How CIOs Influence Digital Transformation Success. Evidence from a Large-scale, Multi-national Survey

Digital transformation is an important and omnipresent topic for corporations that want to stay relevant and survive in today’s business environment. The success of digital transformation depends on a multitude of factors, one of which is digital transformation governance. This study investigates the moderating effect of CIO membership in the top management team on the relationship between enabling factors of digital transformation and digital transformation success. Furthermore, different digital transformation governance configurations are investigated regarding their effect on the success of digital transformation. We make use of a large scale, multi-national survey among manufacturing firms to answer these two research questions. With our study, we demonstrate the importance of including the CIO in the top management team to take advantage of existing resources and capabilities. Additionally, we show that firms with a CIO being responsible for digital transformation perform significantly better in their digital transformation endeavors

An Investigation of the Factors Contributing to the Development of Poorly Defined IS Strategies for Firms in the United States

Although empirical research has shown that a clearly defined information system (IS) strategy has a positive impact to a firm’s performance and a poorly defined IS strategy has a negative impact to a firms’ performance, firms still develop poorly defined IS strategies. Further compounding the problem, research has revealed that 87% of the business executives believe information systems are a critical enabler to their firms\u27 strategic realization, yet only 33% of business executives involve the Chief Information Officer (CIO) in their firm’s business strategy development. The main goal of this research study is to empirically identify factors which impact development of an IS strategy. This research analyzed the relationship of factors which included organizational mindfulness, CIO and senior management team relationship, and CIO capability to the firm’s level of IS strategy definition. A total of 80 senior leaders completed a web-based survey instrument containing previously validated and refined questions. The questions were answered using a five-point Likert scale. The survey results were analyzed using statistical methods including Pearson’s Correlation, Cronbach’s alpha and linear regression. The statistical results revealed that the factors accounted for 50% of the variance in the level of information system strategy definition. Further, this research study identified five variables which include CIO knowledge of the business, communication ability, informal interaction, trust, and top management support that potentially predict the levels of IS strategy definition. Six variables which include openness, extraversion, political savvy, Top Management Team (TMT) knowledge of IS, formal interaction and reluctance to simplify interpretations were not identified as potential predictors of levels of IS strategy definition. This research study discusses the methodology; data collection and analysis; results of the three research questions and overarching question; and the conclusions, implications, and recommendations. Several future studies are required to provide additional qualitative and quantities findings to better understand the results of this study

The 2022 SIM IT Issues and Trends Study

The Society for Information Management’s 42nd Annual IT Issues and Trends Study received responses from 796 IT executives, including 334 CIOs and 540 unique organizations. The average revenue of participating organizations was $6.1 billion (median$400 million). IT spending as a percentage of revenue was 5.9%, up slightly from 2021 but close to the 10-year average of 5.7%. However, 74.6% of organizations reported increasing IT headcount, a 10-year high and up from 63.6% in 2021. Similarly, 94.8% reported increases in average IT salaries. The top five IT management issues for organizations in 2022 were Cybersecurity, Alignment, Analytics, Compliance and Digital Transformation; the top five largest IT investments were Analytics, Cybersecurity, Cloud, Application Development and ERP; while the five most difficult to find soft skills were Critical Thinking, Teamwork, Business Acumen, Leadership and Problem Solving. The most common criteria for assessing CIO performance were Value of IT to the Business, Internal Customer Satisfaction, Cybersecurity, Strategic Contribution of IT and IT Availability. The average tenure of CIOs was 5.9 years (median 4 years) with 48% reporting to the CEO. CIOs continue to come from outside organizations at record levels (82%), and 24.6 came from prior non-IT positions

Rethinking the Management of Foundation Endowments

Reviews the performance of foundation endowments since October 2007, lessons for investors, trends in endowment management models, and the strengths and weaknesses of five models. Recommends ways to make the most of investment consultants

Environmental modelling of the Chief Information Officer

Since the introduction of the term in the 1980’s, the role of the Chief Information Officer (CIO) has been widely researched. Various perceptions and dimensions of the role have been explored and debated. However, the explosion in data proliferation (and the inevitable resulting information fuelled change) further complicates organisational expectations of the CIOs role. If organisations are to competitively exploit the digital trend, then those charged with recruiting and developing CIOs now need to be more effective in determining (and shaping) CIO traits and attributes, within the context of their own organisational circumstances and in line with stakeholder expectations. CIOs also need to determine their own suitability and progression within their chosen organisation if they are to remain motivated and effective. Before modelling the role of the future CIO, it is necessary to synthesise our current knowledge (and the lessons learnt) about the CIO. This paper, therefore, aims to identify and summate the spectrum of key researched ‘themes’ pertaining to the role of the CIO. Summating previous research, themes are modelled around four key CIO ‘dimensions’, namely (1) Impacting factors, (2) Controlling factors (3) Responses and (4) CIO ‘attributes’. Having modelled the CIOs current environment, and recognising the evolving IT enabled information landscape, the authors call for further research to inform the recruitment and development of the future CIO in terms of personal attributes and the measurable impact such attributes will have on their respective organisation

The London Creative Industries

This lecture draws from the Creative Industries Observatory research on the London creative industries and in particular provides some initial insights into the networks and relationships which exist including organisational structure, size, and location. Consideration has been given to clustering and markets. In particular attention has been paid to the levels of creativity found in the London creative industries and the possible implications for public policy intervention. These findings are based on a shared definitional framework, and can be compared with other cities

The Route to the Top: Female Union Leaders and Union Policy

[Excerpt] Although women now constitute about one third of the members of labor unions in the United States, they are still barely visible in top leadership. To what extent are women currently making inroads in union leadership and what types of union responsibilities do they hold? Is there a glass ceiling? How do the career patterns of women unionists compare with those of men? What can unions do to facilitate their recognition? These are the key questions I examine in this article, drawing on past research supplemented by insights from union leaders I interviewed

Game on! a report on the interactive leisure software subsector in London

There is a paucity of good quality data on the UK video games industry. Information such as value-added, investment on R&D, average annual expenditure on training and the value of video games in terms of exports, for example, is thin or incomplete. This is a serious problem. If we are to improve the competitiveness of the UK games development sector then we must have better quality information. Games developers will then be able to benchmark their business activities against industry averages. Overseas investors will also then be better informed about the benefits of investing in the UK leisure software sector. This Report confirms the lacunae in our knowledge that exists about the video games industry. For example, the Office of National Statistics still does not have a specific code to identify interactive leisure software businesses. Yet the Report also shines a light on the video games industry in the UK in general and in London in particular

Exercising Authority, Restoring Accountability: AFL-CIO Proxy Voting Guidelines

[Excerpt] We are pleased to provide trustees of union benefit funds with revised AFL-CIO Proxy Voting Guidelines. These Guidelines have been updated to reflect major regulatory reforms enacted in 2002 and 2003, and to further raise the bar on corporate governance and accountability in the wake of recent corporate scandals