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Over the past 15 years, the Society for Information Management (SIM) has periodically surveyed its members to determine the most critical issues in IS management. Again in 1994-95, SIM institutional and board members were asked to consider what they felt were the most critical issues facing IS executives over the next three to five years. Signaling an evolutionary shift in IS management, this study shows that business relationship issues have declined in importance compared to technology infrastructure issues. For IS executives and general managers, the key issue framework suggests some general directions for emphasis and provides a coarse measure for benchmarking their own concerns against those of their peers. The results of this study also impact educational missions in teaching and research to the extent that they need to be sensitive to the views of practicing IS executives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent research has shown that the difficulty of convincing top management of the potential strategic impact of information systems impedes information systems planning. Interviews with 20 top information systems executives revealed reasons for this difficulty and techniques that they use in attempting to overcome it. The results suggest the importance of information systems executives' skills and activities necessary for the selling of information systems products and services. The research also raises three controversial questions for future investigators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]