Organizational IT Maturity Questionnaire

 

 

A team of researchers from Oakland University, Wayne State University and Drexel University is  developing an instrument that measures organizational IT maturity and will make it available to a number of organizations to test its effectiveness at predicting the value of IT to firms.  We would like your help in developing that questionnaire. Ultimately, this research will be conducted in several businesses in a variety of industries.  We are interested in understanding the maturity of the relationship between the Information Technology group in an organization and its users.  Our thought is that the maturity of this relationship contributes to the value of IT in the hands of users and in corporate strategy.  The ultimate goal of our project is to improve the value of IT to firms by improving being able to characterize through a measure the quality of IT’s relationship to its clients and users. 

 

Thus, we would like to solicit your help in creating and improving this questionnaire.  Your experiences as either users or as IT professionals are relevant to this questionnaire. The following questions therefore concern your perceptions of the IT function in the firm you currently work for.  If you are not currently employed, please refer these questions to the firm or organization you most recently have worked for.  If you’ve never been employed, then refer the questions to your impression of IT functions in organization.  It should take you no longer than 15 minutes to complete this questionnaire.

 

None of the information we collect will identify you in any way.  Nor will any research publications or presentations we make as a result of this research identify you.  Publications, reports and presentations will refer only to summary impressions and trends. 

 

There are three sections to the questionnaire.  Section A is demographic and asks you for very general information about yourself and your job.  Section B concerns your perceptions of the role, function, and value of your firm’s IT function.  Section C provides you with the opportunity to add any comments about the questionnaire or thoughts you have about organizational IT relationships. 

 

You are not required to answer any of the following questions and may at any time skip any questions or simply close the window without submitting the questionnaire.  If, however, there are reasons for not answering questions that you would like to share with us, we would very much like to hear from you in our attempts to improve this instrument.  A text box is provided at the end of the questionnaire for any comments you would like to share with us.  As with the rest of the questionnaire, this comment box is completely anonymous.

 

Thanks for your help.

Organizational IT Maturity Questionnaire

 

Section A.

 

Please make your selection to indicate the most appropriate choices available for each question; or indicate “Other” and fill in the space provided.  Select "DK/NA" (Don't Know/No Answer) if you either do not know or do not wish to answer.

 

1. Years with current company (or previous company if applicable)

 

2.  Your age:

 

3. Number of employees at your company (or latest company, if applicable)

 

4. Your responsibility level at your current company (or latest, if applicable)

If you indicated "Other", please specify here

 

5. Your role with current company (or previous company if applicable)   If you indicated "Other", please specify here

 

If you indicated “Information Systems” for question 5, please skip to question 10 below.

 

6. Your knowledge of Information Technology (in your opinion)

 

7. Your frequency of interaction with IT people

 

8. Your frequency of use of IT applications

 

9. The last time you interacted with anyone involved with IT was

 

10. In your firm IT is handled


 

Section B. The following questions concern your perceptions of your firm’s IT function.  If you are not currently employed, refer to your last employment.  If you have not ever been employed, please refer to your impression of IT functions in organization. Select "DK/NA" (Don't Know/No Answer) if you either do not know or do not wish to answer.

 

All questions are answered on a 5-point agree-disagree scale, ranging from strong agreement to strong disagreement.  Please select only that response that most closely fits your perceptions.  For example, if you agree, but not strongly, with the statement “Many people think the moon influences their lives”, you would select the number Agree from the drop-down menu.  You may also select "DK/NA" indicating that you either don't know what response to give or don't want to answer this question.

 

1. The IT function provides leadership to accomplishment of the company mission. 

2.  IT is an essential contributor to our firm’s competitive success. 

3. The management of my firm treats IT as a service, not an equal partner. 

4. In my firm, the head of IT is an executive, the equal of the CFO or the COO.  

5.  My firm treats IT as a cost as opposed to an investment in the future.  

6.  IT people see themselves as essential to the corporate mission.

 

7.  When I work with IT people, they treat me as an equal.  

8. Our IT budget is determined by departments like mine, not by the IT department.  

9. Most people where I work dislike working with the IT department.  

10. Overall, on average, I am satisfied with my relationship with the IT people.  

11.  In my firm, IT is seen as a strategic asset, of interest and value to all.  

12. I find IT difficult to use.  

13. I find IT to be of little value in my work.  

14. I treat IT people as my equal, with specialized knowledge, but similar rights.  

15.  In my firm, most people are afraid of information technology.

16. My departmental manager has little appreciation of IT’s value.  

17. My departmental manager knows a lot about IT and how it works.

18. In my firm, nobody cares about IT and how it is used.  

19. I treat IT as a service, not as a business partner.  

20. The IT function supports the company mission, but does not lead it.  

21. Those working in IT see themselves as a service to others, not as business partners.  

22. In my organization, there is a single centralized IT department that handles all interaction with users of IT (other than help desk functions).  

23. In my organization, IT is highly standardized across departments or divisions.  

24. In my organization, IT is tightly integrated across departments or divisions.  

25. In my organization, each department has a specific individual or set of individuals to interact with in Information Technology (other than help desk functions).  

26. My departmental manager is responsible for making sure the IT we have is used effectively.

 

27. When I work with IT people, we focus on the technology, not on the business requirements.

 

28. I see IT as a service rather than as a business partner.  

29. I believe that the IT department in my firm shares information about the technology it has implemented willingly with its users.  

30. IT people in my company see themselves as technical experts and not as business people.  

31. I see expenses on IT (hardware, software, personnel) as an investment in this company’s competitive future rather than simply as a cost of doing business.  

32. My manager sees IT as a business partner.  

33. In my company, the IT unit pushes technology on its users, without consulting with us.  

34. In my company, the IT unit is overly concerned with procuring technology, to the detriment of business requirements.  

35. In my company, we see the IT manager (CIO, etc.) as a business leader rather than as a technical expert.  

 

Section C. This part is provided for you to express anything you feel you’d like about the questionnaire and how it was administered and how it will be used or any additional comments on the questions asked.  Your feedback is important in helping us determine the validity and usefulness of the questionnaire and the specific questions on it.  The more specific your critique, the more helpful it will be to us.  Remember that this questionnaire is completely anonymous and that no comments you make can be traced back to you.  Please refrain from identifying yourself or your firm in your comments.

 

 

 

 When you are ready, click on the "Submit" button below to send in your anonymous response.  If you do not wish to submit your responses, simply close this window. 

Thank you for your participation.