Executive Recruiting and Management Information in the White.docx

Executive Recruiting and Management
Information in the White House
John W. Macy, Jr., President, Corporation fo r Public
Broadcasting
Matthew B. Coffey, Assistant to the President, Corporation fo r
Public Broadcasting
The day o f the fancy scroll and quilled pen will
always be a part o f the tradition and ceremony
o f the White House. In the management o f
that vast enterprise known as the Federal
Bureaucracy, however, the latest in management
technique, information systems, and the best o f
management talent must be combined to serve a
crying public need fo r better management.
The biggest executive recruiting problem in
America belongs to the man with most of the
other complex problems— the President of the
United States.
In order to get an idea of the scope of the
problem, it is useful to look at the activity during
President Johnson’s Administration. In his sixty
months in office, the President appointed 678
full-time executives. These executives were
selected to fill approximately 525 Executive
Branch positions which commonly are referred
to as “political appointee’’ positions.
In addition to these full-time positions,

the President is authorized by law to appoint
members of 165 advisory commissions. The
membership of these commissions required in
excess of 2500 appointments during the Johnson
Presidency. On top of all of these selections,
the President appointed, on his own motion, an
average of 13 task forces each year to work on
specific legislative proposals for periods of ap-
proximately one month.
In this article we will concentrate our observa-
tions on the full-time executive positions. We
will explain the search and evaluation organiza-
tion which evolved from 1960 through 1969
and the introduction of the first management
information system into White House operation.
To the best of our knowledge, this system or a
reasonable modification thereof is still in use by
the current Administration.
The Positions
The Executive Branch of the Federal Govern-
ment has over three million employees. The
number of these employees has been constantly
rising in the last decade (see Table 1).
This Table illustrates the steady climb in
Federal career employment consistent with the
Federal Government’s expanding role in the
solution of social, economic, and educational
problems, as well as the maintenance of a large
military force.
This immense organization and the direction
it takes are the responsibility of the incumbent in

the White House. The management manpower
needed to run an organization of this magnitude
is much greater than even the largest of private
industrial organizations. But still, in order that
his policies be carried out, a President must man-
age it and manage it very well.
The Presidential power of appointment
stems from Article II of the Constitution which
provides the power to: “appoint ambassadors,
other public ministers and counselors, judges of
the Supreme Court, and all other officers whose
appointments are not herein provided for, and
which shall be established by law ...” 1
Under that very broad authority and in
conjunction with specific legislative requests,
the President now appoints all of the full-
'U.S. Constitution, Article II.
This article is reprinted from the January 1970 issue of the SAM
Advanced Management Journal.
62 SAM Advanced Management Journal — Spring 2017
Table 1. Federal Career Civil Service Execu-
tive Branch Employment 1958-1968*
1958 2,216,921
1959 2,355,054
1960 2,370,827
1961 2,276,657
1962 2,484,654
1963 2,497,709

1964 2,479,641
1965 2,496,090
1966 2,726,145
1967 2,967,964
1968 3,031,954
" Based on figures in the Annual Report o f the
United States Civil Service Commission, 1958-
1968.
time executives. Today, these executive jobs
include the Cabinet officers, the Subcabinet
officers, some 90 bureau chiefs, the Chairman
and members of the regulatory agencies and
commissions, the heads of independent agencies,
and ambassadors to 120 countries.
Politics verses Performance
Although it is extremely popular to refer to these
executive positions as being the President’s
patronage, this is less and less the case. Marver
Bernstein of the Bookings Institution in his
book, The Job o f the Federal Executive, points
out that the demanding nature of most of these
jobs requires a high order of managerial skill.2
Many other researchers have confirmed that the
days of political patronage except in a minority
of these jobs, is near an end.3
Realizing these two conditions, a large
number of executives needed, and professional
and executive demanded, every President must
organize in his own way to solve this problem.
As the number of full-time executives increases
or as turnover increases, the problem becomes
more severe.

Kennedy Organization
Laurin L. Henry in an address before the
American Political Science Association in
1967 pointed out that the Kennedy and Johnson
Administrations developed the first effective
professional recruiting efforts for any President.4
Traditionally, a President assuming office has set
up task forces to find qualified candidates during
the transitional period from one administration
to the other. This was the case in the Kennedy
Administration as it has been in the Nixon
Administration transition.
After the initial group of executives was
selected and came to Washington, the recruitng
group was disbanded and recruitment became
a part-time function of a special assistant to the
President. Following this traditional pattern,
President Kennedy appointed Ralph A. Dungan
Special Assistant to the President for Latin
American Affairs and Recruitment. Mr. Dungan
departed from tradition when he chose a staff
of three professionals to concentrate all of their
time and energy in filling the constant need
for executive talent. The first staff assistant to
look at the problem of executive selections was
Dan H. Fenn. He soon defined the method of
selecting executives as BOGSAT, translated that
means a contraction of “a Bunch of Guys Sitting
Around a Table,” saying whom do you know?
Quickly realizing that this method was at best
adequate for only a short period of time, Fenn
contacted the Brookings Institution for assis-
tance. He asked their aid in setting up a nation-

wide network of persons considered leaders in
their field or in their communities to whom he
could go for information and evaluations on
candidates for vacant positions. The institution
arranged meetings around the country with lead-
ers in various disciplines to talk with Fenn and
staffer David Jelenek. From these meetings a
list of potential sources of talent was created and
biographies began to arrive from these sources.
The filling o f a vacancy requires two types
of information. It requires information on the
job and on potential candidates to fill the job.
While that is easily stated, it is not necessarily
easily fulfilled. The development of the position
profile was the responsibility of the White House
’Marver H. Bernstein, The Job o f the Federal Executive
(Washington: The Brookings Institution, 1958).
’See also: Paul T. David and Ross Pollock, Executives for
Government (Washington: The Brookings Institution, 1967),
Dean
E. Mann and Jameson W. Doig, The Assistant Secretaries
(Washington: The Brookings Institution, 1965), David T.
Stanley,
et ah. Men Who Govern (Washington: The Brookings
Institution, 1967).
JLaurin L. Henry, “The Presidency, Executive Staffing, and the
Federal Bureaucracy,” (Remarks before the 1967 meeting of
the American Political Science Association, Chicago:
September 5-9, 1967).
SAM Advanced Management Journal — Spring 2017 63

staff with involvement by the President himself
or by the head of the department. The profile
had to take into account not only the needs of
the position at the given moment, but also it
had to project tomorrow’s needs. In forming
the position profile, a combination of factors
complicated the recruitment problem.
Each executive position was looked upon as
a unique and complex array of responsibilities
that could not be clearly specified. The recruiter,
therefore, had to use the best judgement of the
President, the secretary of the department, and
even experts in the discipline of the job, to come
up with not only a description of the present but
a projection of the future. This was necessary
to assure that future growth or change was not
overlooked. Most projections attempted to look
five years into the future.
The other problem in writing a job profile
was the consideration of the type of candidate
necessary to take the job in the direction it was
thought the position should go. This is complex
because individual personality is composed
of a complex interaction of motives, defense
mechanisms, aptitudes, conflicts, and traits.
Many of these attitudinal factors are recognized
as necessary for success in any executive
position. But each position had to be defined in
terms of the right mix. With the position well
defined, and the desired candidate traits spelled
out, the search could begin.
While it may have been easy for the recruiter
to find all of the right biographical information,

he was faced with a difficult task in determin-
ing the attitudinal characteristics of individuals
who met the biographical qualifications. Since it
was assumed that these attitudinal characteristics
indicated the executive’s ability to succeed, the
staff assistant had to make an attempt to get an
accurate picture of the applicant’s personality.
For this he turned to the contact list for evalua-
tions. From these unstructured evaluations, the
staff assistant would then formulate an under-
standing of the structure and dynamics of the
various applicant’s personalities.
The serious disadvantage that a White House
recruiter had was his inability to use any psycho-
metric methods in attempting to measure attitu-
dinal characteristics. You just don’t call a man
into the White House to take a test to become
Assistant Secretary of Commerce. At the same
time, because of the honor of being considered
and the campaigns of support that might be built
up if it were known that a candidate was under
consideration, the staff assistant had to operate
64
in a situation of confidence with his contacts and
no knowledge on the part of the candidate.
Recommendations to the President
The Kennedy staff, after completing the above
procedure, would put together individual fold-
ers in which on one side the President could see
the statutory authority and the description of the
position and on the other side biographies and
evaluations of candidates whom the staff con-

