Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
Underlying such an understanding dictates that the CIO remain up to date regarding
the evolving agency objectives and strategies , as well as the technologies relevant to them.
Competence in this regard is reflected in the “business factors” and “technical factors”
dimension of the conceptual framework.
Once program managers gain confidence in the CIO's understanding of the business
issues pertinent to the agency, they are more likely to solicit the CIO's technical expertise.
Prior research conducted in the private sector found that CEOs wanted a “CIO who could
conciliate and diffuse. Someone who can eventually enthuse the top management team”
(Feeny, Edwards, & Simpson, 1992).
Following this track, the interviewees were asked how CIOs could leverage their
technical expertise, proactively, in a manner that generates top management support for their
recommendations. The following suggestions were rendered:
A lot has to do with how you roll out your technology plan. If top management
can see the relevance of it to what they're trying to do, and you have a chance
to brief them and explain as you go through the budgets and things, as to what
it can really do for the institution, then you educate them in the process.
The notion of the CIO as an educator that is expressed in the above quote is reflected
in the activities comprising the “convey the relevance of IT” dimension of the conceptual
framework. Another interviewee went on to say:
In 1993, we basically proved to ourselves and those from where we get our
financial support and our budget, that the proposed projects for 1994 were in
fact workable, doable, and cost-effective. We had a lot of skeptics out there.
The idea that the CIO must overcome skepticism in order to gain support for proposed
initiatives is captured in the “manage critical relationships” dimension of the conceptual
framework. Another CIO added:
The deployment of personalities, skills, and technology, trying to bring those
three things together in a way that makes sense, and in which we gain support
of people along the way so that we don't force down their throats [IT] solutions
that they are not comfortable with.
These data suggest that beyond the business and technological issues, the CIO must
recognize that IT initiatives will have an impact on the end-user community and necessarily
the organization as a whole. Understanding the people issues relates to the “human factors”
dimension in the conceptual framework. The CIO's ability to integrate a business focus with
technical knowledge and an understanding of the social environment in order to engage in
effective and efficient systems development initiatives is exemplified in the “implement IT-
based solutions” dimension of the conceptual framework.
It appears that in order to effectively engage in the activities comprising the three
activity-based dimensions (i.e., convey the relevance of IT, manage critical relationships,
implement IT-based solutions), the competent CIO needs to rely on the information compris-
ing the three knowledge-based dimensions (i.e., business factors, human factors, technical
factors). Conversely, it is not just what the CIO knows that ultimately defines his or her
competence. Rather, competence is also comprised of what the CIO does with what they
know. Leadership expert Warren Bennis made the point well in his foreword to Burt Nanus'
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