sentences: As business competition becomes global, international information systems (IIS) management presents a signi®cant challenge to multinational corporations and their af®liates. However, very few empirical studies have been conducted to investigate the management of IIS and the issues that confront the IS executives of such corporations. In this study, we perform a three-round Delphi study to identify, rank and evaluate the twenty most signi®cant IIS issues of af®liates. The ratings of these issues suggest that technology infrastructure concerns, rather than planning and management concerns, have a larger impact on the IS operations of foreign af®liates. This study also reports on statistical analyses to differentiate the impact of different industries, respondents, IS structures and international involvement of af®liates on IIS issues ratings. The results indicate that respondents of IS and non-IS executives and af®liates of different international involvement levels have different views on the ratings of IIS issues. Our study also con®rms that IIS issues can signi®cantly impact the strategic, tactical and operational IS decisions of af®liates. These ®ndings allow some important implications to be drawn for both practitioners and researchers dealing with IIS issues. # 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.