The questionnaires were addressed to the Managing Directors (MD) of the firms. MDs were chosen to be the respondents of this study because they were more likely to have valid perceptions of the AIS design and IT approach adopted by the firms. This is because the MD commonly makes most key decisions and is perhaps the only person who can harness IT to achieve the firm’s objectives and strategy (Jarvenpaa & Ives 1991). In addition, the MD is typically the owner/manager, and thus it is reasonable to assume the current MD is the same MD who decided on the design of AIS and the IT approach of their firm (Thong 1999).