Member of the MIS faculty, Indiana University School of Business; Member, American Institute for Decision Sciences; Member, Institute of Management Sciences
Despite the importance of the role of the Chief MIS Executive, little is known about the 'Information Needs of Top MIS Managers,' This article uses a Critical Success Factors (CSF) approach to explore the information needs of these managers. It has been widely speculated that top MIS Managers are remiss in their use of the technology they provide to others. This article also reports on a study of the formal information systems used personally by chief MIS executives and contrasts these results with their needs as revealed by the CSF analysis.
A critical success factor is a key area where things must go right if an organization is to be successful. In order to better understand the management of the MIS area, we explore the critical success factors of a group of chief MIS managers in successful organizations. Knowledge of these critical success factors is useful to top management in understanding how to cope with and evaluate the MIS organization. Critical success factors are also helpful to MIS managers in improving their own performance, in communicating with their boss and with those reporting to them, and in defining their personal information needs.