A survey of the state of executive information systems in large Australian organisations

Executive information systems (EIS) are still a relatively new phenomenon and problems still exist in their development and implementation. In Australia, little research into EIS has been conducted. This study has attempted to paint a picture of the stare of EIS in Australia today, particularly in large organisations. EIS managers and executive users in the largest organisations in Australia revealed that relatively few EIS were fully operational though there had been an increase in the past five years and many were now under development and implementation. The study has examined the extent and type of executive usage, approaches to development, important development problems, the reasons for needing EIS, impacts of EIS, executive attitudes to IT arising from EIS experiences, the relative importance of organisational and technical issues, and reasons why EIS failure might arise. Comparisons with a previous Australian study reveal greater EIS penetration a change in platform from mainframe/terminal to PC network, mired development strategies, similar executive usage times, and a shift in perceptions from technical to organisational issues. Further comparisons with recent US studies also reveal similar executive usage times, similar emphasis on addressing executive's information requirements and not on technical issues, and similar perceptions of causes of failure, but longer development times for Australian EIS.