007) 677–686
Fig. 6. PMS implementation in company D.
water plants. Today, company D is the largest employer in
Blackford with 200 employees.
The company, as a whole, did not have performance
measures derived from strategy; however they had a few
financial indicators. In addition, the company did not have
enhanced MIS to support the existing performance measures.
The data was collected on paper on the shop floor. In summary,
the company had a traditional basic PMS as shown in Fig. 1 in
the initial stages. Hence, the company was suffering from
information being hidden in paper sources. There were also
difficulties associated with data collection on the shop floor.
This seriously limited access potential to very useful data.
Information was not communicated to the right people. This
resulted in a lack of visibility over changes and trends.
Although the company had an intranet, it communicated the
financial data and static web pages. In general people did not
do performance analysis of the data collected on the shop
floor.
The management team felt that the company was in an
information crisis and could not focus on improvement
opportunities (Fig. 6). Hence, the management team has
redefined their strategy and deployed it to lower levels using
both lagging and leading indicators. For implementing these
measures the management involved the IT team to investigate
MIS to support the PMS. The data collection, analysis and
communication were automated using SCADA system and the
Cognos reporting tool, which provided information in real-time
(near). These changes moved the company from stage 2 to stage
Fig. 7. PMS implementation in company E.
4, as demonstrated in Fig. 2, with balanced excellent PMS as
shown in Fig. 1. After implementation it was found that there
was a significant improvement in the following aspects:
 The management team gained confidence in performance
information generated by the system because the data was
accurate and timely.
 The performance results were communicated to everyone in
the organisation, especially to all team leaders and people on
the shop floor.
 The management team is more pro-active in decision-
making.
The interviews with their senior managers revealed that there
was a significant organisational growth as a result of
implementing the balanced excellent PMS.
4.5. Case E
Company E, based in Edinburgh, was founded in 1858 and
has long been recognised as a provider of self-adhesive labels
and flexible packaging solutions to a wide range of market
sectors throughout UK and Europe. It has a vast experience in
producing different types of labels using digital and
combinations press technology. Design, artwork, origination,
print and conversion are all provided in-house and are subject
to a rigorous quality control system in line with the latest ISO
accreditation. There are 64 employees working in the
company.
 P. Garengo et al. / Computers in Industry 58 (2007) 677–686
The company implemented a traditional basic PMS (Fig. 1)
during the first stages (E1—Fig. 2). However, the PM benefits
were not highlighted (Fig. 7). The company has a scheduling
and data collection system, Shuttleworth, which collects the
data from the shop floor and stores it in a 17-year-old Speed
Base Development System (SBDS). SBDS is a non-relational
database system, which was not user-friendly and the IT
Manager was the only person who could use it effectively. This
seriously limited access, potentially, to a very useful data.
Information had to be requested from the IT Manager in the
specified format, but as SBDS was not a relational database it
was not always that easy to format data in a specified fashion.
Their existing MIS cannot be changed to adopt new measures.
As a result, the company was in crisis. The management
decided to implement a partially balanced basic PMS, as it
decided not to invest any further on their MIS as shown in
Fig. 1. As a result, there were limitations in the data collected
(because the automated data capturing system was originally
designed based on financial measures, and it cannot be changed
to capture data required to measure operational equipment
effectiveness by shift, by product basis, etc.). The senior
management did not develop confidence in the system due to
the limitations in data capturing and, hence, did not drive the
company’s wide use of the system. Although company E has
moved from traditional basic PMS to partially balanced basic
PMS, there were no PMS benefits and, therefore, no growth as
shown in Fig. 2, it remained in stage 2.
The interviews with the senior managers revealed that there
was no improvement in organisational capability as a result of
implementing the PMS. They realised the in-capabilities of
MIS, however the management team is waiting for the
investment to be approved by their investors to be spent on
MIS to support PMS in the future.
