Strategic information and strategic decision making: the EIS/CEO interface in smaller manufacturing companies

Executive information systems (EIS) often focus on providing external data to top management for environmental scanning. However, for many executives, the need for internal information may be just as strong, in order to provide an accurate appraisal of the firm’s ability to capitalize on opportunities. Yet much of the environmental scanning research to date focuses on the external environment. To place a framework on this issue, categories for both internal and external data are derived from the management literature. A survey of CEOs for small manufacturing firms indicates that internal information is just as important in analysis of new situations as is the external information. Additionally, the CEOs place no particular order on access to the information. EIS should be designed to allow for access to all categories of information in an order selected by the executive and provide important internal information for making strategic decisions.