CIO Leadership Characteristics and Styles

Although studies targeting CIO’s leadership characteristics are numerous, studies examining CIOs’ leadership styles are scarce. Today’s CIOs are often members of the firm’s C-level executive team with a wide range of leadership capabilities and characteristics that are not much different from those of the CEOs. What, then, are the characteristics and leadership styles for those CIOs? This literature review study attempts to answer those two questions by examining prior research on these topics. First, we examine prior literature identifying all studied characteristics and then, propose four categories to group them into meaningful sets. Second, we identify what leadership styles are used by researchers. And while the general leadership field has been evolving over the past twenty years shifting its focus and introducing new leadership styles, CIOs\u27 leadership research is still entrapped in the old school of thinking. Consequently, we intend to stimulate new thinking about studying CIOs’ characteristics and styles

Exploring the Behavior of Highly Effective CIOs Using Video Analysis

Although recently several studies have addressed the required skills of effective CIOs, little is known of the actual behavior successful CIOs. In this study, we explore the behavior of highly effective CIOs by video-recording CIOs at work. The two CIOs videotaped were nominated as CIO of the year. We analyze the data in an innovative and systematic way by developing and using a behavioral leadership coding scheme. The analysis indicates that highly effective CIOs are good listeners. They also often verify previously made agreements; structure the conversation; and provide subordinates with factual information. We also compare the behavior of the highly effective CIOs to a sample of 25 highly effective middle managers. Whereas the CIOs spend little time defending themselves against their subordinates and are mostly involved in steering, middle-managers spend much more time defending themselves and show more support for their subordinates. We conclude that our new video observation-and-coding method is viable to analyze and better understand the behavior of CIOs

Women in Union Leadership Roles

[Excerpt] Progress has been slower at the policy making level, as illustrated by the report that in these same unions with 45% or more female membership, women hold less than 10% of .the executive board positions. While the percentages are higher in professional unions - for example, 32% in the American Federation of Teachers which has a 60% female membership - in almost all cases, representation on executive boards falls far below that of local membership. Few of the more than 90 AFL-CIO unions are headed by women: only the Association of Flight Attendants, which has a predominantly female membership, and the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union and Actors\u27 Equity have women presidents. Women are rarely represented at the top. Is there a glass ceiling? Can women look up but not rise up? If so, why

Unions Implementing Managerial Techniques

[Excerpt] National unions are gradually adopting the sophisticated management selection and training practices of business and government but employment and promotion decisions remain essentially political

Leadership characteristics and digital transformation

Digital transformation (DT) is essential for all companies and industries, depending crucially on systems, IT, strategy, and people. In this research, we analyse how firms’ characteristics, associated with management characteristics, promote DT in Portuguese companies. The model considers the relationship between digital strategy and corporate and business strategy, according to firm and management characteristics. We use a multilevel analysis, applying fsQCA to data obtained from 47 Portuguese firms. The results represent an important step forward in the knowledge of the conditions to promote higher stages of DT, especially regarding leadership and management associated with certain firms’ characteristics. The conclusions support the crucial role of leadership and especially the importance of managers’ coherence towards companies’ mission to promote more advanced stages of DT. At the same time, it contributes to develop knowledge about the best possible combination of firms’ and management characteristics to promote DT.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Comparison of Distance Education Leadership Styles and Future Investment in Two-Year Colleges

This foundational descriptive quantitative study examined leadership styles, traits of distance education leaders (e.g. VPs, Deans, Directors and Coordinators) and distance education program characteristics as well as funding priorities at the post-secondary level. Participants were subjected to Bass and Avolio\u27s Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ-5X), which identified leadership characteristics as transformational, transactional or passive-avoidant as manifest by nine scales as follows: Individualized Influence Attributes, Individualized Influence Behavior, Inspirational Motivation, Intellectual Stimulation, Individualized Consideration, Contingent Reward, Active Management-by-Exception, Passive Management-by-Exception and Laissez-Faire. In addition, the questionnaire further assessed leadership outcomes scaled as Extra Effort, Effectiveness and Satisfaction. There were 55 respondents from two-year colleges belonging to the American Association of Community Colleges. Findings indicated that these Distance Education Leaders scored markedly higher (and above the norm) in Transformational Leadership style scales than did past MLQ-5X testees from across all fields. Further, results indicated significant relationships between leadership style and such vitally important organizational characteristics as reporting line and levels of position. Additional statistical significance established positive correlates between Age and Effectiveness and a negative correlate between Age and Active Management-by-Exception. The Years Since Most Recent Degree correlated positively with Individualized Influence Behavior and negatively with Active Management-by-Exception. The Years at the Institution and in the Distance Education Field correlated positively with Satisfaction and negatively with Individualized Influence Attributes. The single most important and top ranked funding priority was Course Design Standards that Focus Upon Learning Outcomes. Recommendations were directed at college, distance education leaders and for the purposes of future research. As online distance education in higher education matures, college and distance education leaders should work together to identify and develop future leaders with transformational leadership style to work in the field. This study showed that taking and teaching online courses will have a positive impact upon that goal as well pursuing an advanced degree. Also, the level of position in the organization and reporting line of the distance education leader made a difference in leadership style. Future research should focus upon further defining the best types of leaders for distance education and how to develop effective future leaders in the field

