Studien syftar till att undersöka hur Chief Digital Officer (CDO) arbetar med digital transformation inom den offentliga sektorn. Den forskningsstrategi som har tillämpats i uppsatsen är fallstudie, eftersom att studiens syfte var att undersöka och analysera en specifik roll på djupet. Studien har en kvalitativ karaktär där en fenomenologisk ansats har applicerats då studien tar sin utgångspunkt från flera CDO:s erfarenheter och upplevelser. Studiens datainsamling har bestått av inhämtning av befintlig forskning från vetenskapliga källor och intervjuer. Semistrukturerade intervjuer genomfördes med fem respondenter, som besitter rollen som CDO i en svensk kommun, för att samla in kvalitativ data som utgjorde studiens empiriska material. En av intervjuerna genomfördes med ett frågeformulär som skickades till respondenten via mail. De slutsatser som har kunnat dras utifrån studiens undersökning är att valet av en CDO till största del grundas i personens erfarenheter och delvis i kommunens behov av digital transformation. Det har konstaterats att det är till CDO:s fördel att placeras nära det högst beslutande organet inom kommunen samt att rollen som CDO innebär att agera förändringsledare. Rollens framtid, inom offentlig verksamhet, är oviss då det finns aspekter som pekar på både dess utveckling och avveckling. / The study aims to investigate how the role of the Chief Digital Officer (CDO) adapts the work with digital transformation in the public sector. The research strategy that has been applied in the thesis is case study, since the purpose of the study was to investigate and analyze a specific role. The study is qualitative in which a phenomenological approach has been applied since the study is based on several CDOs’ own experiences. The collection of data has been carried out by existing research from scientific sources and by collecting empirical material from the chosen respondents through semi-structured interviews. One of the interviews was conducted through a mail conversation. All the respondents possessed the role of a CDO in a Swedish municipality. The conclusion that can be made from the study is that the choice of the CDO is largely based on the person’s experiences and partly the municipality’s requirements for digital transformation. It has also been found that it is an advantage for the CDO to be placed close to the decision-maker in the municipality and the role implies to act as a change leader. The future of the role, in the public sector, is unpredictable as there are aspects that point to both its development and settlement.

With rapidly advancing technologies and digital innovations, companies face the need to adapt to the new digital world and to digitally transform their business models. For executing the digital transformation process, more and more companies decide to entrust a new C-level manager with all challenges and complexity arising from digital transformation, the Chief Digital Officer (CDO). As the CDO position is still fairly new, research in this field is limited and requires further attention by scholars. Therefore, this study aims to address three fundamental research questions concerning the nature of the CDO position and corresponding implications not only to inform practitioners but also to enrich the scholarly discussion on CDOs. By understanding existing literature on CDOs based on a systematic literature review, this thesis answers the first research question regarding what characterizes the CDO position. Building on these insights and drawing from a comprehensive theoretical framework consisting of upper echelons theory, contingency theory, human capital theory and the resource-based view, hypotheses are developed for answering research questions two and three. While the second research question focuses on factors, which influence CDO presence within a company, the third research question addresses the impact of a CDO on company performance. Based on a large-scale sample of panel data comprised of S&P 500 companies, generalized estimating equations models, propensity score matching and fixed effects regression models are exploited in order to derive answers for both research questions two and three. As influencing factors for CDO presence, the results show that especially early tenure CEOs and CEOs of larger companies are more likely to employ a CDO. Although no evidence can be observed for positive performance implications of CDOs, also given different company contingencies, the insights of this study's analyses show that certain CDO characteristics as well as in combination with CIO presence and varying CEO characteristics are more favorable over others in terms of company performance measured by return on assets and Tobin's Q.

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