Date of Graduation

8-2014

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy in Business Administration (PhD)

Degree Level

Graduate

Department

Accounting

Advisor/Mentor

Richardson, Vernon J.

Committee Member

Peters, Gary F.

Second Committee Member

Sabherwal, Rajiv

Keywords

Accounting; Information Technology; Management Forecasts

Abstract

Firms depend on information technology to provide high quality internal information, but prior research suggests that IT is underutilized (Venkatesh and Bala 2008). Therefore, using a sample of firms with equivalent levels of technology in their information systems, I investigate whether firms that employ CEOs with IT expertise make forecasts that are more accurate. I argue that CEOs with IT expertise are more likely to encourage the utilization of IT in making earnings forecasts, thus increasing the accuracy of the forecasts. This argument is supported by prior research that suggests that people are more likely to utilize technology if they have more experience with IT (Venkatesh et al. 2012). This research suggests that executives with IT experience are more likely to utilize IT because they perceive it as easy to use. Overall, I find that CEOs with IT expertise make forecasts that are more accurate. In additional tests, I also find that CEOs with IT expertise do not manage earnings to maintain accuracy. Finally, I find that analysts are more likely to rely on information provided by CEOs with IT expertise. Additionally, analysts benefit from the high quality information provided by CEOs with IT expertise because analysts that revise their forecasts following a forecast issued by a CEO with IT expertise make forecasts that are more accurate.

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