The focus of this study was on AIS alignment in SMEs. This was further restricted to manufacturing firms because the manufacturing sector can provide a range of levels of IT sophistication (Cragg et al. 2002). The Malaysian Small and Medium Industries Development Corporation (SMIDEC) defines SMEs in manufacturing,
manufacturing-related services and agro-based industries as enterprises with full-time employees not exceeding 150 or with annual sales turnover not exceeding RM25 million. However, SMEs in this study were defined as any unit with 20 and 150 employees. The number of employees is the most commonly used international
definition in the literature, since in some cultures small firms are reluctant to disclose precise financial details. Very small firms (with less than 20 employees) were also excluded to increase the probability of sampling computerised firms and firms that to some degree adopted strategic accounting information