sidered to be qualified to fill the vacancy. The
President would react to the recommendations
indicating his choice, or choices, for personal
interview. The interviews would then be con-
ducted by the President or by the staff. Relevant
background investigations would then be done if
the candidate successfully completed the inter-
view process. If the background investigation
was clear, the President would then, depending
upon the type of appointment, either make the
appointment or nominate a candidate to the Sen-
ate of the United States for confirmation. Table 2
is a flow diagram of the process.
The Transition 1963-4
Under the leadership of Fenn and his successor,
John B. Clinton, the above process slowly
developed into a professional clinical approach
to executive recruiting. Shortly after the
assassination of President Kennedy, however,
an unexpected problem started to develop.
Recognizing the fact that the Kennedy team had
built a strong resource of talent in their files, a
tradition was broken.
It has been tradition that all papers in the
White House are the personal papers of the
incumbent. When he leaves the White House
all of these papers are removed overnight so
that a new incumbent arrives to empty file
cabinets. Since, however, most of the Kennedy
staff remained on at the White House in the
recruitment area, they retained these files for
the use of President Johnson up until early 1965
when they were transferred to the custody of the
Kennedy Library.

Immediately following the election, Presi-
dent Johnson appointed Special Assistant Ralph
Dungan to be Ambassador to Chile. In a break
from the traditional way of doing things, the
President decided that the Chairman of the
Civil Service Commission should take over the
management of the recruiting function and the
remaining staff. This new team leader inherited
the resource of talent files and the contact net-
work, and on the recommendation of the staff,
SAM Advanced Management Journal — Spring 2017
Table 2.
January 1970
he accelerated the effort to design a means of
indexing these files in a meaningful fashion.
Problems of Plenty
Any group of professional recruiters can remem-
ber a great many names and qualifications of
candidates when they sit around a table. Once,
however, they develop a file in excess of several
thousand it becomes impossible to remember
the qualifications, backgrounds, and even names
of all of the candidates in the file. This raises a
practical management information problem.

In the period November, 1964, to January,
1969, the writers were involved in the design
and implementation of a system which became
the White House Executive Biographic Index.
This index was a means for searching a file
which eventually grew to 16,000 entries.
Other programs also were started during this
period to provide a computer file of incumbents
and position descriptions which solved the con-
stant need for providing public information and
knowing of upcoming vacancies by term expira-
tion. The staff received assistance and guidance
from all of the major computer manufacturers
in the design phase of the system. The computer
service and programming assistance was provid-
ed by the Office of Emergency Preparedness.
At the same time that the computer systems
were being developed, the structure of the staff
also was changed. Rather than the entire staff
working on the vacancy list in total, the vacan-
cies were divided up between international
positions and domestic positions with a desk of-
ficer and assistant for both areas. This procedure
allow the two teams to concentrate their energies
and gain in-depth experience in two distinctly
different kinds of executive recruiting.
The list of contacts over the years had grown
to over 600 and stayed at that level through the
Johnson Administration. We must emphasize
that this was not a static list. It changed as the
recruiters were better able to assess an evalua-
tor’s ability to perceive attitudinal characteristics

in a candidate.
Presidential Anome
With this new Executive Biographic Index,
the staff did not forget names in the file. The
computer provided them with catalogs listing
biographies cross reference by skill, providing
an effective means of producing a large number
of names for any vacancy which became avail-
able. This increase in ability to provide names,
however, did not initially provide more appoint-
ments. This did not happen because although the
President was receiving several qualified names
for each vacancy, he felt no identification with
them and would not respond with any indication
of approval or disapproval.
It took some time for the staff to realize that
it did little good to quote the evaluations of
persons unknown to the President to him about
another candidate. No matter how good the
evaluations, he could not feel certain in his judg-
ment between candidates.
The staff, therefore, after completing its
evaluation process had to seek out persons who
were known to the President for evaluations.
As soon as their names and evaluations began
showing up in the memorandum, productivity
increased. We point out this example as a les-
son to executive recruiters. No matter how good
the management system, if it does not serve the
personal needs of the ultimate decision maker, it
is unlikely to succeed on any kind of consistent
basis.

The Johnson Record
The President, in making executive appoint-
ments, has the choice of promoting career or
excepted appointees or of selecting appointees
from outside the Federal Government. Statistics
on the background of the Presidential appointees
in the Johnson Administration indicate that 44.8
percent came from the career Federal Service
(see Table 3).
Henry in analyzing the performance of the last
several administrations in 1967 reported:
“ ...although exceeding FDR, Eisenhower, and
Kennedy, in the proportion of appointees with
long experience in public office, Johnson still
is not relying on insiders to quite the same
extent as Truman who made 52 percent of his
appointments from public service careerists.”3 * 5
Table 3, and the Henry quotation make clear
that most Presidents choose the majority of
their appointees from outside the career Federal
Service. With the Johnson average rate of eleven
new vacancies every month he was in the Presi-
dency, the need is clear for organizing a profes-
sional recruiting effort backed up with the best
in management information systems.
3Laurin Henry, “The Presidency, Executive Staffing, and the
Federal Bureacracy,” (Remarks before the 1967 meeting of the
American Political Science Association, Chicago: September 5-
9, 1967).
66 SAM Advanced Management Journal — Spring 2017

Table 3. Percentage Background
Distribution* of Johnson
Administration Appointees
Career Federal Service 44.8%
Business 18.0
Law 17.0
Universities 12.4
State and Local governments 6.5
Labor 1.3
100%
*Based on total number of years in field; i.e. ten
years in business, nine years in university. The
candidate would be listed as from business.
Conclusions
The day of the fancy scroll and quill pen will
always be a part of the tradition and ceremony of
the White House. In the management of that vast
enterprise known as the Federal Bureaucracy,
however, the latest in management technique,
information systems, and the best of manage-
ment talent must be combined to serve a crying
public need for a better management.
The writers believe that the size of the White
House staff for this function should always
remain small. They believe that administration
policy should be shaped as well as carried
out by the externally responsible Presidential
appointees in the departments and agencies

and not by a large, internally responsible White
House staff. The more effective the men in
publicly responsible positions, the better able the
President should be to work directly with them,
and not establish his own cadre of personal
advisors.
The one function that can only be performed
within the White House is executive recruiting.
Each President should be able to exercise his
choice as to how this function can best serve
him. But no future President can afford the
luxury of the old style methods of one-time
recruitment. He will need professional assistance
on a continuing basis. His staff must be able to
use the latest techniques of management science.
If they do their job correctly, they bring the best
brains to the service of the American public and
their President. In addition to the use of the most
modem organizational scheme, the recruitment
staff must have human relation skills and highly
developed communication skills.
Previously, writers6 have expressed the desire
for an Office of Presidential Data Management.
Under this plan, the President would have his
own computer staff which would collect vast
quantities of information and presumably cause
the bureaucracy to be more responsive to Presi-
dential needs for information.
We prefer an alternative approach similar to
the one we used during the Johnson Presidency.
The Office of Emergency Preparedness is within
the Executive Office of the President and is set

up to coordinate all resources in time of national
emergency. That organization not only has excel-
lent computer hardware and software capability,
it has it in bomb-proof sites. It, therefore, seems
more reasonable to assign to the OEP the function
of knowing were all computer-stored information
in the Government is and how to tap all of the
information needed from these sources. By sim-
ply providing that direction to OEP, the President
would have knowledge of the data banks within
the bureaucracy and the means of access to them.
The OEP staff under this plan should serve
as technical advisors to whatever White House
staff the President feels is necessary. OEP would
advise the staff of the whereabouts of all the
critical information as it relates to their particu-
lar field of endeavor. The White House must rely
on the publicly-responsible official to manage
their departments effectively and gain for the
President all the information he needs to know
on any subject in making a decision. OEP should
be the coordinator.
We have pointed out the way in which the
White House has begun to turn to modem man-
agement techniques in the solution of major
national problems. We look upon this as a first
step and hope that the current Administra-
tion and succeeding administrations give more
thought during candidacies and campaigns to
the serious management problems they face on
entering the White House. The period of transi-
tion is not long enough to allow for organizing a
new Government.

