NDLI: Special issue on the evolution of the CIO role:past and future perspectives

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Special issue on the evolution of the CIO role:past and future perspectives

Content Provider	ACM Digital Library
Author	Stephens, Charlotte S.
Abstract	Articles in this special issue address the evolution of the CIOrole during the past and predict drivers for change in the future.This Janus approach is well-represented by an in-depth study of theIT leader's role over more than forty years at Texaco and by astudy using interviews with over fifty IT leaders about the "futureof in-house IT organizations."The enthralling Texaco study should be required reading for allIS graduate students. As a saga of our profession's history and theevolution of the CIO role, this article provides a painful,personal view of IT leaders' struggle to gain recognition for theIT function's real contributions. "The Evolution of the CorporateIT Function and the Role of the CIO at Texaco -- How do Perceptionsof IT's Performance Get Formed?" (Hirscheim, Porra, Parks)questions a basic assumption of prior research, that the ITfunction and the CIO have failed in some way: failed to establish arelationship with top management, failed to demonstrate value,failed to improve the performance of the organization, failed toprovide an IT vision or link that vision to the organization'sstrategy.This longitudinal study demonstrates clearly that "Texaco's ITfunction did a stellar job," and that the "small investment in ITwas put to an increasingly effective use at a staggering rate."CIOs or IT leaders have been effective at Texaco, some amazinglyso. Yet during all these years from 1957 on, there was not a timewhen "top management or users expressed their satisfaction with theIT function." The authors conclude that "top management perceptionsof the IT leaders' and IT functions' performance developed in avacuum."Applying Peppard and Ward's perceptions gap categories,Hirscheim, Porra, and Parks call into question the very questionswhich have been asked in IT leadership research, and offer some newdirections. Interestingly, the authors posit that charge backsystems which reflect cost but not contribution and which areaccumulated in overhead accounts may be the "most consequentialmistake the IT profession has made so far."The perception gap is also a theme in Reich and Nelson's "InTheir Own Words: CIO Visions about the Future of In-House ITOrganizations." They conducted interviews with fifty CIOs and ITleaders in twenty-two organizations. As the technology has becomemore complex, user expectations have become very high: "Expectationis instantaneous delivery at zero cost, with zero bugs and zerodefects." Their findings are presented in two sections: "Drivers ofchange" and "Transitions in in-house IT organizations." Therichness of experience and insights into the future revealed by theauthors' analyses of these fifty interviews is rare. Quotationsselected for inclusion are memorable: "the IT workforce are thecoal workers of the 21st century."Primary future trends are projected and leading researchopportunities identified. Some interesting subsidiary future trendsalso emerge: systems analysts in-house providing requirement foroutsourced development, a natural evolution toward "a significantincrease in telecommuting," consulting as a career path foraspiring CIOs, the importance of the transition fromindividual-based IT work to team-based work and mindset, the needfor both a CTO and CIO as complementary functions. Reich andNelson's in-depth view of the evolution of the CIO role and the ITfunction should help academic research to "lead practice ratherthan follow it."
Starting Page	6
Ending Page	6
Page Count	1
File Format	PDF
ISSN	00950033 15320936
DOI	10.1145/957758.957761
Journal	ACM SIGMIS Database: the DATABASE for Advances in Information Systems (DATB)
Volume Number	34
Issue Number	4
Language	English
Publisher	Association for Computing Machinery (ACM)
Publisher Date	2007-02-28
Publisher Place	New York
Access Restriction	One Nation One Subscription (ONOS)
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Article
Subject	Management Information Systems Computer Networks and Communications

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1	Ministry of Education (GoI), Department of Higher Education	Sanctioning Authority	https://www.education.gov.in/ict-initiatives
2	Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur	Host Institute of the Project: The host institute of the project is responsible for providing infrastructure support and hosting the project	https://www.iitkgp.ac.in
3	National Digital Library of India Office, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur	The administrative and infrastructural headquarters of the project	Dr. B. Sutradhar bsutra@ndl.gov.in
4	Project PI / Joint PI	Principal Investigator and Joint Principal Investigators of the project	Dr. B. Sutradhar bsutra@ndl.gov.in Prof. Saswat Chakrabarti will be added soon
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7	National Digital Library of India Club (NDLI Club)	Queries related to NDLI Club formation, support, user awareness program, seminar/symposium, collaboration, social media, promotion, and outreach	clubsupport@ndl.gov.in
8	Digital Preservation Centre (DPC)	Assistance with digitizing and archiving copyright-free printed books	dpc@ndl.gov.in
9	IDR Setup or Support	Queries related to establishment and support of Institutional Digital Repository (IDR) and IDR workshops	idr@ndl.gov.in

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