5. Findings
The empirical investigation highlights that PMS implemen-
tation and development are driven by the need for improvement
in organizational capability that is emphasized by organiza-
tional crisis or the perceptions of the management team. During
business growth, the companies investigated and dedicated
most of their attention to operational and technological aspects
while they neglected organizational and managerial aspects.
Subsequently, in order to bridge this gap, improvement in
Fig. 8. The relationship between organizational capability, PMS and MIS.
683
organizational capability will become necessary to manage
increasing organizational complexity, and the implementation
of a managerial system, like PMS, becomes essential to prevent
managerial crisis. Performance measurement system imple-
mentation would foster managerial change and promotes
organizational learning, given its capacity to acquire, distribute,
interpret and store knowledge. In companies A, B and D,
making people use measures properly not only delivered
performance improvement but also became a vehicle for a
cultural change, which helped in liberating the power of the
organisation and supported improvement in organizational
capability. PMS implementation and use promoted improve-
ment in organizational capability and mutual relationships
between PMS and organizational capability have emerged.
Companies C and E were not able to effectively implement
their PMS and, as a consequence, improvement in organiza-
tional capability was obstructed.
Another dyadic relationship has been highlighted, which is
between PMS implementation and its use and MIS improve-
ment. Advanced MIS was essential to create a favourable
context for implementing and using PMS. As the literature
underlines and the case studies demonstrate, performance
measurement activities require MIS to support collection,
processing and delivery of the data about performance. Case E
clearly emphasizes that deficiencies in MIS obstruct PMS use
because the required data cannot be captured. Moreover, the
benefits highlighted by PMS implementation and its use were
able to promote further management information system
investment. For instance in company A, during the first
implementation phase entrepreneurs obstructed MIS invest-
ment, and only free software and internal knowledge could be
used. However, in a few months PMS advantages were
highlighted and, consequently, MIS investment was planned
and supported by entrepreneurs.
The empirical evidence provided so far could be synthesized
with the following theoretical proposition and is shown in
Fig. 8.
Proposition 1. PMS implementation and use promote
improvement of organizational capability. The development
of organizational capability favours an effective use and growth
of PMS. Moreover, the mutual relationships between PMS and
organizational capability start up a dyadic relationship
between PMS and MIS. Advanced MIS is essential to create
a favourable context for implementing and using PMS; the
684 P. Garengo et al. / Computers in Industry 58 (2007) 677–686

benefit highlighted by PMS implementation and use promotes The first theoretical proposition identifies two dyadic
further investment in MIS. relationships between PMS, MIS and organizational capability.
During the first part of our research, we found that PMS
The analysis of the case studies highlighted that some
implementation and use have a positive impact on the
organizations found more barriers to PMS and MIS invest-
improvement in organizational capability, i.e. company’s
ments than others. They had difficulties producing a
ability to establish internal structures and processes that create
persuasive business justification for MIS and PMS invest-
firm-specific competencies and enable it to adapt to changing
ments because of the frequent misconception of performance
external pressures. Moreover, the benefits highlighted by PMS
measurement and a high uncertainty about the scale of impact
implementation and use push further investments in PMS itself
and the scale of costs likely to be incurred. The analysis of a
and a circle relationship between PMS and organizational
company’s life-cycle demonstrated a better understanding of
capability is set out.
this. Mature organizations – i.e. companies at stage 4, stage 5
Subsequently, we found out that the mutual relationships
and partially at stage 3 – (Fig. 2) were able to recognize their
between PMS and organizational capability starts up a dyadic
needs and to design effective MIS responding to PMS
relationship between PMS and MIS. Advanced MIS is essential
requirements (company A2, B2 and D2). These companies
to create a favourable context for implementing and using PMS;
seemed more dependent on sharing and using performance
the benefit highlighted by PMS implementation and use
information dynamically and hence became more knowl-
promotes further investment in MIS.