Members of the management profession have
to think in terms of not only solving their own
problems in private enterprises, but contribute
of their time and effort in helping the President
solve his serious management problems. We
6Chester L. Guthrie and Thomas R. Kennedy, “Informing the
Nation’s President.” S.A.M. Advanced Management Journal,
Vol. 34, No. 1 (New York, January, 1969).
have written about one management problem
and the effort that went into its solution. Multi-
ply that by a number o f items and appearing in
the Congressional Record each day, and you can
make a pretty good ball park guess of the man-
agement problems facing the President each and
every day.
John W. Macy, Jr., is the first President o f
the Corporation fo r Public Broadcasting,
which is Federally-chartered under the Public
Broadcasting Act o f 1967 to coordinate and fund
public broadcasting in the United States. Prior
to this affiliation, he had served as Chairman
of the U.S. Civil Service Commission under
Presidents Kennedy and Johnson. A career civil
servant, Mr. Macy has served in responsible
posts with the Social Security Board, the War
Department, the Atomic Energy Commission,
the Department o f the Army, and the Civil
Service Commission. He is the recipient o f the

Presidential Medal o f Freedom, the highest
decoration the President can bestow upon a
civilian, from President Johnson. He also is
the recipient o f the Human Relations award of
the Society fo r Advancement o f Management.
Prior to his present position as Assistant to
the President o f the Corporation fo r Pubic
Broadcasting, Matthew B. Coffey served as a
Staff Assistant to the President o f the United
States at The White House. Holder o f a M.S.
Degree in Business Administration from the
University o f West Virginia, Mr. Coffey also
has served as an investigator fo r the U.S. Civil
Service Commission.
(References continued from page 61)
technology, and conflict: Emerging issues and action
in workplace privacy. Journal o f Labor Research, 24,
195-205.
Unicom HRO (2016). Human resources and the Internet
of Things. Retrieved September 27, 2016 from http://
www.unicomhro.com/blog/human-resources-and-the-
intemet-of-things
Van Schalkwyk, R (2016). How important are processes
to the Internet of Things. Retrieved September 28, 2016
from http://xmpro.com/how-important-are-processes-to-
the-intemet-of-things/
Wall Street Journal. (2016, June 3). How Should
Companies Handle Data from Employees’ Wearable
Devices? Retrieved June 3, 2016 from http://www.wsj.
com/articles/how-should-companies-handle-data-from-
employees-wearable-devices-1463968803

Web, M. (2014). Four types of smart things? Retrieved
September 28, 2016, from http://blog.bergcloud.
com /2014/04/02/four-ty pes-of-iot/
Whitty, M. T. (2004). Should filtering software be utilized
in the workplace? Australian employees’ attitudes
towards Internet usage and surveillance of the Internet
68
in the workplace. Surveillance and Society, 2, 39-54.
Wiebel. A, Den Hartog, D. N., Gillespie, N, Searle, R., Six,
F., and Skinner. D. (2015). How do controls impact
employee trust in the employer? Human Resource
Management 55, 437-462.
Wisniewski. D. (2013). 9 do’s and don’ts o f employee
workplace monitoring. Retrieved May 23, 2016
from http://www.hrmorning.com/9-dos-and-donts-of-
employee-workplace-monitoring/
Wohlstetter, A. (2016). At what point does surveillance
violate privacy rights? Retrieved June 30, 2016 from
http://www.securitymagazine.com/blogs/14-security-
blog/post/86318-at-what-point-does-surveillance-
violate-privacy-rights
Workman, M. (2009). A field study of corporate
employee monitoring: Attitudes, absenteeism, and the
moderating influences of procedural justice perceptions.
Information and Organization, 19, 218-232.
Yerby, J. (2013). Legal and ethical issues of employee
monitoring. Online Journal o f Applied Knowledge

Management, 1, 44-55.
SAM Advanced Management Journal — Spring 2017
http://www.unicomhro.com/blog/human-resources-and-the-
intemet-of-things
http://www.unicomhro.com/blog/human-resources-and-the-
intemet-of-things
http://xmpro.com/how-important-are-processes-to-the-intemet-
of-things/
http://xmpro.com/how-important-are-processes-to-the-intemet-
of-things/
http://www.wsj
http://blog.bergcloud
http://www.hrmorning.com/9-dos-and-donts-of-employee-
workplace-monitoring/
http://www.hrmorning.com/9-dos-and-donts-of-employee-
workplace-monitoring/
blog/post/86318-at-what-point-does-surveillance-violate-
privacy-rights
privacy-rights
privacy-rights
Copyright of SAM Advanced Management Journal (07497075)
is the property of Society for
Advancement of Management and its content may not be copied
or emailed to multiple sites
or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express
written permission. However,
users may print, download, or email articles for individual use.

Enterprise Development and Microfinance Vol. 27 No. 2 June
2016
Challenges faced by MFIs in adopting
management information systems during
their growth phase: the case of Togo
MAWULI K. COUCHORO
Mawuli K. Couchoro ([email protected]) is Senior Lecturer at
the Centre de Recherche et de
Formation en Economie et Gestion (CERFEG), Université de
Lomé, Togo.
© Practical Action Publishing, 2016,
www.practicalactionpublishing.org
http://dx.doi.org/10.3362/1755-1986.2016.011, ISSN: 1755-
1978 (print) 1755-1986 (online)
The growing urgency to achieve financial sustainability has led
some microfinance institutions
(MFIs) in Africa to invest in management information system
(MIS). These systems offer the
potential to reduce transactions costs and increase efficiency.
However, we know little about the
opportunities and the difficulties faced by MFIs during their
growth phase to adopt and manage
MIS. The paper examines qualitative and quantitative data on
the capacity of MFIs in Togo
to effectively implement MIS. Results suggest that MFIs face
various difficulties resulting from
insufficient support from MIS designers; limited network data
consolidation; irregular system

updates that disturb the proper functioning of the system;; and
difficulties to manage data in
accordance with the legal framework and instability of the
system. We find also that if the MIS
responds appropriately to the need for MFIs information
processing, the result is a better outcome
in terms of operating cost reduction, portfolio risk reduction,
and operating profit. Findings
suggest that full involvement of the Professional Association of
MFIs in Togo is recommended to
centralize and share the information system problems faced in
the entire sector microfinance in
Togo. This can be done through the organization of training
workshops.
Keywords: microfinance, management information systems,
growth phase
Microfinance is the provision of financial services, such as
credit, savings, insurance,
remittances, and guarantees, to the poor and the financially
excluded. it is seen as
a solution to social problems (social and financial exclusion,
poverty) and a tool to
improve the quality of life for lower income families (Karlan
and Goldberg, 2011;
ashta et al., 2014). today, the microfinance sector is
characterized not only by strong
competition, because of commercialization, but also by high
demand for financial
services. as a result, microfinance institutions (Mfis) manage a
large amount of
data‚ essential for their operations, from basic information on
customers to detailed
analysis of transactions and portfolio performance. Moreover, a
growing number of

