Managerial and Entrepreneurial Competence in Public-Sector MIS: Theory and an Illustration from Two Nigerian Land-Information Agencies

Management information systems (MIS) investments in public institutions often fail to convert technical capability into organisational value, yet explanations remain predominantly technical. This theory-building article proposes that managerial and entrepreneurial competence jointly convert information systems into public value. Integrating the DeLone and McLean IS success model, the resource-based view, dynamic capabilities and digital entrepreneurship, it derives seven propositions and one formal model for later estimation. A documentary illustration of two Nigerian land-information agencies, the Abuja Geographic Information Systems (AGIS) and the Kaduna Geographic Information Service (KADGIS), draws on 19 sources and scores outcome direction and evidence strength separately, distinguishing agency claims from verified outcomes. Both agencies report digitised records; sponsorship and revenue-oriented opportunity recognition are best documented, while verified fiscal capture, equity and openness are weakly evidenced. Of the three dimensions with independent evidence for both agencies, KADGIS is ahead on one (service speed), a result that a single contested code can reverse. The cases cannot test the propositions or support causal claims; the evidence is consistent, as a descriptive pattern only, with two of them. The article contributes a formal model, an evidence-graded illustration and make recommendations that follow from documented findings.