The Investigation of the Mediating Role of Organizational Culture in Relationship between Management Information Systems and Entrepreneurial Tendency (The Case of Study: The Staff of Shahid Beheshti University)

Researchers have considered the category of entrepreneurial tendency a serious and coherent study for several decades. The entrepreneurial tendency is a situation in which a person shows his tendencies in relation to entrepreneurial behavior in an independent organization. Organizational culture is very important in introducing information systems in an organization. The concept of culture is related to attitude, values, goals, and organizational, professional, and national methods. In the 1960s, "Management Information Systems (MIS)" were first proposed as a concept. A function of MISs is to collect, process, and analyze organizational data. Today, large technology companies, such as Facebook, Twitter, and Snap, have achieved success by using MISs. Much research has been conducted on MISs, organizational culture, and entrepreneurial tendency, but so far, no research has examined all three variables. Therefore, the current research is an effort to answer the basic question as to whether organizational culture can play a mediating role in the relationship between MISs and entrepreneurial tendency.

The research is an applied study in goal and a descriptive correlational study in methodology, which used Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). The statistical population consisted of all staff of Shahid Beheshti University (N = 1127). The Cochran formula was used to determine the sample size as 288 individuals, who were selected by the stratified sampling method. The main tool for data collection was a standard questionnaire, whose face and content validity were confirmed by experts. Cronbach's alpha coefficient was used to determine the reliability of the questionnaires on MISs, organizational culture, and tendency to entrepreneurship, which were obtained as 0.88, 0.82, and 0.85, respectively, showing that all three questionnaires were reliable. Data were analyzed at both descriptive and inferential levels using SPSS and LISREL software.

Based on the results, MISs have a positive and significant effect on organizational culture and entrepreneurial tendency, and organizational culture has a positive and significant impact on entrepreneurial tendency. In addition, the mediating role of organizational culture was confirmed in the relationship between MISs and entrepreneurial tendency.

Conclusion/ Implications:

 According to the results of the data analysis based on the relationship between organizational culture and entrepreneurial tendency, it is suggested that the relevant managers and officials consider organizational culture and its components in the organization. It is necessary to strive for knowledge sharing, open communication, benefit systems, guidance and leadership, work meaningfulness, and risk-taking, pay attention to human resources as the most valuable resource in the organization, and promote the level of entrepreneurship in the organization. Also, it is suggested that managers use information systems to spread culture, promote entrepreneurship among employees, and use the maximum facilities and material resources to achieve specific goals.