countries are adopting microfinance legislation and regulations
(Lux-Development,
2010; couchoro, 2015). consequently, the adoption of a
sophisticated management
information system (Mis) in order to better manage portfolios
(loan, saving, and
risk) in accordance with the legal framework becomes a
requirement and a way
to improve financial services to the poor communities in the
world (ashta, 2011;
Khan, 2011; ashta et al., 2015).
mailto:[email protected]
116 M.K. COUCHORO
June 2016 Enterprise Development and Microfinance Vol. 27
No. 2
according to the World Bank (2003) report on information
systems, and the
Millennium Development Goals, information systems reduce
transaction costs per
customer and enable financial institutions to provide small
loans and services to
a large number of rural customers. in addition, Mfis face
considerable internal
information challenges in terms of processing, storing, and
sharing, and they
have been reluctant to introduce comprehensive Mis (estapé-
Debreuil, 2015).
this suggests that in the case of Bangladesh, the main reason for
introducing Mis
in Mfis in Bangladesh has been operational efficiency rather
than to improve

their capability to reach and serve a broader customer segment
(Mia, 2005; estapé-
Debreuil, 2015). sophisticated Miss are supposed to collect and
disseminate
timely information to managers and thus improve their ability to
process and
analyse information (couchoro, 2015; Davenport, 1998). thus
Miss should also
be viewed as a strategic necessity that prevents competitive
disadvantage in
rapidly changing business environments (Goh and Kauffman,
2013). in order to
achieve these strategic objectives, organizations are adopting
more sophisticated
and comprehensive Mis (naranjo-Gil, 2009; choe, 1996).
Unfortunately, many Mfis,
even those which have reached maturity, consider that a basis
information system,
such as manual accounting systems or spreadsheets, is sufficient
(couchoro, 2015).
they judge that it is useless to invest enormous effort and
financial resources to
improve their information system (ashta, 2011; Khan, 2011). in
fact, these tools are
easy to develop and update. however their utility is limited to
institutions with a large
volume of loans and saving portfolios. on the other hand a
system which handles a low
volume of activity correctly may collapse under the pressure of
growing information
needs when an Mfi grows (couchoro, 2015; csfi, 2008). an
institution that is not well
prepared for rapid growth jeopardizes its financial health and
quality.
Moreover, the development partners and donors, who provide

grants to Mfis,
sometimes also require Miss to be in place as they promote
better quality reporting
and strengthen the institutional capacity of the Mfi. Besides,
Mfis find that they
have the potential to reach more customers than they have the
capacity (Khan,
2011), mostly due to a shortage of capital required and
technology to reach these
people. to illustrate this, we can take the example of accessing
funding from private
formal financial institutions that comes with multiple
preconditions; one of which
is the need for information transparency. one of the most
efficient ways of having
any level of information transparency is through the use of
strong information
technology systems. thus, transparency mixed with the intrinsic
need from Mfis to
be efficient in their operations, require Mfis to adopt robust Mis
tools to automate
and streamline their operations.
for many institutions today, methodological issues, staff
training, and even
resource mobilization are fundamental for their growth. an
institution that
implements a system capable of producing timely, accurate, and
comprehensive
information about its operations, will be in a better position to
manage its financial
performance, as well as adapt to the needs of its customers. an
information system
with automated management then becomes the best solution.
conversely, even when they have financial means, many Mfis

have great difficulty
implementing Mis during their growth phase. the problem was
so acute in the West
african economic Monetary Zone (WaeMZ) that it has been
decided to support Mfis
MFI ADOPTION OF MANAGMENT INFORMATION
SYSTEMS IN TOGO 117
2016
to acquire automated Miss that are technically reliable, suitable,
and in accordance
with the legal framework instead of imposing a one-size-fits-all
approach to the entire
sector. in this regard, the Lux-Development (2010) studies
explain the necessary and
sufficient requirements that an Mis must meet in order to be
consistent with the
legal framework. But this approach can only succeed if the
difficulties faced by Mfis
in terms of Mis are well known. thus, this approach does not
take into account the
fundamental problem that poses the following question: what
are the difficulties
that Mfis face in terms of Mis during their growth phase?
the objective of this paper is to highlight those difficulties
through the experiences
related to the use of an Mis during the growth phase of Mfis. to
do this, we will
initially present, through a literature review, the challenges in
implementing an Mis

for Mfis in the growth phase. then the case of Mfis in togo will
be presented as well
as some proposed solutions before concluding.
Literature review and methodology
in general, all enterprises, whether the sector is finance,
engineering services,
information, or technology‚ have one thing in common: they
need to be managed,
planned, staffed, organized, monitored, controlled, and
evaluated (couchoro, 2015;
caniël and Bakens, 2012). to this end, managers need to make
fast decisions, allocate
scarce resources efficiently, and have a clear focus. the
problems faced by enterprises
can be termed resource conflicts in the long run (caniël and
Bakens, 2012; Maylor
et al., 2006). inadequate balancing of scarce resources often
results in additional
pressure on the organization, which leads to poor quality of
information and longer
lead times of projects (elonen and artto, 2003). Managers may
become overwhelmed
by the amount of information that is available for decision
making, losing sight of
relevant information or being unaware of inaccuracies. in
general, poor information
quality leads to poor decision making (engwall and Jerbrant,
2003). the use of
management information systems is considered advantageous to
managers because
it leads to more timely decision making. thus, for the Mfis, an
innovation which
leads to the use of an information system becomes a need but at
the same time it is a

considerable challenge. Mis challenges faced by Mfis can be
divided into two types:
first, challenges faced before the decision to adopt the Mis; and
second, challenges
faced after the decision to adopt the Mis (couchoro, 2015).
Growth phase and challenges before the decision to adopt an
MIS
Before adopting an automated Mis, Mfis face some challenges.
Microfinance
practitioners from all over the world mentioned the high cost as
a major barrier in
acquiring and implementing a Mis (csfi, 2008; Khan, 2011). it is
often said that
the majority of the costs are concentrated in the maintenance of
the system, rather
than building or implementing it (Quadri et al., 2011). two
major issues in the
maintenance phase are considered to have the potential to
increase costs for the
organization (couchoro, 2015; csfi, 2008; Khan, 2011). first, an
Mis may face fatal
errors and fail due to hardware or software crashes or
malfunctions (couchoro, 2015;
csfi, 2008). second, there can be changes in the requirements of
the organization
118 M.K. COUCHORO
No. 2
during the implementation or post-implementation of the Mis.

these changes
basically arise because of the change in the process model, the
growth of the organi-
zation, or a change in the strategic focus (couchoro, 2015). thus,
based on the
objective of cost minimization, Mfis are ready to operate
without information
technology tools that are often seen as non-productive and
highly expensive. in
most cases, even if an Mfi can afford the cost of automation, it
doesn’t consider
this as a necessary expenditure and thus looks for external
assistance, such as donor
funding or grants, to meet this expense (Khan, 2011). another
challenge is, on the
one hand, the lack of skilled labour within the Mfi to implement
the automation
project and on the other hand, the lack of explicit support
coming from senior
managers who have difficulties in understanding the Mis.
if the chief executive is either skeptical about adopting
technology or feels that
it is being imposed upon the Mfi by an external factor (perhaps
as pre-requisite
for a loan), then the implementation process becomes complex,
tedious and
often heads for failure (Khan, 2011).
the decision to adopt an Mis is also an issue which depends on
the willingness of
the leaders of the Mfis who must be aware of the challenges.
Based on the assessment
of the available means, managers must be able to appreciate the
scope of the Mis
in terms of the Mfis’ performance and impact. if leaders are not

able to adequately
diagnose the future perspectives of the institution and the needs
for information
technology, they will surely be reluctant to adopt a change
(rivard and Lapointe,
2012). an effective Mis can only work and sustain within an Mfi
if the staff at all
levels accept it and are aware of its potential.
Growth phase and challenges after the decision to adopt an MIS
after the decision to adopt an automated Mis, the rest of the
procedure is not without
difficulties (couchoro, 2015). the software selection process is
not part of the routine
operations of an Mfi. few institutions have the needed expertise
to monitor such a
project; this makes the choice of Mis relatively difficult
(neXUs, 2000). employees
might have the skills, but not enough time to develop an
information system. in
such a case, advice from an external consultant can help avoid
major pitfalls.
in terms of automation process implementation, Mfis face the
following diffi-
culties (Waterfield and ramsing, 1998): first, executives, field
staff, and members of
the board of directors, as well as managers of information
systems, are rarely aware
of all the needs of their organization to accurately identify the
information needs.
even when they are aware of the necessity to monitor key
indicators, these are not
always defined well enough to allow them to do the job. they
can also ignore some

