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Since, the available informational and technological resources constitute a source of prosperity and differentiation for the organisations, the role of the Chief Information Officer (CIO) is becoming more crucial and vital. The thirty years of the CIO's existence have shown a path of changes and difficulties on defining and establishing the particular role within the organisational context. The present study examines the CIO role evolution over the last thirty years, analyses the CIO role at the present time and discusses the CIO role in the future. The examination of the evolution of the CIO role identifies four main areas of interest that are used as the conceptual framework of the study. These areas relate to business strategy, innovation and competitive advantage, relationships building and external environment. Based on a qualitative research approach, nine case studies of existing CIOs are conducted and analysed from the private and the public sector. The analysis provides insights about the responsibilities of the CIOs, currently, regarding each one of the role aspects and the furthermore, particular responsibilities for these aspects. The results of the analysis demonstrate that within the CIO role responsibilities there are activities such as active participation in the strategic planning, exploitation of information management as an enabler of innovation, active facilitation of consultation processes with the stakeholders and finally, networking with outside organisations such as suppliers and customers but also networking with peers to share best practices. Regarding the future of the CIO role, it is argued that the CIO role includes responsibilities relating to technology management and it is counterproductive to separate these responsibilities to another C-level executive such as a CTO. Finally, it is argued that the CIO role enhances the dynamic capabilities of the organisation by helping it to improve its learning processes and the way it transforms its information resources. The results of the study have implications to both industry and academia. The proposed CIO role model could be used by industry as a guideline for the job description of the role in question, as well as an evaluation scheme for the post holders. With respect to academia, the proposed role model could be used to identify the skills necessary for a CIO and thus, to help inform areas in which university educational programmes should focus on.

<p>  </p> <p>This preliminary investigation examined the skills and abilities necessary for Chief Information Officers (CIOs) in hospitals to effectively promote the use of modern information technologies (IT) in the context of United States healthcare facilities. The research began by conducting a detailed analysis of the most recent trends in hospital information technology, establishing a solid basis. Following this, the researcher surveyed the level of expertise possessed by Chief Information Officers (CIOs) in US hospitals when it comes to leading technology-driven transformations. The research study utilized a mixed methods design, incorporating closed and open-ended questions to gather information on CIOs' competencies and practical expertise. By employing a blend of descriptive and inferential statistical methods and well-established theoretical frameworks, this study revealed insightful results that provide a deeper understanding of the specific skills and abilities CIOs need to incorporate contemporary technologies in hospital environments successfully. The findings have considerable importance in comprehending the essential skills of CIOs in American hospitals, offering crucial suggestions for further investigation in this domain.</p>

Implementation of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and recovery in IT spending after the dot-com bust in 2002 have enhanced the Chief Information Officer's (CIO's) role and needed skills. The CIO significantly influences strategy implementation and firm performance through the management of IT resmyces. I posit that firms must appoint a CIO with an appropriate background (technical versus business) that is aligned with their strategic positioning (differentiation versus cost leadership) for IT resmyces to support the firm's strategy. I find that differentiators (cost leaders) are more likely to appoint a CIO with a technical (business) background. Notably, firms announcing aligned CIO appointments (technical CIOs for differentiators and business CIOs for cost leaders) have superior investor reactions. Second, I take the first step to understand the impact of CIO's education on determining their compensation. I find that CIO education characteristics are significant determinants of CIO compensation, addressing the ongoing debate regarding the desired CIO education. Furthermore, drawing on Agency theory, I separately examine salary and bonus due to their divergent roles in rewarding and incentivizing ability and effort. My findings suggest that CIO education characteristics strongly determine CIO salary whereas firm financial performance measures strongly determine CIO bonus, consistent with salary rewarding CIO ability and bonus incentivizing CIO effort. Third, I investigate the relationship between data breaches and Chief Information Officer (CIO) turnover. Executive turnover literature finds that CEOs and CFOs turnover when they fail to meet financial performance expectations. Unlike CEOs and CFOs, CIOs are directly responsible for IT performance and I argue that CIOs are more likely to turnover when they fail to meet their performance expectation as reflected by data breaches. Following previous work, I classify system breaches into system glitch, criminal attack, human error and other. I document that system glitches increase the likelihood of CIO turnover by two-fold. Furthermore, I find that the impact of system glitches on CIO turnover lasts for two years. / Business Administration/Accounting

