<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>

Educational Specialist research project (Educational Specialist Degree)--University of Dayton. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 44-46).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Chicago, Graduate School of Business, June 2001. / Includes bibliographical references. Also available on the Internet.

Faculty development is a means by which institutions can assist faculty in addressing the challenges they face each day in the classroom. Certainly the importance of faculty development is never more evident than within community colleges where access is provided to all students through an open-door admission policy which often produces a more diverse student body creating numerous institutional challenges. Overtime, on many campuses, faculty development practices have come to play a prominent role in attending to these challenges. This study: (a) examined faculty development practices offered in the last three years by Floridas 22 public community colleges and determined if the total number of different practices offered as well as the different types of practices were related to institutional size as measured by the number of full-time faculty (b) assessed and compared the relative perceived value of these practices as viewed by full-time faculty, faculty development practitioners, and academic administrators in these institutions, and (c) assessed and compared the relative perceived value of faculty development practices as viewed by full-time faculty within six different discipline areas. An original web-based questionnaire was used to gather data from the chief academic officers, faculty development practitioners, and full-time faculty at Floridas 22 public community colleges. Chief Academic Officers of 18 of the institutions reported that all 42 faculty development practices included in the survey were offered by at least one institution in the last three years. Results also revealed clearly that on all campuses, many full-time faculty were unaware that these practices were offered. No significant relationship was found between the total number of practices offered and the number of full-time faculty employed by institution. A relationship was noted between institutional size and the cluster of faculty development practices labeled general teaching enhancement practices. The mean perceived value by each respondent group on 42 faculty development practices reported three of six clusters revealed significant differences between fulltime faculty and chief academic officers. The perceived value ratings of faculty across six different discipline groups were observed for each of the six clusters of faculty development practices. Implications for future research were identified.

China’s investments in R&D are forecast to surpass those of the US in 2022, thereby attracting capital, innovation and a large number of returnee managers. In the past eight years alone, the number of returnees has increased five-fold, with the country’s high-tech parks, particularly Beijing’s Z-Park, also known as China’s Silicon Valley or the Silicon Valley of the East, proving considerable attractions. In this context, in which start-ups are vital for economic growth and for the further development of Chinese investments in leading-edge innovation, understanding how the significant cultural differences between returnee and local managers affect management control systems (MCS) is of key importance. Drawing on a survey of more than 200 companies and data from 435 one-to-one interviews, this study investigates the relationship between CEO characteristics, government financial support and MCS sophistication in the context of fast-growing high-tech enterprises in China’s Silicon Valley. The study develops an MCS sophistication index as an aggregate measure of six main factors (the importance of MCS to the firm, system structure, system operations, system completeness, frequency of use and the level of data aggregation), and measures MCS sophistication by 46 individual management control subsystems. The study predicts and verifies a positive relationship between CEO and firm international exposure and between CEO education and the level of MCS sophistication. It also predicts and verifies a positive relationship between government financial support and MCS sophistication in a context in which privately held and managed venture capital and banks provide such support. The study further analyses the interaction effect of government financial support and CEO characteristics on MCS sophistication. Its empirical findings suggest that, despite their cultural differences, neither local nor returnee managers feel the need for better MCS. Only when there is potential access to government funding do returnee managers have better tools to implement more sophisticated MCS than their local counterparts, thus underlining how international work experience provides Chinese managers with the tools, but not the mindset, for superior MCS. Most previous studies focus on listed companies in China, whereas this study constitutes one of the first to focus on start-ups using an extensive array of data. It also contributes to the definition of a more systematic MCS sophistication measure, thus allowing more complete analysis of MCS at the firm level. Improving upon previous studies, the research reported herein also encompasses a large set of CEO characteristics to analyse their interaction with government financial support, thereby contributing to a better understanding of MCS in a key area of China’s future development. / published_or_final_version / Economics and Finance / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

This thesis investigates how chief executive officer (CEO) equity incentives affect the remediation of material weaknesses (MWs) in internal control. First, we predict that the sensitivity of CEO stock and stock option portfolios to stock price (CEO price sensitivity or delta) has a positive impact on firm promptness in remedying MWs, because CEOs whose personal wealth is tied to stock price suffer losses from negative market reactions to the public disclosure of MWs. Second, we predict that the sensitivity of CEO stock option portfolio to stock-return volatility (CEO volatility sensitivity or vega) has a negative impact on firm promptness in remedying MWs, as firms with internal control weaknesses are associated with higher information and operating risks that manifest in stock return volatility. Our empirical results, based on a sample of firms disclosing MWs in internal control under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) during November 15, 2003 and August 27, 2006, are consistent with the above predictions. We further provide evidence that an effective board of directors could mitigate the undesirable, negative impact of CEO volatility sensitivity on MWs remediation. We measure firms’ promptness in remedying MWs based on their subsequent internal control audit opinions (e.g., Ashbaugh-Skaife et al. 2008; Goh 2009); and CEO price (volatility) sensitivity as the dollar change in CEO stock and option portfolios (option portfolio) from a 1 percent change in stock price (Core and Guay 2002). This thesis is innovative with respect to the prediction and evidence of the opposing effects from CEO price and volatility sensitivities on internal control quality. This new evidence contributes to the literature that examines managerial incentives embedded in stock-based and option-based compensation plans in various economic contexts (e.g., Knopf et al. 2002; Coles et al. 2006; Low 2009; Armstrong et al. 2013). Our findings suggest that when stock constitutes a major part of CEO compensation, the mandatory disclosure requirement of SOX provides a channel for the stock market to discipline CEO. However, when options dominate CEO compensation, volatility sensitivity and the associated risk-taking incentive can cause CEOs to delay rectifying internal control deficiencies. These results have interesting policy implications for regulators and firms concerning mandatory disclosure and compensation design. Moreover, this thesis contributes to the broad literature on corporate governance by documenting an interaction between corporate governance and CEO incentives, namely that strong corporate governance mitigates the undesirable risking-taking incentive caused by CEO option holdings. Overall, this thesis deepens our understanding on mechanisms through which regulators, firm executives, and boards of directors strengthen internal control over financial reporting in the post-SOX era. / published_or_final_version / Business / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

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June 22, 1918, Alonzo Sergent fell asleep while conducting a train that plowed into another train killing 86 passengers and injuring another 187. 17 days later, July 9, 1918, two passenger trains collided head on in what became known as The Great Train Wreck of 1918, killing 101 people and injuring 171 people. The investigations and analysis of failure in both accidents can be attributed to a single person. During this month, the single person failed to operate the company’s train properly, which lead to a colossal disaster which affected numerous lives, loss of business revenue, loss of credibility, and had a huge social impact. Similar to an analysis of a colossal train wreck, this report focuses on the complexities behind colossal business failures, analyzes the reasons for failure and the role of the CEO, and proposes recommendations that can be used to guard future businesses against colossal failure. / text