of the key monitoring indicators while systems are often
constructed in an arbitrary
and piecemeal manner without fully assessing the needs. a
second category of diffi-
culties relates to communication between senior managers and
specialized Mis staff.
in general, senior managers and the staff of information systems
within a financial
institution do not speak the same language (couchoro, 2015).
the existing workload
of employees and the tendency to compartmentalize operations
exacerbate this
SYSTEMS IN TOGO 119
2016
problem. even if they show the best intentions, employees may
misinterpret the
wishes of the leaders. finally, problems arise from a lack of
realistic evaluation of
what information technology can offer. in a world dominated by
computers, users
are often surprised not to have the desired information when
they want it.
investigation of needs is a fundamental step towards a
successful Mis (couchoro,
2015; csfi, 2008; Khan, 2011; ashta, 2011). it is therefore
paramount that Mfis
that are adopting Mis understand their own needs deeply. it is
only after this that

the institution can make an initial assessment of the various
options, including
the improvement and linking of existing systems and the
purchase of ‘turnkey’
systems. for this reason, it is recommended that the following
steps be taken
(couchoro, 2015; Waterfield and ramsing, 1998): 1) establish a
working group;
2) draw up a list of needs; 3) determine what is feasible; 4)
evaluate the possibilities;
and 5) present the conclusions of the working group. the
question would then be
whether the Mfi has difficulties in identifying its needs.
concerning the estab-
lishment of a working group, leaders must ensure that all actors
are represented
and that the project objectives are communicated to the staff.
the members of the
team should include operations staff, head office staff, and
representatives from
the board of directors (Khan, 2011). Leaders must therefore go
beyond the decision
to adopt the Mis by taking an active role in the achievement of
the project.
in addition, it is one thing to have an automated information
system; another thing
is to make a good choice at the time of adoption. choosing an
automated information
system to meet Mfi business growth challenges is not an easy
task. this choice is
sometimes subject to great difficulties, and a wrong solution
can lead to worse situations
than a manual system. Difficulty arises from the dilemma
between developing a
customized system and purchasing existing software (Laydeker,

2002; neXUs, 2000).
Moreover, Mis implementation during the growth phase can
face enormous
resistance (rivard and Lapointe, 2012). indeed, since the second
half of the 20th
century, information technology implementation has often faced
user resistance to
innovations, including electronic data-processing equipment
(Mann and Williams,
1960), Mis, decision support systems (alter, 1980), and
enterprise systems (Kitto
and higgins, 2010). Manifestations of resistance represent the
core element in
terms of resistance to information technology, which is
generally defined as a
set of behaviours enacted by users to manifest some discontent
with the imple-
mentation of a new information system (rivard and Lapointe,
2012). there is
a broad range of manifestations, from apathy (Keen 1981; Lee
and clark 1997)
to sabotage (Day, 2000; Moreno 1999) and destructive
behaviour (ferneley and
sobreperez, 2006), including denial (Kim and Kankanhalli
2009), persistence of
former behaviour (Kim and Kankanhalli 2009), and the
formation of coalitions
(Lapointe and rivard, 2005). is user resistance to information
technology imple-
mentation good or bad? the answer is neither affirmative nor
negative (rivard
and Lapointe, 2012; hirschheim and newman, 1988; Marakas
and hornik,
1996; Markus, 1983). some manifestations are mild or weak
forms of resistance,

others are strong but not destructive behaviours, while still
others seek to create
disruptions and may even be destructive. at times, it is a means
for users to convey
the existence of problems with the information technology (it)
or with its effects;
120 M.K. COUCHORO
No. 2
in such instances, resistance is functional (rivard and Lapointe,
2012). at other
times, however, resistance ‘can be destructive, because it
generates conflict and
ill-will’ (Markus, 1983). furthermore, when resistance prevents
the adoption of an
it that could benefit the organization, it is dysfunctional.
Lastly, the Mis cannot solve all business or operational
problems of an Mfi. some
of these problems may be related to a lack of staff training and
internal controls.
Users’ satisfaction is undoubtedly a significant factor in the
success of an Mis (rigaud,
1984). the Mfi management which knows why it wants to
change its Mis must set
specific and measurable objectives for the new system and thus
estimate the degree
of satisfaction that comes from the Mis.
Togo case study methodology and data sources

Based on the structure of the literature review, our methodology
aims to
highlight, in terms of Mis, the profile of the microfinance sector
in togo. thus,
it is structured around an empirical investigation focused on
both qualitative
and quantitative studies. the six key points which held our
attention, as far
as difficulties faced by Mifs are concerned, are divided into two
parts: 1) diffi-
culties faced before the adoption of Mis (cost as a barrier to
adopt an Mis,
decision to adopt an Mis); and 2) those faced after the decision
to adopt an
Mis (identification of the needs of the Mfi, the involvement of
all actors, the
choice of an Mis: a dilemma between an internal system and
software purchase,
and degree of satisfaction with the Mis). in addition, this
methodology aims to
point out the impact of those difficulties on the performance of
the Mis and
on the financial performance of Mfis in togo. thus, we use
correlations and
covariance statistics in order to highlight not only the link
between the variables
representing the difficulties of adopting the Mis and the
response of the latter
to rapid information processing needs of Mfis, but also the link
between the
variable representing the quick response to the needs of
information processing
and those that represent performance indicators of Mfis such as:
operations
profit, portfolio risk reduction, and operation cost reduction.

the first step of the empirical investigation is done through
interviews with
leaders or the managers of the biggest Mfi in togo, faîtière des
Unités coopératives
d’Épargne et de crédit du togo (fUcec), which itself accounts
for over 50 per cent
of the market share of the microfinance sector in togo and hold
over 43 years of
experience. this step helps to highlight the advantages and
difficulties faced by this
large institution as far as Mis is concerned. the interviews also
enabled us to prepare
the second part of the empirical study as the answers helped us
to determine our
sample for the survey and to design the study questionnaire. the
second step of the
empirical study consists of a survey based on a research
questionnaire administered
to a sample of 30 Mfis which account for over 90 per cent of the
market share of
legally registered Mfis in togo (in november and December
2013). We have selected
Mfis that have at least 5 years of experience and continuous
growth in terms
of number of customers. We used epidata and stata software for
data processing
and analyses.
SYSTEMS IN TOGO 121
2016

Experiences of MFIs in Togo in terms of MIS
The microfinance environment in Togo
from a monetary perspective, the incidence of poverty is high in
togo, a country of
6.5 million inhabitants. the country poverty rate was 58.7 per
cent in 2011, with
a significant discrepancy between rural and urban areas where it
is, respectively,
73.4 per cent and 44.7 per cent at the same period. as a result,
access to the formal
banking system is low (less than 15 per cent of the active
population hold a bank
account), reflecting the very important role Mfis need to play in
enhancing access
to financial services. according to data reported by cellule
d’appui et de soutien
aux institutions et Mutuelles d’epargne et de crédit (cas-iMec),
the microfinance
sector in togo had more than 1.2 million customers (20 per cent
of the population),
with customer deposits close to €177 m by 2012. this represents
15 per cent of the
total deposits in the country. the total microcredit portfolio was
nearly €155 m in
2012. By 2006, microfinance represented 16 per cent of total
credit in the country.
figure 1 shows the growth of microfinance, particularly since
2005.
the largest Mfis in the country are fUcec and WaGes which
account for about
50 per cent and 16 per cent market share, respectively.
fUcec, WaGes, and other Mfis have been successful and have

taken a portion
of the market that was held by traditional banks (couchoro,
2015). With this success,
the implementation of an Mis could help them meet their growth
needs.
as indicated in table 1, fUcec and WaGes are larger than some
banks in togo
in terms of loans disbursed and savings collected. fUcec is
almost as large as some
of the biggest banks in the country.
200
100
19
95
0
200
100
19
95
20
00
20
05
20
10