For decades, the importance of information technology (IT) for organizations has continuously increased. To ensure effective IT management and operations, to enable the business, and to stay competitive, many large organizations appoint a Chief Information Officer (CIO) as their highest-ranked IT executive (Preston et al., 2008). While many small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) face similar challenges concerning IT, they often lack the resources to employ a full-time IT executive (Bhagwat & Sharma, 2007; Cragg et al., 2013). However, Kamariotou and Kitsios (2022) find that strategic planning and alignment with IT are important determinants for increasing an SME’s business value. An increasing number of SMEs started to employ CIOs part-time to avoid the risk of not staying competitive and losing business value (Moise, 2021; Pratt, 2022). Such so-called “Fractional CIOs” are often highly experienced and skilled individuals working for multiple SMEs simultaneously (Kratzer et al., 2022). By contracting a Fractional CIO, SMEs benefit in various ways. First, they get an experienced IT leader at a fraction of the cost. Second, they remain flexible concerning billable hours and the time horizon of the engagement. Third, they are receiving an outside-in perspective and might profit from the Fractional CIO’s experience gained from simultaneous engagements. Even though the Fractional CIO role benefits SMEs, adoption and awareness are still low. Further, substantial research on the novel role is missing. This dissertation aims to establish a new stream in CIO research that explores the role of the Fractional CIO. Our comprehensive literature review of the CIO research field provides the basis for this research (Kratzer et al., 2023b). As we explore this novel phenomenon, we are also interested in how to best report research findings. We, therefore, aim to conceptualize techniques to convey novel phenomena in information systems (IS) research in an illustrative way. Hence, we posed the following overarching research questions: RQ1: How can novel phenomena be communicated in an illustrative yet rigorous way in research papers? RQ2: What is the state-of-the-art in the CIO research field, and what are further avenues for research? RQ3: What concepts provide SMEs with the experienced IT executive management they need? RQ4: What makes Fractional CIO engagements successful? RQ5: How does the role of the Fractional CIO take shape in practice in the German market? These overarching research questions are answered through six consecutive publications. 1) 'Literary Sketches in Information Systems Research: Conceptualization and Guidance for Using Vignettes as a Narrative Form' This paper is conceptual and has a methodological focus on the use of vignettes. The paper contributes to the usage of vignettes as a narrative form in academic research, providing a taxonomy that structures vignettes and identifies three archetypes. By conceptualizing vignettes through a taxonomy and archetypes, we create transparency for the usage of vignettes, encourage the use of vignettes, and provide recommendations how to use them more rigorously. Long term, this might contribute to a better exchange between academia and practice through better comprehensibility of academic papers. 2) 'Four Decades of Chief Information Officer Research: A Literature Review and Research Agenda Based on Main Path Analysis' In this paper, we conducted a bibliographic literature review using main path analysis, which helped to objectively identify existing topics based on their importance. We also illustrated the knowledge flow in CIO research by identifying major and emerging research streams and analyzing their evolution over time. Additionally, we aggregated central papers in CIO research and developed a research agenda to provide guidance for future research. Overall, this paper helps to advance the understanding of the CIO research field and provides insights for researchers and practitioners. 3) 'The Fractional CIO in SMEs: Conceptualization and Research Agenda' With this paper, we were the first to conceptualize the role of the Fractional CIO and to develop a research agenda for this novel research field. The results from this paper contribute to research and practice in several ways. First, we are the first authors to conceptualize the role of the Fractional CIO, derive a definition, compare it to existing CIO role research, and derive four engagement types. Second, we develop a research agenda to guide future research in the new Fractional CIO research field. Third, we contribute to practice by promoting the role’s awareness among potential Fractional CIOs and organizations. Fourth, we show that Fractional CIO services are versatile and can benefit organizations of different sizes and maturity levels, and there are diverse possibilities for evolution. 4) 'What Makes Fractional CIO Engagements in SMEs Successful? – A Research Framework' In this paper, we developed a research framework for Fractional CIO engagement success. It makes contributions to research and practice. First, we propose a research framework for Fractional CIO engagement success and, therefore, develop a common ground for future research. Second, we provide practical advice for Fractional CIOs and SMEs regarding factors for engagement success. Third, we raise awareness about the Fractional CIO role that may benefit many SMEs around the world. 