CIO influence behaviors: the impact of technical background

Authors:
Harvey G. Enns;Sid L. Huff;Brian R. Golden
Affiliations:
MIS, OM and Decision Sciences Department, School of Business Administration, University of Dayton, Dayton, OH;Ericsson Professor Information Systems, School of Information Management, Faculty of Commerce and Administration, Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand;Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ont., Canada
Venue:
Information and Management
Year:
2003

Citing 7
Cited 5

“Convincing top management of the strategic potential of information systems"

Management Information Systems Quarterly
Wanted: the multithreaded CIO

Datamation
Bank of America: the crest and trough of technological leadership

MIS Quarterly
Strategic information systems planning success: an investigation of the construct and its measurement

MIS Quarterly
Observations from “the front”: IT executives on practices to recruit and retain information technology professionals

SIGCPR '99 Proceedings of the 1999 ACM SIGCPR conference on Computer personnel research
Enterprise resource planning: the role of the CIO and it function in ERP

Communications of the ACM
Information Technology Assimilation in Firms: the Influence of Senior Leadership and it Infrastructures

Information Systems Research

Testing the accuracy of the IT stereotype: profiling IT managers' personality and behavioural characteristics

Information and Management
Relation of CIO background, IT infrastructure, and economic performance

Information and Management
CIO roles and responsibilities: Twenty-five years of evolution and change

Information and Management
A new TOPSIS-based multi-criteria approach to personnel selection

Expert Systems with Applications: An International Journal
CEO is a Vision of the Future Role and Position of CIO in Healthcare Organizations

Journal of Medical Systems

Quantified Score

Hi-index	0.00

Visualization

Abstract

In their roles as senior managers, Chief Information Officers (CIOs) are often responsible for the initiation and implementation of information systems (ISs) that are vital to the success, and even survival of the firm. In so doing, CIOs must exercise influence successfully in order to attain these objectives. This study reports a two-phase investigation of CIO influence behaviors, with particular emphasis on the relationship between the CIO's technical background and his or her use of influence. In the first phase, interviews were conducted with CIOs and their peers to assist in the development of testable hypotheses. Phase two involved the analysis of 69 matched pair surveys and tests of the relationships between CIOs' technical backgrounds and seven CIO influence behaviors, as posited by socialization theory. The second phase's results were not supportive of socialization theory. A modified version of Holland's theory of vocational choice suggests a plausible explanation for the results. The findings challenge the popular assumption that CIOs with greater technical backgrounds are unable to successfully influence other top executives.