| This research contributes to the development and testing of the information systems theory. It proposes as the problematic, or tematic, of information systems the following Information Paradox: To define the relevant information to a decision situation it is necessary to know what decisions should be made; to define what decisions should be made it is necessary to have relevant information on the decision situation.; A Contingency Theory of Information Systems is presented relating environment types, organization forms and functions, organizational decision-making, decision-maker behavior styles, and information systems variables. A crucial test of the proposed theory was made using a sample of the divisions/departments of the local government of California cities with more than 50,000 inhabitants. The crucial test was conducted using a modified path analysis, for ordinal data, relating environment factors, organization characteristics, models of societal decision-making, information needs and information systems models.; The information systems models were found to be dependent upon the information needs, the organization resources, and the societal decision-making models. The societal decision-making models were found to be dependent upon the environment types and culture the organization is in. Finally, the environment spaces of the societal decision-making process of the public organizations studied were found to be dependent upon the culture they were in.; On the basis of an extensive literature review, three basic models of information systems were formalized and tested empirically. Forty-two percent of the cases studied were found to have a data analysis IS, 21% a decision analysis IS, and 37% an inquiring system IS.; Based on an extensive literature review, three basic models of the societal decision-making process were formalized and tested empirically. Sixty percent of the cases studied were found to follow an incremental societal decision-making model, 28% to follow a satisfaction model, and 12% to follow a rational decision model.; Based on an extensive literature review, four basic models of the environment causal texture were formalized and tested empirically. No environment space of the public organizations studied were found to have a placid-random environment causal texture. Forty-three percent of the cases were found to have a reactive environment, 20% to have a disturbed-reactive environment, and 37% to have a turbulent environment causal texture.; Detailed documentation is provided of the methodologies developed to categorize and test the information systems models, societal decision-making models, and environment causal texture, as well as, further references in the subject.; Finally, since the proposed contingency theory is reasonably supported by the results obtained, it is argued that future research using the contingency theory as hypothesized is a fruitful endeavor and that practical applications of the contingency theory to design information systems should be encouraged. The proposed contingency theory provides a synthesis between the theory and practice of information systems, between the different paradigms and implementations of information systems and focuses the attention of the study on the variables that have a bearing on information under various possible circumstances, rather than on specific and circumstantial methods and values assumed by these structural variables. |
