Abstract

How are companies managed today and what part does state-of-the-art IT play? Executive information systems (EIS) should support top managers in managing their companies. But many executives complain that EIS bear little relevance to their management task (functional requirements) and fail even more to accommodate their working style (design requirements). This article focuses on the latter and contributes to new-generation EIS by identifying twelve principles for their design. The first step in doing so is to systematically develop requirements criteria for EIS design. On this point, our research revealed a twofold gap: as the rigor of scientific models (e.g. structural models of IS user satisfaction and technology acceptance) increases, they become less relevant for direct use in practice. At the same time, practitioner journals demonstrate relevance, but do not evidence strong rigor. Linking the requirements criteria with rigor and relevance, this article applies the principle of economic efficiency. In a second step, using that schema, design principles for new-generation EIS are derived. They are based on gaps identified in an empirical study and the findings of four instantiations within the chemicals, logistics, high-tech, and automotive supplier industries.

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