20
12
0
Gross loan portfolio (€ m)
20
00
20
05
20
10
20
12
Deposits (€ m)
Figure 1 Growth of microfinance in Togo
Source: CASI-MEC-Togo
Table 1 Data of FUCEC and WAGES
Number of customers Volume of saving (€) Volume of loan (€)
FUCEC 2011 40,000 916,000 717,500
WAGES 2012 16,000 76,000 229,000
Source: CASI-MEC-Togo

122 M.K. COUCHORO
No. 2
the need to secure the savings of poor people, especially in the
West african
economic and Monetary Union (WaeMU), led to actions by the
legislator of
the WaeMU (ashta et al., 2010). it is the central Bank of the
eight countries in
the WaeMU, Bceao (Banque centrale des États de l’afrique de
l’ouest), that
regulates the microfinance sector for all eight countries. in
1994, the Bceao
proposed a bill on microfinance, which became law on 14 July
1995, better known
as the parMec law, requiring accreditation of Mfis. the law was
ratified by these
countries over a series of years (by togo in 1996). the objective
was to support
microfinance to take off.
While regulation is passed by the WaeMU, the promotion and
the ratification
of the industry was done within each country. as a result, each
country passes its
own decree of ratification of the law (the decrees are almost
identical, except for the
date and the name of the institutions). in togo, the department
which controls and
supervises the microfinance sector, within the Ministry of
economy and finance,
is called casiMec. the 1995 (parMec) law was modified in 2007
and the bill has

been ratified by many of the members including togo (in 2011).
an example of
the difference between the two pieces of legislation is that the
decision to certify
an association will now be made at the level of the commission
bancaire (at the level
of the Bceao) and not at the level of the cas-iMec in togo.
another feature is
that the previous law provided tacit authorization to start a Mfi
if written approval
was not provided in six months. as opposed to this, the new law
provides for tacit
refusal if the written approval is not provided in six months.
thus, togo moved
from a period of enabling legislation to a new era of supervisory
legislation.
FUCEC’s experience of MIS: interview findings
regarding the choice between internal development of an
automated system
and the purchase of software, fUcec said they faced a big
difficulty. at first, the
institution made the choice to develop an internal system as a
response to its
growth and not prior to a growth strategy. nevertheless, the
experience failed,
although the conventional procedures, including involvement at
the board level,
had been followed. as far as needs identification is concerned,
fUcec ranged its
level of difficulties at four on a scale of ten. this first failure
led fUcec to acquire
a new Mis named sYsDesaf.
sYsDesaf is the choice of the six major Mfi networks in West

africa. it is
considered as the most efficient solution compared with the
existing systems
on the market at the time of its implementation in fUcec-toGo
network in
november 2003. according to fUcec’s managers, sYsDesaf
offers lot of flexibility
and security. it effectively supports all transactions. its reports
allow proactive
management of the entire loan portfolio in compliance with
international
standards. it has a database capable of managing a wide range
of financial products.
it takes into account the needs of Mfis, including best practices
for adminis-
tration of the loan portfolio, the financial accounting,
management accounts, and
customer information. it facilitates a balance between business
demands and the
active responsibility of social balance. fUcec is currently using
the fourth version
SYSTEMS IN TOGO 123
2016
of the software and for its managers the sYsDesaf is suitable for
both extensive
branch networks and small sites with a single branch. the main
benefits offered by
the sYsDesaf include: 1) increased productivity by automating
all daily activities,

reducing manual processes and the risk of human error; 2)
increased ability to
control business through portfolio, productivity, late payments,
and hundreds of
other reports; and 3) cost reduction and better use of staff time,
thanks to the use
of a Windows interface integrating Ms office tools.
nevertheless, fUcec managers highlighted the real weaknesses
of sYsDesaf.
the Mis cannot edit financial statements in accordance with
regulation. fUcec
is therefore obliged to acquire another system called strateGo
decision, which
entails additional costs. Up to version 4.3, sYsDesaf did not
permit overtime
accounts, which requires accountants to spend the night of 31
December – 1 January
at work, for the end of year closing. the system does not
allocate operating/
income statement, once the year is closed. in addition, the
sYsDesaf had bugs and
corrections of these bugs led to several versions (the 2, 3, 4,
4.2, and 4.3). however,
other bugs still remain. in addition, the system is heavy and
costly for smaller Mfis
because its starting cost is €857 per computer, with €286 annual
support fees. apart
from the cost of the software, one also has to purchase the
Microsoft sQL server.
Moreover, the system is composed of several integrated
modules: customer
management, accounts, and credits, which sometimes lead to
unexplained accounting
discrepancies.

in addition, the designer of the system is in costa rica and only
speaks spanish
and english. the users are in francophone countries in africa.
this raises linguistic
and distance issues. the DiD (Développement international
Desjardins), a technical
partner from canada, serves as an intermediary between the
french speaking users
and the systems designers. Given that the circuit is long, with
multiple instances of
decisions, it takes time to make changes. Despite all this, fUcec
expressed a 70 per
cent satisfaction rate with their current Mis.
Empirical results of challenges before the decision to adopt an
MIS
the survey results show that 21 out of 30 Mfis have their
headquarters in the capital
city, Lomé. the average number of beneficiaries per Mfi is
36,900 people with a
minimum of 520 and a maximum of 550,000.
Most Mfis have adopted an Mis (21 Mfis) in response to the
growth of their
institution. conversely, nine Mfis have adopted an Mis prior to a
growth strategy.
out of the 30 Mfis surveyed, 26 said they were supported by the
management team
in the adoption of an automated Mis against four Mfis for which
the management
team has been reluctant to support the project (table 2). the
results reflect the
importance that the majority of management teams give to the

adoption of an
automated Mis. thus, management teams are generally aware of
the significance
of Mis in the management of their institutions. More than half
(16 Mfis) of Mfis
surveyed find that the cost is a negative factor for the project,
while for the 14 other
Mfis, the cost is not at all a barrier to the Mis adoption. the
average maintenance
cost is approximately €3,000. as far as the human resources are
concerned, 19 Mfis
124 M.K. COUCHORO
No. 2
find that it is not a barrier to the Mis project success. however
for the11 other
Mfis, the lack of adequate human resources played a negative
role in the outcome
of the project. these results show that the majority of Mfis have
human resources
that understand the challenges related to the adoption of an Mis.
Empirical results of challenges after the decision to adopt an
MIS
after the decision to adopt an automated Mis is made, Mfis face
other difficulties.
on a scale of 1 to 10, Mfis estimated these difficulties to be 4.4,
with a maximum
of 10. for 14 of those Mfis, on a scale of 1 to 10, the difficulties
exceeded 5, while

for 16 of them the difficulties are lower than or equal to 5 (table
3). With regard to
needs identification, 23 Mfis said that they did identify needs
whereas 7 of them
said they did not. By not doing so, these Mfis take the risk of
making the choice
of an Mis that could not meet the real needs of the organization.
over the 30 Mfis
surveyed, 24 said that all actors (executives, field staff,
members of the board of
directors, and managers of information systems) are involved in
the Mis instal-
lation process, while six Mfis said that only some of the actors
were involved in
the process. one can understand through these figures that the
adoption of an Mis
and its success are a major challenge for most Mfis. for 19 out
of 30 Mfis surveyed,
the choice between the software purchase and the development
of an internal
system was made without difficulty. But for the 11 other Mfis,
that choice was a
real dilemma. Most Mfis (24) chose a software purchase, while
six of them opted
for development of an internal system. Within the 24 Mfis that
opted for software
purchase, 4 had changed their Mis at least once. among the six
Mfis that opted for
internal system development, only one had changed its Mis.
Mfis face tremendous difficulties in the use of an Mis. Mfis that
opted for software
purchase complain that they are not really supported by the
designers. thus, they
are on their own for the control of the software. some Mfis
point out the problem of

