ABSTRACT
The focus of this chapter, and the subsequent Chapter 14, is on testing those aspects of contingency theory which lend themselves to statistical analysis. The central hypothesis is that IS development is determined by contingencies (Anderson and Lanen, 1999; Brignall, 1997; Burns and Stalker, 1961; Chandler, 1962; Lawrence and Lorch, 1967). Put briefly, this hypothesis is that organisational form (e.g. of the small firm) is determined by adaptation to the environment, technology, strategy etc). The data used here relate to the period 1994-98 for the sample of new Scottish small firms, described in Chapters 2 and 3. Contingency theory is tested by correlation methods in this chapter, and by cluster and regression analysis in Chapter 14.
