The Usefulness of Computer-Based Information to Public Managers

This paper employs data from 260 public managers to assess two broad images of the potential of information technology and computer-based information (CBI) to serve public managers: the "knowledge executive" and the "CBI consumer." The data were collected as part of a longitudinal study of computer use in over 40 U.S. cities in 1976, and again in 1988. We find that computer-based information is important for most managers, that many report they are extremely dependent upon it, and that they currently find it more valuable for control of financial resources than for management of operations. We further find that, among four sets of factors that might account for the differential usefulness of computer-based information to managers, quality and accessibility of the information and the manager's style of use are particularly important. Finally, we conclude that the managers who are most satisfied with the usefulness of computer-based information are those who use support staff to mediate their computer-based information environment rather than those who use the computer to access information directly. We suggest that such indirect use of computing might be the most appropriate mode for many contemporary managers, and that this has interesting implications for the design of information systems.