Convincing Top Management of the Strategic Potential of Information Systems1

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.