Role of Management Information Systems in Disaster Management: An Exploratory Study in Bangladesh

Abstract

The role of Management Information Systems (MIS) in disaster management and determinants of the adoption of MIS-based services for disaster management have not been adequately investigated in the context of Bangladesh yet. This fact leaves a blank space in the knowledge of the application of MIS in disaster management. However, this gap needs to be addressed to align with the government’s plans of making use of MIS to fulfill its objectives, such as mitigating and managing disaster events efficiently. Conversely, it's widely recognized that Bangladesh, situated in South Asia, is a country with low elevation, shaped by the deltas of the Ganges, Brahmaputra, and Meghna rivers. This geographical characteristic makes it susceptible to recurrent disasters. Therefore, some extensive changes have taken place, in terms of policy and IT infrastructure development for disaster management, over the last decade in Bangladesh. Sequentially, the need for an integrated MIS system for efficient disaster management as well as proper coordination among different governing bodies and stakeholders is realized more than ever. While a number of previous studies, which are specific to the Bangladesh context, have focused on disaster management in terms of context-specific solutions, gender inclusion, supply chain, policy, community-based disaster management, ICT integration, and so on, no studies have focused on the application of MIS in disaster management in terms of its roles and adoption by the users. Therefore, the major objective of the present study was to investigate the role of MIS in disaster management in Bangladesh. In this process, this study investigated the elements that impact end-users' acceptance of MIS based services for disaster management. Concurrently, the requirements and users’ perceived benefits regarding the integration of MIS in disaster management were also identified. The study was conducted through a mixed-method approach, consisting of both qualitative and quantitative studies. The qualitative study was conducted to identify the roles of MIS in disaster management by finding the perceived benefits of the use of MISbased

services for disaster management through Key Informants Interviews (KII) and Focus Group Discussions (FGD). The participants of the 12 KIIs where the officials or stakeholders from different disaster management-related organizations, whereas, the participants in four FGDs were the end-users. Then, the researcher purposively selected the respondents whom at least used MIS-based services for disaster management was surveyed. Also, a total number of 815 respondents was identified as the sample for the quantitative study following purposive sampling. A structured questionnaire was used to collect data for the quantitative study. On the other hand, the semi-structured, checklist with open-ended questions was used for the qualitative study. The findings from the thematic analysis of KIIs reveal four major roles of MIS services for disaster management that are perceived by stakeholders. The roles are: 1) information access for disaster management, 2) strategic planning in the disaster management process, 3) operational management in disaster events, and 4) disaster risk assessment in disaster events. Similarly, the thematic analysis of FGDs reveals four major roles of MIS services for disaster management that are perceived by end-users. These are 1) affordability in disaster management, 2) connectedness in disaster events, 3) coordination in disaster events and 4) improvement in decision-making ability in disaster events. In the study, the literature and theory review helped the researcher to formulate a coherent set of hypotheses to identify the factors that influence the end-users in using MIS-based services for disaster management. Also, based on the Technology Adoption Model (TAM) and the Diffusion of Innovation Theory (DOI) model, a conceptual framework was proposed and tested to explain the variation in the actual use of MIS-based services for disaster management. For testing the conceptual framework, the researcher used Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). The hypotheses testing reveals that except trialability (TR) (t = 0.948, β = 0.130, p > 0.05), the Perceived usefulness (PU) (t = 5.139, β = 0.601, p < 0.01), Perceived ease of use (PEoU) (t = 7.551, β = 0.288, p < 0.01), Behavioural intention (BI) (t = 11.326, β = 0.234, p < 0.05), Relative advantage (RA) (t = 9.112, β = 0.595, p < 0.05), Compatibility (Com) (t = 14.336, β = 0.489, p < 0.05), Complexity (Comx) (t = 5.962, β = -0.188, p < 0.05), and Observability (Ob) (t = 4.672, β = 0.446, p < 0.05) factors influence the adoption of MIS based services for disaster management by the end-users in Bangladesh. On the other hand, the structural model analysis tested the fitness of the model, where the R-squared value for the Actual Use factor was 0.593, which implies that the proposed conceptual model can explain up to 59.3 percent of the variance in the actual use. The present study provides several significant implications which would help to make use of MIS for disaster management. Knowing the factors influencing the adoption of MIS-based services for disaster management by the users and their perceived benefits will provide a broader knowledge of how to enhance the role of MIS in disaster management in Bangladesh. Other implications include that the providers of MIS-based services for disaster management should develop user-friendly services. Finally, the study is significant as the findings of the study not only provide important knowledge of the influencing factors in adopting MIS-based services for disaster management and the perceived user benefits by using MIS-based services but also no previous study with a similar objective was conducted in Bangladesh to enhance the role of MIS in disaster management. By fulfilling this research gap, this study contributes to the country’s objectives regarding Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), particularly, SDG 2 (strengthen capacity for adaptation to climate change), SDG 11 (decrease the economic losses caused by disasters), and SDG 13 (combat climate change and its impacts).