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

Digital Interorganizational Collaboration

How can digital technology enable flexible interorganizational collaborations (IOCs)? This study investigates a challenge facing firms seeking to build highly flexible interfirm relationships to remain competitive in the digital age. It explores how flexible IOCs characterized by changing goals, organizations and organizational actors can leverage digital technology to rapidly generate interorganizational dynamic capabilities (IDCs) in the absence of pre-existing routines. Using multiple case studies of COVID-19 task forces in the US and Canada, we observe how digital generativity derives from a diverse and changing set of digital tools used together to respond to a rapidly changing environment. In doing so, this study extends digital generativity beyond digital platforms into more flexible applications of digital technology. This approach addresses a central problem in the IOC literature: how organizations competing in the digital age can shift their strategic focus from competition to collaboration (Gkeredakis & Constantinides 2019)

Riverbank Financial: Balancing the Pendulum

The primary learning objective of this case is to discuss the balance between technology and customer focus in order to maximize IT effectiveness in the organization. The case illustrates the changing role of the information technology (IT) division within a large Canadian financial institution

The Sustainability of a Smartcard for Micro e-Payments

This paper presents an empirical study on the use of a smartcard namely Octopus for micro e-payments in Hong Kong. The Octopus was initially designed to enable several public transport service providers such as subways, railways, buses and ferries to share a common platform for fare collection and settlement. Recently, it has been used to facilitate micro e-payments in selected service sectors. Individual customers can conveniently use a computerized smartcard for purchasing selected goods and services. A customer-oriented investigation suggests that perceived convenience of use, automatic add-value services, security, reliability, perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness and merchant support significantly influence continued use of the Octopus smartcard. Our empirical work provides useful information for developing sustainable smartcards for e-payments in different business environments

BEYOND MODES: A NEW TYPOLOGY OF ISD CONTROL

This study focuses on the role of information systems development (ISD) control as a means to better understand the underlying elements of ISD methodologies. Based on Ackoff’s general systems theory, we propose a new typology of ISD control that moves beyond the de facto standard in ISD research: control modes. Through twenty-six interviews at four organizations, we find that our typology aids in distinguishing between control dimensions within structured and flexible development to a greater extent than control modes would allow. Our paper also discusses possible reasons why the benefits of agile development may become diluted in organizations where both flexible and structured methods are employed. This work contributes to the advancement of ISD control theory and provides useful insights for practitioners responsible for the governance of ISD projects

Digital Entrepreneurship: What is New if Anything?

Editoria

Information Systems Control: A Review and Framework for Emerging Information Systems Processes

A major stream of information systems (IS) research examines the topic of control, which focuses on attempts to affect employee behavior as a means to achieve organizational objectives. Despite a rich history of IS control research, approximately 90 percent of the publications focus on only three IS processes: managing information systems development, managing IS outsourcing, and managing security. However, the emergence of new IS processes and technologies with distinct control challenges, such as managing enterprise architecture and managing innovation, highlights a need to consider the wider applicability of past control insights. In this paper, we first integrate existing IS control constructs and relationships into a comprehensive IS control model. Second, we apply this model to emerging IS processes to guide future research and practice. We review 65 influential IS control-related journal papers and identify five control dimensions. We then consolidate these dimensions into a single, integrated model to apply past IS control findings to the challenges of emerging information systems by posing a series of related propositions. With this paper, we position current IS control research to be increasingly applicable and relevant to tomorrow’s emerging IS opportunities and challenges