A SENIOR EXECUTIVE END-USER FRAMEWORK

Senior executives make decisions about their organization's informatio n technology (IT) budgets that often involve substantial expenditure. Yet, in terms of their own competence in using IT, there is evidence t o suggest that they may not be the best members of the organization to make such decisions. This paper reports on a study of 85 senior execu tives across 16 large organizations and the depth and breath of applic ations these executives use to support them at an individual level. Th e research design and methodologies were based on the principles of gr ounded theory. The primary source of data collection was in-depth inte rviews. A number of end-user frameworks have been developed by previou s authors; however, most are more pertinent to middle and junior manag ers. Based on the analysis of the data from this study an end-user fra mework is proposed that is more appropriate for senior executives.