Women chief information officers in higher education: Voices from the field

The lived experiences of women higher education Chief Information Officers (CIOs) were investigated and documented in this qualitative study. Three women higher education CIOs provided their perspectives on the opportunities and obstacles encountered as they pursued and achieved their current positions. These women\u27s stories were gathered under a conceptual framework focusing on the intersection of applicable elements from gendered organizational theory, feminist standpoint theory, and occupational jurisdiction. Methods of overcoming obstacles and facilitating opportunities were discussed in relation to their lived lives and experiences. Examining institutional gendered norms accentuated the thoughts, values, practices, and processes that lead to muted women\u27s voices and the continuation of male-dominated organizations and social structures. The co-narrators described themselves as pioneers in the field and agreed that professional advancement opportunities resulted from having excellent personal strengths, mentors, family support, and a good educational and experiential background. Major obstacles included stereotypic responses and beliefs from co-workers or supervisors, a lack of recognition, support, and trust, and marginalization. Methods used to overcome or eliminate obstacles were strength from support groups, perseverance, and connecting with credibility to others. Elements related to genderedness and occupational jurisdiction were discussed in attempts to integrate women into typically-male and typically-less-technical positions. The perpetuation of gendered organizations was also discussed. The findings should be of interest to information technology divisions within higher education institutions as they consider designing and implementing programs to assist women aspiring to leadership roles. An awareness of the opportunities and obstacles of prospective employees may inform recruitment and retention efforts for the institution. The findings may also help institutional officials to recognize factors characterizing women higher education information technology leaders and to consider recommendations for enhancing the work environment for these women leaders. Women seeking such positions will benefit by having an understanding of the experiences of current women CIOs

Chief Information Officers and Industry Characteristics: Is Profiling Possible?

The position of Chief Information Officer (CIO) continues to evolve into an executive position on par with the CEO and CFO. Beginning primarily as a technical position, the CIO now sits in an executive office analogous to the CEO and CFO. CIOS now supervise projects integrated with long-range strategic planning and advise senior managers about the future courses of their organizations. Our study sought to better understand how the CIO as an individual has evolved the job position. Collecting over 312 IT CIO profiles from IT announcements, we are using interpretive text analysis techniques to investigate personal characteristics of CIOs with the intention of noting differences in their professional demeanor overtime. Preliminary results are in work

Leading Devops practice and principle adoption

This research, undertaken in highly structured software-intensive organizations, outlines challenges associated to agile, lean and DevOps practices and principles adoption. The approach collected data via a series of thirty (30) interviews, with practitioners from the EMEA region (Czech Republic, Estonia, Italy, Georgia, Greece, The Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, UAE, UK), working in nine (9) different industry domains and ten (10) different countries. A set of agile, lean and DevOps practices and principles, which organizations choose to include in their DevOps adoption journeys were identified. The most frequently adopted structured service management practices, contributing to DevOps practice adoption success, indicate that those with software development and operation roles in DevOps-oriented organizations benefit from existence of highly structured service management approaches such as ITIL®

Exploring the link between leadership and Devops practice and principle adoption

Our research focuses in software-intensive organizations and highlights the challenges that surface as a result of the transitioning process of highly-structured to DevOps practices and principles adoption. The approach collected data via a series of thirty (30) interviews, with practitioners from the EMEA region (Czech Republic, Estonia, Italy, Georgia, Greece, The Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, UAE, UK), working in nine (9) different industry domains and ten (10) different countries. A set of agile, lean and DevOps practices and principles were identified, which organizations select as part of DevOps-oriented adoption. The most frequently adopted ITIL® service management practices, contributing to DevOps practice and principle adoption success, indicate that DevOps-oriented organizations benefit from the existence of change management, release and deployment management, service level management, incident management and service catalog management. We also uncover that the DevOps adoption leadership role is required in a DevOps team setting and that it should, initially, be an individual role