edgeable and proactive. Consequently, these organizations
The second theoretical proposition points out that these
could design and implement effective MIS and adopt
relationships are affected by company life cycle. Mature
advanced or excellent PMS practices. Less mature companies
organizations are able to recognize their organizational needs
– i.e. companies at stage 1, stage 2 and partially stage 3 –
and, consequently, they can design effective MIS responding
(Fig. 2) had more barriers to design and implement effective
to PMS requirements by them; in less mature organizations,
MIS (company A1, C1, D1 and E1). In companies A1 and D1 the
the need for improvement in organizational capability is
organizational crisis underlined the need of improving
emphasized by organizational crisis and an external stimulus
managerial capability. After the initial evidence of the
is essential for supporting MIS investment and PMS
benefits, these businesses followed the use of some
implementation or improvement to get over organizational
performance measurement indicators, and a PMS was
crisis.
implemented. In these companies, initial elementary MIS
The achieved results support a better understanding of the
investment encourages PMS development. The free external
relationships between PMS, MIS and organizational capability
support or the presence of at least one person with MIS
in SMEs However, further empirical testing and reiteration of
knowledge and interest were the main starting points for
the research cycle should be required to increase external
emphasizing MIS in supporting performance measurement for
validity [48]. It would be interesting to extend the investigation
decision making. These personal drivers or/and external
to a wider group of companies, selected by the European SMEs
support allowed the development of some indicators or
that have had experience in managing of organizational crisis.
‘‘rudimentary’’ information systems that could highlight, with
In this study attention was focused solely on PMS and MIS
actual facts, the importance of PM. Subsequent investments in
in SMEs. As mentioned before, PMS implementation and use
MIS for PMS were encouraged and a dyadic loop between
are affected by many specific factors that characterize the small
PMS and MIS was stimulated with a positive impact on
dimension, seen for instance lacking in MIS and a shortage in
organizational capability.
managerial capacity. As a consequence, the achieved results
Lacking in external stimulus impedes to recognize MIS and
could not be generalized to large companies. Further
PMS benefit and company is kept into the organizational crisis.
investigations should be useful to study the relationship
This empirical evidence could be synthesized into the
between PMS and MIS in large companies to emphasize
following theoretical proposition.
differences and similarities between large and small organiza-
Proposition 2. Mature organizations are able to recognize tions.
their organizational needs and design effective MIS responding
to PMS requirements by themselves; in less mature organiza- References
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Patrizia Garengo is a post-doctoral research fellow
at the Department of Industrial Innovation and Man-
agement of University of Padua. She holds a degree
in Business Economics from Ca’ Foscari University
in Venice and a PhD in Managerial Engineering from
the University of Padua. For some years she carried
out research, consultancy and teaching activities on
the CUOA Foundation (University Centre for Busi-
ness Administration) and she taught Economics and
Organization at the Engineering Faculty at the Uni-
versity of Padua. Her research interests include organizational development and
performance measurement system, with particular attention to SMEs.
686 P. Garengo et al. / Computers in Industry 58 (2007) 677–686
Sai Nudurupati is an honorary research fellow at the
Centre for Strategic Manufacturing (CSM), he is also
Operations Support Manager in a Company within
construction industry. Prior to this, he worked with
Allied Distillers Ltd., a whisky bottling company,
and Daks Simpson Ltd., a textile manufacturing
company. He completed his PhD degree in opera-
tions management working with several SMEs in
Scotland. He won highly commended award for his
doctoral thesis by Emerald and EFMD. He is cur-
rently working within construction industry using his
manufacturing expertise.
Umit Bititci is a professor at the University of Strath-
clyde, also the Director of the Centre for Strategic
Manufacturing (CSM). As a management profes-
sional, consultant and an academic he has over 20
years of experience working with a wide spectrum of
companies on Strategy Management, Performance
Measurement, Value Development, Supply Chain
Management and Business Process Improvement. This
broad range of experience has developed through a
series of long term professional relationships with
organisations in a verity of sectors. As the Director of CSM, he has been responsible
for a number of European and UK funded research and development programmes.