5) 'Factors for Fractional CIO Engagement Success' In this paper, we used Q-methodology to empirically evaluate the relative importance of factors influencing Fractional CIO engagement success and to identify different viewpoints on engagement success. Our paper makes several contributions to research and practice. First, our paper is the first to identify and evaluate the importance of factors for Fractional CIO engagement success. Therefore, it serves as a basis for further research in the new Fractional CIO research field. Second, we find that upper echelon theory (Hambrick & Mason, 1984) can be applied to executives independent of their contractual relationship in cases of comparable responsibilities. Third, by thoroughly applying Q-methodology, we showcase an exploratory tool for identifying opinions and preferences of participants and clustering them accordingly. This approach provides guidance for other IS scholars to apply it. Fourth, we develop preliminary archetypes of Fractional CIOs and, based on that, provide tentative advice for Fractional CIOs and organizations that hire them. These preliminary archetypes enabled us to identify further theoretical explanations of this phenomenon. In addition to transaction cost theory, agency theory, and upper echelon perspective, we found that stewardship theory and dynamic capabilities explain additional characteristics of Full-ownership CIOs and Change Agents. 6) 'Mehr als Vollzeit: Fractional CIOs in KMUs' This paper summarizes the results of our previous studies regarding the Fractional CIO role in German language and conducts semi-structured interviews with three Fractional CIOs from Germany to complement it with a perspective on the German market. Overall, we find that the Fractional CIO role in the German market is performed similarly to the international market. The interviewed German Fractional CIOs/CTOs could not clearly identify any hurdles that might explain the low adoption of the role. However, all three German Fractional CIOs agree that German SMEs would strongly benefit from Fractional CIOs. (References to be found in the full text)

The transition for any executive into a new appointment is a challenge. This transition for the newly appointed Chief Information Officer (CIO) is especially challenging given the complexity and ambiguous nature of their role. Investment in information technology (IT) has steadily increased over the past twenty years and contributes to enabling business changes that drive organizational performance improvements. The role of the Chief Information Officer (CIO) has evolved into an executive who holds significant responsibility for leading the organization in realizing these investment benefits. Therefore unsuccessful CIO transitions can negatively impact the extent to which the organization’s IT benefits are fully realized. This research has one objective: to increase our understanding of the process of taking charge for the newly appointed Chief Information Officer (CIO). This increased understanding contributes to academic research as well as provides insights to practicing CIOs that will increase their probability of successfully taking charge of a new appointment. The project explores this phenomenon in depth from both the CIO’s and non-IT executive’s (CxO) perspective through semi-structured interviews with 43 executives. Participants included twenty-one Chief Information Officers and twenty-two C-suite, non-IT executives. The study integrates concepts from role theory and leader socialization with CIO leadership challenges. Findings indicate that the newly appointed CIO experiences a mutual adjustment process when they take charge. This adjustment occurs within their role set; the IT leadership team, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and the other top management team members (CxOs). The data suggests that CIOs experience three overlapping phases of taking charge; Entry, Stabilization and Renewal. These phases result in confidence, credibility and legitimacy as a new leader in the organization. The data further reveals that the type of transition (Start-up, Turnaround, Realignment or Success-sustaining) encountered by the CIO is a significant influence on the taking charge process. CIO socialization is influenced heavily by their role set and the expectations within it. CIOs will encounter CxO peers with varying preferences on interaction style and focus. In addition the CxOs in the study identified three different views of CIOs that reinforce the role ambiguity for the newly appointed CIO. The study reveals that CIOs experience organizational socialization in two domains of leadership. These domains are supply-side and demand-side leadership. The data suggests that supply-side socialization occurs prior to demand-side socialization. These socialization outcomes are dependent on transition type. This research extends previous work done on CIO transitions by identifying phases, activities and outcomes. An additional contribution is the first empirical model of new CIO socialization. Leader socialization research is enhanced with the study of a non-CEO executive. This model contributes a deeper understanding of the mutual adjustment process experienced by a newly appointed CIO. Practicing CIOs can apply these findings in developing transition plans and actions for taking a new appointment. The CxO types and attitudes can inform the newly appointed CIO on customizing their relationship building approaches. Understanding that taking charge requires 2-3 years can lead to more realistic expectations of the executive. The findings of this study can lead CIOs to a higher probability of success in taking charge of a new appointment.

