Design for success?: critical success factors in executive information systems development

Abstract

Much of the literature on executive information systems (EIS) development provides lists of factors critical to the successful EIS development. This gives only limited insights into the relationship between the success factors and the development process. By drawing on an in-depth study of EIS development in a large manufacturing company, this paper seeks to provide a theoretically-based explanation of the process by which the relationship between key success factors and the EIS development operated. The rich insights gained from this empirical study are used to critique the main assumptions of the factor approach. This paper argues that a better understanding of the relationship between key success factors and the EIS development is required if success factors are to be of any guidance to the practitioners to develop effective information systems.