How using information from shadow IT affects decision making.

What is it about?

Increasingly business employees are creating their own Excel spreadsheets or using personal devices that are not monitored or approved by the IT department--that is, employees create and use shadow IT. We study how managers view information from such sources and how managers’ decisions are affected because the information came from a non-monitored or approved source. We find that participants see the information from shadow sources as less credible. Because participants perceive the information to be less credible, they are less willing to rely on the information and their decisions are not impacted as much by the information. However, even though participants think the information is less credible from non-monitored sources, they are not more likely to find simple math mistakes in reports generated from non-monitored sources compared to monitored sources.

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Why is it important?

This study shows the potential consequences of people using shadow IT. First, managers believe they are using less credible sources of information. Relying on less credible information when making decisions can cause serious problems for a business. It also suggests that even though managers may be concerned about the source of the information, they are not careful in evaluating reports generated from non-monitored sources. This again can be harmful if decisions are made on incorrect information. Finally, while some argue that using non-monitored sources of information allow for more creativity and efficiency, this study shows some of the negative effects of using non-monitored sources of information.