Table 2 Situation before adopting the MIS
Yes No
The cost has been an obstacle
to the success of the project
16 14
Competent human resources
has been an obstacle to the
success of the project
11 19
Supported the
project
Was reluctant to
support the project
Did not care about
the project
In adopting the MIS, the
management team:
26 4 0
A response to
growth
Prior to a growth
strategy

The adoption of the MIS was: 21 09
SYSTEMS IN TOGO 125
2016
data consolidation for their network. in other cases, it is the
update that disturbs the
proper functioning of the system. some Mfis complain about the
lack of measures
to secure the restoration of the databases. other Mfis point out
the difficulties of
managing the data in accordance with the legal framework.
the system sometimes does not allow the monitoring of credit
through an age
wise balance analysis. in addition, the accounting was only
partly undertaken by
the software. in some systems, the flaw was its instability: for
the information
requested, the database could give two different versions if it
was drawn from
two different computers or on the same computer at different
times. Moreover,
sometimes the supplier does not have a systematic procedure for
the treatment of
the difficulties faced.
Despite these difficulties, 21 out of the 30 surveyed Mfis
estimated their degree
of satisfaction at more than 70 per cent; 8 Mfis evaluated their
satisfaction between

50 and 70 per cent; only one Mfi estimated its degree of
satisfaction as less than
50 per cent.
regarding the capacity of the Mis to respond quickly to the need
for information
processing, 20 Mfis found that it is moderate, while for eight
Mfis the capacity is
significant (table 4). only one Mfi found that the capacity of the
Mis to respond to
the need is very weak. these observations confirm the important
role the Mis plays
in Mfi management.
With regard to donor support (for example, subsidies), more
than half of Mfis
(16 Mfis) surveyed said they had never received such support.
this is due to the
transparency provided by the installation of the Mis. four out of
14 Mfis thought
that this support is weak, while seven and three, respectively,
found it moderate
and significant.
Table 3 Situation after adopting the MIS
Yes No
Identification of needs 23
All actors were involved 25 05
The institution experienced a
dilemma over the internal system or
software purchase

11 19
The MFIs changed MIS since the
adoption
5 25
<5 ≥5
Estimation of difficulties faced on a
scale of 1 to 10
16 14
<50% 50–70% 70–90% 90–100%
Satisfaction degree on a scale of 100 1 8 14 7
The purchase of software The development of an
internal system
First information system choice 24 6
126 M.K. COUCHORO
No. 2
in terms of Mis and operating cost reduction, 25 Mfis found that
this contri-
bution is positive, while five Mfis thought that the Mis does not
contribute to
operating cost reduction. on other hand, 29 of the 30 Mfis found
that the Mis

contributes to the improvement of their operating profits.
there is a positive link between the variable representing the
quick response to the
needs for information processing and the following variables
(table 5): operations
profit, portfolio risk reduction, and operation cost reduction.
this implies that if the
Mis responds appropriately to the need for Mfi information
processing, the result is
a better outcome in terms of operating cost reduction, portfolio
risk reduction, and
operating profit. since the number of Mfi customers is expected
to grow, effective
Table 4 Impacts of MIS adoption
No effect Yes but
weakly
Yes but
moderately
Yes
significantly
Does the MIS respond quickly to the need
for information processing?
01 01 20 08
Support received from donor because of
the transparency provided by MIS
16 04 07 03

MIS and operating cost reduction 05 05 13 07
MIS and portfolio risk reduction – 2 14 14
MIS and improvement of operating profit 01 01 16 12
Table 5 Correlation of performance variables
Does the
MIS respond
quickly to
the need for
information
processing?
Support
received
from donors
thanks to
MIS through
transparency
MIS and
operating
cost
reduction
MIS and
portfolio
risk
reduction

MIS and
improvement
of operating
results
Does the MIS respond
quickly to the need for
information processing?
1.0000
Support received from
donor thanks to MIS
through transparency
0.1677 1.0000
MIS and operating cost
reduction
0.3527* 0.3585* 1.0000
MIS and portfolio risk
reduction
0.3694* 0.2275 0.2408 1.0000
MIS and improvement of
operating profit
0.5327* 0.1736 0.2135 0.2673 1.0000
*z-statistics significance at 10%

SYSTEMS IN TOGO 127
2016
and prompt data processing is essential. therefore a
sophisticated Mis is a very
important factor for the sustainability of the microfinance
programme.
the data show (at 10 per cent level of significance) that there is
no correlation
between the variables representing the difficulties before the
decision to adopt the
Mis and the response of the latter to rapid information
processing needs of Mfis.
however there is a link between the rapid response of an Mis
and some variables
concerning the difficulties encountered after the decision to
adopt the Mis (table 6).
indeed, there is a link between the degree of satisfaction with
the Mis and the
dilemma related to the choice between a software purchase and
an internal system.
We can say that if an Mfi does not have a problem in terms of
initial choice, it knows
what it really needs and its choice is made accordingly. When
an Mfi has difficulties
identifying its needs, it hesitates about the choice of an Mis, a
sign of immaturity
which can adversely affect the performance of the selected Mis.
to better meet the
needs of the Mfis in terms of information processing, the choice

between a software
purchase and an internal system is crucial.
Conclusion and recommendation
Miss are becoming increasingly important for the microfinance
industry in togo,
as a number of Mfis have reached maturity. indeed, as Mfis
grow and begin to
adopt a commercial approach, Mfi managers note that they lose
their ability
to maintain direct contact with field activities. they realize that
it is difficult to
manage their portfolio and financial transactions without better
information. We
have highlighted the advantages and especially the difficulties
faced by some of the
largest Mfis while implementing their Mis although they
followed the traditional
process recommended for the installation of an Mis.
two kinds of difficulties can be observed as far as Mis
implementation is
concerned: those encountered before the decision to adopt the
Mis, and those
faced after the decision to adopt Mis. We noticed that the
adoption of an Mis
and its success are the major challenges for most of the Mfis
management
teams. they are generally aware of the scope of the Mis in the
management of
their institutions. the cost is also one of the major barriers to
the decision of
adopting a Mis. empirical results show that most Mfis overcome
the challenges
without great difficulties before the decision to adopt an Mis,

because of support
by the management team. although Mfis overcome challenges
(identification,
human resources competence) after the decision to adopt an
Mis, they face
tremendous difficulties in the use of the Mis such as lack of
support by the
designers; problem of data consolidation for their network;
updates that disturb
the proper functioning of the system; lack of measures to secure
the restoration
of the databases; difficulties in managing the data in accordance
with the legal
framework; and instability of the system. the fact that more than
two-thirds of
the Mfis surveyed said that they are at least 70 per cent satisfied
with the Mis they
are currently using, indicates that several problems have been
fixed; but further
improvement is necessary and possible.
128 M.K. COUCHORO
No. 2
Ta
b
le
6
C
o

