MIS adoption and its effects on the technical efficiency of agribusiness firms in Cameroon

This paper intends to determine the factors influencing the adoption of Management Information Systems (MIS) as well as the effects such systems have had on the technical efficiency of agribusiness firms in Cameron. 183 MIS users and 300 non-users were sampled through a multistage sampling procedure. An Ordered Logit model was employed to show that the user’s level of satisfaction, the purchase price of equipment and technological performance all have a positive effect on MIS adoption. Conversely, fear of change in firm management, access to government regulations, and complexity of MIS equipment discourage the adoption of MIS. The Cobb-Douglas stochastic production function meanwhile revealed that ICT expense, firm size and number of customers were positively significant for the revenue of MIS users. For MIS non-users, ICT expense, firm size and quantity purchased also had a positive significance for revenue. However, the average technical efficiencies were 0.96 and 0.55 for MIS users and non-users, respectively, meaning that MIS users were far more technically efficient than MIS nonusers.
Also, the Tobit regression model on MIS users revealed that MIS improved the technical efficiency of agribusiness firms adopting them. This study therefore recommends that agribusiness firms in Cameroon invest in MIS; moreover, they should encourage its adoption by training their staff in how to use it optimally.