Information Technology Use Patterns and Its Relationships with Firm and Sector Characteristics

The aim of this study is to explore the existence of different patterns of information technology use in the firms operating Turkish manufacturing sector and the relationship between these patterns and various firm (number of employee, ownership structure, annual sales and export figure) and sectoral(sector type and competition intensity) characteristics. Data are collected from 123 firms in ISO 1000 list operating in different sectors using a standard survey form. Three different information technology use patterns(Low users, Followers and High users) are identified as a result of cluster analysis. Results suggest that there is no relationship between information technology use patterns and number of employees;conversely it reveals that there is a significant relationship between sector type, competition intensity, ownership structure, annual sales and export figures. In final section, the implications of the results are discussed; limitations of the study are noted and additional research is suggested.