Chief Information Officers (CIOs) in contemporary enterprises should not only possess technology specialties, but also cultivate themselves with an in-depth understanding of business and technology management skills/knowledge in order to effectively improve their role performance, enhance sustainable competitive advantages and achieve business strategic goals. Based upon activity competency model and prior theoretical works, this study presents a conceptual model to investigate the capability of business technology management (BTM) required by CIOs and the impacts of that capability on the performance of their roles. Our strategy for identifying CIOs¡¦ critical roles and activities, and the skills/knowledge required by CIOs is anchored within a comprehensive framework of business technology management (BTM) practices. A scale to measure CIOs¡¦ role performance and BTM capability was first developed and validated. Nine hundred and sixty eight high-tech companies of Taiwan and China which have a formal MIS department and global logistic firms were randomly selected from the databases of China Credit Information Service Ltd. and Strait Exchange Foundation as representative samples in this study. The partial least squares method was used to empirically test the conceptual model and hypotheses through the large-scale survey data collected. The empirical results support the proposed hierarchy of BTM capability and confirm that both business technology and business management competencies have positive significant influences on BTM activity effectiveness and BTM capability also significantly impacts CIOs¡¦ role performance. The findings of this study are of particular value to those concerned with BTM capability training and competency development for CIOs. Executive management can take advantage of such BTM capability profiles to assist in making succession-planning decisions and implementing guidelines by evaluating the competency levels and development needs of their IS professionals.

<p>This thesis aims at describing the CIO role from the perspective of two interviews and the literature on the subject. Our research questions mainly focus on the actual work of a CIO and are answered by providing a framework on how to view the CIO and the influence of the CIO. Influence meaning both on business and IT strategy. We have answered what the CIO role implies and how it is used in different organizations. To do this we have scanned current literature and also conducted two interviews with CIO’s from completely different organizations and resources. A framework for understanding how the IT strategy and business strategy is linked with the CIO as a resource has been created and our interview findings are presented in this framework. We have also found that the CIO with little involvement in overall business strategy decisions has less influence on the IT strategy. This is ex-plained by the nature of the organization and the view of IT.</p><p>A CIO’s primary function could be to strategically align IT with business or to make sure that the IT systems runs flawless. These can be viewed as counterpoints but since the role today is changing from being operative to working more with strategic questions it is not a strange finding. The influence a CIO has in business strategy questions ranges from none to a lot, based on how the CIO role is defined by the organization. This is also well in line with the view of IT. When viewing IT as something that has the possibility to gain competitive advantage, IT gain more credibility, hence the CIO gains more influence on business strategy decisions. We also found that the CIO not only has the overall responsibility of IT in the organization, but also that s/he is supposed to work with questions of concern to the business. This forces the CIO to have an understanding of the end-customer, which in itself creates a better understanding for the business strategy. The CIO should work with questions that not only meet the current demand of the organization they support, but also future needs and potential opportunities where IT can be of specific interest.</p>

The transition for any executive into a new appointment is a challenge. This transition for the newly appointed Chief Information Officer (CIO) is especially challenging given the complexity and ambiguous nature of their role. Investment in information technology (IT) has steadily increased over the past twenty years and contributes to enabling business changes that drive organizational performance improvements. The role of the Chief Information Officer (CIO) has evolved into an executive who holds significant responsibility for leading the organization in realizing these investment benefits. Therefore unsuccessful CIO transitions can negatively impact the extent to which the organization’s IT benefits are fully realized. This research has one objective: to increase our understanding