Key Issues in Information Systems Management: An Empirical Investigation from a Developing Country’s Perspective

Previous Findings Regarding Top Is Management Issues

The top IS management issues have been systematically examined by IS researchers. Before 1990, IS strategic planning was clearly the most important issue. It was consistently ranked as the number one issue among U.S. private sectors (Ball & Harrison, 1982; Dickson et al., 1984; Hartog & Herbert, 1985; Brancheau & Wetherbe, 1986). During this time, there were rapidly and complex changes in the application of technology in the business environment. Business organizations began to be more dependent on Information Technology. The urgent need for the integration of technology into business missions makes IS strategic planning the top priority for IS managers. This top priority was strengthened by the imperative need for end-user training because of the proliferation of end-user computing technology. Lack of support from top management also make the strategic IS planning a priority. During the 1980s, IS managers were trying to position themselves within their organizations. The issues about the role of IS managers, particularly how to measure the effective of IS in terms of the alignment with organization strategic goals, i.e., the contribution of the IS organization frequently turned up on the top issue list. At the beginning of the 1980s, technology issues such as communication protocols, network layers, system development methodologies were also among the priority list of IS managers.