International Journal of Information M anagement (lYY4), 14 (357-368) Dae-Ho Byun is currently a doctoral candi- date of management information systems (MIS) in the Department of Industrial En- gineering, Pohang University of Science and Technoloev (POSTECH). Pohang, Korea. He reczved his MS degree from Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST). He worked at the Dae-Woo Motor Company, Korea, as an assistant manager in the MIS department for four years. His research interests in- clude executive information systems. ex- pert systems, case-based reasoning sys- tems, object-oriented modeling, human re- source management, and multimedia ap- plications in MIS. Eui-Ho Suh is an Associate Professor of MIS at POSTECH. He received his MS degrees from KAIST and Stanford Univer- sity, and his PhD degree in MIS from Uni- versity of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA. His research interests include decision support systems and executive information systems. He has published several scholarly articles and is currently the president of the Society of EISlDSS in Korea. A Builder’s Introduction to Executive Information Systems D-H BYUN AND E-H SUH Executive information systems (EIS) have played a large role as computer-based information systems in organizations. While a large number of firms have already developed and use an EIS effectively, some firms are reluctant to build one for lack of appropriate and well-organized guidelines on how to achieve their EIS project. This paper is concerned with EIS development guidelines based on literature, experience and judgments as a result of meeting with EIS builders. It explores the following areas: definitions, capabilities, major benefits, EIS limitations, EIS failure, development frameworks, barriers to building an EIS, and points to be considered when planning an EIS project. An eight-stage development process described in this paper provides EIS builders with a helpful EIS development standard. Introduction Together with management information systems (MIS) and decision support systems (DSS), executive information systems (EIS) are clearly becoming a more significant part of information systems (IS) in organ- izations. EIS possesses an extraordinary ability to improve an organ- ization’s efficiency, effectiveness and productivity by achieving organi- zational objectives, competitive advantages and strategic management as well as by assisting executive missions. A growing number of firms have already developed and effectively use an EIS. Some firms are however reluctant to build an EIS for the reason that no appropriate and useful guidelines successfully adaptable to their EIS project are provided and well known. Research on EIS and EIS projects does not sufficiently give EIS builders well-organized guidelines. The guidelines which follow give EIS builders helpful solutions for questions such as: ‘Is an EIS really necessary in an organization?‘, ‘Can an EIS succeed?‘, ‘If so, how can we start the project?‘, ‘Are there any barriers to build?‘, and so on. EIS builders can play a major role throughout the EIS project. We assume that the role of EIS builders is crucial when planning and performing an EIS project. ‘EIS builders’ in this paper refer to a more general notion, depending on the development strategy. They may be executives, IS department personnel including system analysts and programmers, project managers, or any department that actually per- forms EIS projects with a group of personnel, and above all the organization itself. This paper broadly presents an overview related to EIS development based on literature, experience through developing an EIS using an EIS generator, and interviews with several EIS builders during the confer- ence of EIS/DSS in Korea. This paper also provides EIS builders with an eight-stage development process and individual action plans to successfully build an EIS. The stages are influenced by the fact that consideration of prototyping and the use of MIS capabilities are 026%401219405 0357-12 0 1994 Butterworth-Heinemann Ltd 357