of the process of taking charge for the newly appointed Chief Information Officer (CIO). This increased understanding contributes to academic research as well as provides insights to practicing CIOs that will increase their probability of successfully taking charge of a new appointment. The project explores this phenomenon in depth from both the CIO’s and non-IT executive’s (CxO) perspective through semi-structured interviews with 43 executives. Participants included twenty-one Chief Information Officers and twenty-two C-suite, non-IT executives. The study integrates concepts from role theory and leader socialization with CIO leadership challenges. Findings indicate that the newly appointed CIO experiences a mutual adjustment process when they take charge. This adjustment occurs within their role set; the IT leadership team, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and the other top management team members (CxOs). The data suggests that CIOs experience three overlapping phases of taking charge; Entry, Stabilization and Renewal. These phases result in confidence, credibility and legitimacy as a new leader in the organization. The data further reveals that the type of transition (Start-up, Turnaround, Realignment or Success-sustaining) encountered by the CIO is a significant influence on the taking charge process. CIO socialization is influenced heavily by their role set and the expectations within it. CIOs will encounter CxO peers with varying preferences on interaction style and focus. In addition the CxOs in the study identified three different views of CIOs that reinforce the role ambiguity for the newly appointed CIO. The study reveals that CIOs experience organizational socialization in two domains of leadership. These domains are supply-side and demand-side leadership. The data suggests that supply-side socialization occurs prior to demand-side socialization. These socialization outcomes are dependent on transition type. This research extends previous work done on CIO transitions by identifying phases, activities and outcomes. An additional contribution is the first empirical model of new CIO socialization. Leader socialization research is enhanced with the study of a non-CEO executive. This model contributes a deeper understanding of the mutual adjustment process experienced by a newly appointed CIO. Practicing CIOs can apply these findings in developing transition plans and actions for taking a new appointment. The CxO types and attitudes can inform the newly appointed CIO on customizing their relationship building approaches. Understanding that taking charge requires 2-3 years can lead to more realistic expectations of the executive. The findings of this study can lead CIOs to a higher probability of success in taking charge of a new appointment.

This thesis aims at describing the CIO role from the perspective of two interviews and the literature on the subject. Our research questions mainly focus on the actual work of a CIO and are answered by providing a framework on how to view the CIO and the influence of the CIO. Influence meaning both on business and IT strategy. We have answered what the CIO role implies and how it is used in different organizations. To do this we have scanned current literature and also conducted two interviews with CIO’s from completely different organizations and resources. A framework for understanding how the IT strategy and business strategy is linked with the CIO as a resource has been created and our interview findings are presented in this framework. We have also found that the CIO with little involvement in overall business strategy decisions has less influence on the IT strategy. This is ex-plained by the nature of the organization and the view of IT. A CIO’s primary function could be to strategically align IT with business or to make sure that the IT systems runs flawless. These can be viewed as counterpoints but since the role today is changing from being operative to working more with strategic questions it is not a strange finding. The influence a CIO has in business strategy questions ranges from none to a lot, based on how the CIO role is defined by the organization. This is also well in line with the view of IT. When viewing IT as something that has the possibility to gain competitive advantage, IT gain more credibility, hence the CIO gains more influence on business strategy decisions. We also found that the CIO not only has the overall responsibility of IT in the organization, but also that s/he is supposed to work with questions of concern to the business. This forces the CIO to have an understanding of the end-customer, which in itself creates a better understanding for the business strategy. The CIO should work with questions that not only meet the current demand of the organization they support, but also future needs and potential opportunities where IT can be of specific interest.