Two years ago, the director-general (chief executive officer) of a large state government department in Australia took a decision to introduce executive information systems (EISs) within her department. With major cutbacks to funding of her department having occurred, she was searching for ways to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of her management team and thereby to improve the overall performance of her department.

To develop and implement the EISs, she engaged a consulting firm who specialized in EISs. For the first 12 months, the consultants worked closely with her management team. They started out with just two managers who were excited about the potential of EIS within the department. Initially they built small EISs to support the most pressing needs of these managers. Using a prototyping approach, they gradually modified these EISs in light of feedback from the managers. They then expanded the capabilities of these EISs as the two managers become more comfortable with using an EIS to support their daily work.

The consultants then took a fairly low-key approach to introducing additional EISs into the department. They relied on the two managers who had first gained experience with an EIS to "sell" the concept of EIS to their colleagues. Over the course of the first year, almost all the other members of the senior management team requested that an EIS be built for them. At the outset the take-up was slow, and there were also a few "laggards." Eventually, however, all the managers requested that an EIS be built for them.

You are the manager of internal audit in the state government department where the EISs have been introduced. The director-general has now asked you to undertake an evaluation of how effective the implementation of EISs has been within her department. She is particularly concerned to determine whether the EISs have improved the effectiveness of her senior management team.

Required: Briefly describe the critical data you believe you need to collect to allow you to prepare a report for the Director-General. Outline the approach you would use to reach a judgment on whether the EISs have been effective. Be sure to point out any areas where you believe special care will be needed in determining whether the EISs have been effective.