rr
el
at
io
n
o
f
va
ri
ab
le
s
re
p
re
se
n
ti
n
g
d
if
fi
cu

lt
ie
s
fa
ce
d
a
ft
er
t
h
e
ad
o
p
ti
o
n
o
f
M
IS
a
n

d
o
n
e
p
er
fo
rm
an
ce
v
ar
ia
b
le
Id
en
ti
fi
ca
ti
o
n

o
f
n
ee
d
s
D
if
fi
cu
lt
ie
s
fa
ce
d
o
n
a
s
ca
le

o
f
1
–
10
A
ct
o
rs
in
vo
lv
ed
D
ile
m
m
a
b
et
w
ee

n
a
n
in
te
rn
a
l s
ys
te
m
a
n
d
s
o
ft
w
a
re
p

u
rc
h
a
se
Fi
rs
t
In
fo
rm
a
ti
o
n
sy
st
em
ch
o
ic
e

C
h
a
n
g
e
o
f
M
IS
si
n
ce
t
h
e
a
d
o
p
ti
o
n

Sa
ti
sf
a
ct
io
n
d
eg
re
e
o
n
a
s
ca
le
o
f
10
0

A
ve
ra
g
e
m
a
in
te
n
a
n
ce
co
st
Q
u
ic
kl
y
re
sp
o

n
d
t
o
th
e
n
ee
d
f
o
r
in
fo
rm
a
ti
o
n
p
ro
ce

ss
in
g
Id
en
ti
fi
ca
ti
o
n
o
f
n
ee
d
s
1.
0
0
0
0
D
if

fi
cu
lt
ie
s
fa
ce
d
o
n
a
sc
al
e
o
f
1
–
10
−
0
.2
5

5
9
1.
0
0
0
0
A
ct
o
rs
in
vo
lv
ed
−
0
.1
8
9
0
0

.1
0
4
5
1.
0
0
0
0
D
ile
m
m
a
b
et
w
ee
n
a
n
in

te
rn
al
s
ys
te
m
a
n
d
so
ft
w
ar
e
p
u
rc
h
as
e
0
.0

4
8
4
−
0
.3
14
6
0
.0
0
0
0
1.
0
0
0
0
Fi
rs
t

in
fo
rm
at
io
n
s
ys
te
m
ch
o
ic
e
0
.1
7
3
0
−
0
.1

16
4
0
.0
13
9
0
.0
9
8
8
1.
0
0
0
0
C
h
an
g
e

o
f
M
IS
s
in
ce
t
h
e
ad
o
p
ti
o
n
0
.0
07
8
0
.2
01

8
0
.1
6
8
5
−
0
.1
6
87
0
.0
61
8
1.
0
0
0
0

Sa
ti
sf
ac
ti
o
n
d
eg
re
e
o
n
a
sc
al
e
o
f
10
0
0
.0

2
0
9
−
0
.3
3
6
9
−
0
.0
15
7
0
.5
6
14
*
−
0

.1
2
6
9
−
0
.2
01
3
1.
0
0
0
0
A
ve
ra
g
e
m
ai
n

te
n
an
ce
co
st
0
.0
75
4
−
0
.0
51
8
−
0
.2
3
6
4

0
.2
9
2
9
−
0
.2
18
1
0
.1
3
51
0
.1
97
8
1.

0
0
0
0
Q
u
ic
kl
y
re
sp
o
n
d
t
o
t
h
e
n
ee
d
f
o

r
in
fo
rm
at
io
n
p
ro
ce
ss
in
g
−
0
.0
8
5
5
−
0
.0

47
5
0
.0
4
4
3
0
.2
51
5
−
0
.0
0
81
−
0
.1
37

4
0
.7
0
7
2
*
0
.0
2
07
1.
0
0
0
0
*
z-
st
at
is
ti

cs
s
ig
n
if
ic
an
ce
a
t
10
%
SYSTEMS IN TOGO 129
2016
in order to more easily overcome the challenges of adopting an
Mis, we recommend
full involvement of the professional association of Mfis in togo
(apiM-togo). the
latter must support all of its members before and after the
decision to adopt an Mis.
Given that each Mfi has its own problems with the information
system, there is a
need to create a central resource to identify the information

system problems faced
by Mfis. this will pave the ways for the sharing of information
concerning these
problems not only with the designers, but also with Mfis that
are starting an Mis
adoption process. this would help Mfis in their future choices.
References
alter, s. (1980) Decision Support Systems: Current Practice and
Continuing Challenge, reading, Ma:
addison-Wesley publishing company.
ashta a. (2011) Advanced Technologies for Microfinance:
Solution
s and Challenges, hershey, pa:
Business science reference.
ashta, a., chalamon, i. and Demay, i. (2010) ‘a bilingual account
of the history of micro-
finance in togo (Un compte bilingue de l’histore de
microfinance au togo)’, SSRN Electronic
Journal, september 2010
<http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1681939>.
ashta, a. couchoro, M. and Musa, a. (2014) ‘Dialectic evolution
through the social innovation

process: from microcredit to microfinance’, Journal of
Innovation and Entrepreneurship 3(4): 3–23
<http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/2192-5372-3-4>.
ashta, a., Barnett, B., Dayson, K. and sukpa, G. (2015)
Management Information Systems for
Microfinance: Catalyzing Social Innovation for Competitive
Advantage, newcastle upon tyne, UK:
cambridge scholars publishing.
centre for the study of financial innovation (csfi) (2008)
Microfinance Banana Skins, London:
csfi.
caniëls, M.c.J. and. Bakens, r. (2012) ‘the effects of project
management information systems
on decision making in a multi project environment’,
International Journal of Project Management
30(2): 162–75
<http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijproman.2011.05.005>.
choe, J.M. (1996) ‘the relationships among performance of
accounting information systems,
influence factors and evolution level of information systems’,
Journal of Management Information

Systems 12(4): 215–39.
couchoro, M. (2015) ‘Mfis growth phase: difficulty in the
management information system’,
in a. ashta, B. Barnett, K. Dayson and G. sukpa (eds.),
Management Information Systems for
Microfinance: Catalyzing Social Innovation for Competitive
Advantage, newcastle upon tyne, UK:
cambridge scholars publishing.
Davenport, t. (1998) ‘putting the enterprise into the enterprise
system’, Harvard Business
Review 76: 121–31.
Day, D.L. (2000) ‘Behavioral effects of attitudes toward
constraint in case: the impact of
development task and project phase’, Information Systems
Journal 10(2): 151–63 <http://dx.doi.
org/10.1046/j.1365-2575.2000.00073.x>.
elonen, s. and artto, K.a. (2003) ’problems in managing internal
development projects in
multi-project environments’, International Journal of Project
Management 21(6): 395–402 <http://
dx.doi.org/10.1016/s0263-7863(02)00097-2>.

130 M.K. COUCHORO
No. 2
engwall, M. and Jerbrant, a. (2003) ‘the resource allocation
syndrome: the prime challenge of
multi-project management?’ International Journal of Project
Management 21(6): 403–9 <http://
dx.doi.org/10.1016/s0263-7863(02)00113-8>.
estapé-Dubreuil, G. (2015) ‘information requirements for
microfinance’, in a. ashta, B. Barnett,
K. Dayson and G. sukpa (eds.), Management Information
Systems for Microfinance: Catalyzing
Social Innovation for Competitive Advantage, newcastle upon
tyne, UK: cambridge scholars
publishing.
ferneley, e.h. and sobreperez, p. (2006) ‘resist, comply or
workaround? an examination of
different facets of user engagement with information systems’,

European Journal of Information
Systems 15(4): 345–56
<http://dx.doi.org/10.1057/palgrave.ejis.3000629>.
Goh, K. h. and Kauffman, r.J. (2013) ‘firm strategy and the
internet in U.s. commercial
banking’, Journal of Management Information Systems 30(2):
9–40 <http://dx.doi.org/10.2753/
Mis0742-1222300201>.
hirschheim, r. and newman, M. (1988) ‘information systems and
user resistance: theory and
practice’, The Computer Journal 31(5): 398–408.
Karlan, D. and Goldberg, n. (2011) ‘Microfinance evaluation
strategies: notes on methodology
and findings’, in B. armendáriz and M. Labie (eds.), The
Handbook of Microfinance, singapore:
World scientific.
Keen, p. G. W. (1981) ‘information systems and organizational
change’, Communications of the
ACM 24(1): 24–33.
Khan, s. (2011) ‘automating Mfis: how far should we go?’ in a.

ashta (Dir.), Advanced
Technologies for Microfinance:

Executive Recruiting and Management Information in the White.docx

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

Similar to Executive Recruiting and Management Information in the White.docx

Similar to Executive Recruiting and Management Information in the White.docx (17)

More from SANSKAR20

More from SANSKAR20 (20)

Recently uploaded

Recently uploaded (20)

Executive Recruiting and Management Information in the White.docx