Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
These data suggest that regardless of whether the dominant use of IT within the agency
is perceived as transformational or not, CIOs feel it is critical to empower employees by
encouraging their active involvement in IS development efforts. The data also suggest that
it is critical for the CIO to engage in human resource development commensurate with the
needs of IT initiatives.
Three additional activities emerged as critical in the Transform CIO profile that are
absent in the Nontransform CIO profile:
•
Create a participative IT planning process
•
Procure and allocate the equipment needed for systems development
•
Encourage an iterative IS development approach
The first involves identifying project champions by approaching IT project initiatives
through cooperative participation. The next relates to hardware and software procurement
necessary for IS development. The last critical activity that emerged in the Transform CIO
profile relates to managing the IS development and implementation approach employed.
These data suggest that more activities are critical for the CIO during the implementation
process for transformational IT designs than for IS that merely support existing agency
operations.
FUTURE TRENDS
In this chapter, insight was provided into the landscape of public-sector IT manage-
ment, by starting with an identification of common problems faced by practicing public-sector
CIOs. Further, the discussion illustrates the usefulness of conceptualizing CIO competence
in terms of types of knowledge that CIOs should rely on and types of activities CIOs should
engage in.
There are many contextual factors not considered here that, in addition to a CIO's
discretion, will decide which factors and activities (underlying each of the six dimensions)
a given CIO will deem critical (Figure 3). Follow-up research on CIO competence should more
deeply examine the contextual setting in which the CIO operates. In fact, the author is currently
conducting a research project where the conceptual framework of CIO competence is being
assessed in relation to leadership styles exhibited by CIOs in institutions of higher education.
In that study, respondents are being segmented by the Carnegie Classification System
utilized by higher education institutions. Whereas the underlying factors and activities that
emerge critical in that study will undoubtedly vary across respondent groups, the position
of the researcher is that the overarching six dimensions of the framework remain important
across groups.
CONCLUSION
The conceptual framework of CIO competence presented here provides a comprehen-
sive mechanism for framing courses and stimulating lively classroom discussions related to
IT management, its challenges, and opportunities. A picture is worth a thousand words. The
consideration of contextual factors as influential in dictating how CIOs perceived the critical
factors and activities involved in their jobs will embellish such discussions, further stretching
students' thinking.
