The availability from the mid-1960s of powerful mainframe computer systems such as IBM’s System 360 allowed computer specialists and rationalization experts to pursue what appeared to be the logical next step in the evolution of office rationalization: from the automation of clerical routines to the automation of decision-making. This paper argues that despite the rapid diffusion of the idea of the totally integrated, firm-wide, centralized management information system (MIS) – which, besides data processing, allowed business executives real-time information on a desktop terminal – there are few real examples of MIS implementations. A survey of the MIS projects at Volvo, Saab, Asea and SAS shows that in practice these projects had limited ambitions to provide executive information, were scaled down owing to early problems and resulted in limited systems for material requirements planning.