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A New Star at C Level
Mark Polansky
05/03/2004
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As the 21st century unfolds, we are seeing an important new presence in the top
executive ranks: the chief information officer (CIO), a title that did not even
exist until about 15 years ago. The CIO’s position in the corporate structure
has risen from the tactical/operational level to the strategic/management level
as the intrinsic economic value of information has become ever more crucial to
our bottom lines. More to the point, the ideal CIO for these
technology-driven times is a visionary who also has the savvy to measure both
the impact and returns that each new technological implementation brings.
| Corporate governance and regulatory compliance keep CIOs up at night. |
In
my executive search practice at Korn/Ferry, CEOs looking for new CIOs always
tell me that what they really need is a leader. I know to look for the kind of
executive who can project such infectious enthusiasm throughout the organization
as to make employees at every level eager to adapt the new technologies that are
changing the way every industry does business. This past fall we ran a research
project in which we conducted a series of interviews with more than 50 CIOs at
major corporations in a wide spectrum of industries to see how they perceive
their roles. We found that across the board, CIOs today dismiss the parochial
image of the IT department as a maintenance shop for digital hardware, and see
it instead as an integral part of operations that supports the entire strategy
of the company.
A valuable insight about the CIO’s relationship with other
C-level executives comes to us from Jeff Spar, senior vice president and CIO at
the Readers Digest Association: “The days of the CIO reporting to the CFO are
gone at companies that truly value the impact IT can deliver. The CFO focus is
on generating value through cost management and financial processes, while the
CIO delivers value by leveraging IT against the company’s ‘sweet spots’ to
generate value. Both should work directly for the CEO to maximize shareholder
value and business impact.”
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