Predictors of MS/OR Application in Small Businesses

Today, applying MS/OR methods usually requires the use of computers. A company may not be ready to implement MS/OR techniques unless it has allocated adequate resources to information systems and has basic transaction-oriented systems in place. We considered nine characteristics of firms and their information systems use as indicators of organizational readiness for MS/OR use. We analyzed survey data collected from 495 technology-oriented small businesses and found that the adoption of MS/OR techniques is more likely to occur if a firm uses information technology to support many of its basic transaction-oriented operations and has a large number of employees.