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The dynamics of CIO derailment: How CIOs come undone and how to avoid it

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  • Gerth, Anthony B.
  • Peppard, Joe

Abstract

With information technology (IT) becoming ever more ubiquitous and pervasive, the resulting deluge of data is driving a wave of digital disruption. No industry, it seems, is immune, and business performance is increasingly dependent on the effective use of IT and investments in technology that generate real business benefits. Yet research continues to report that most of these investments don’t pay off as expected. Blame for such scenarios is normally placed at the feet of the Chief Information Officer (CIO). Some commentators have even suggested that it is now time to replace the CIO role with that of CDO (Chief Digital Officer). This line of thinking ignores the inherent organizational dynamics that lead to the derailment of the executive in charge of IT; merely changing the job title won’t fix the problem. This article uses research conducted over the course of 8 years to illuminate reasons why CIO leaders are derailed, and what they and the CEO can do to avoid this outcome. Causes of derailment are presented in detail, and prescriptive advice is given for CIOs and CEOs alike regarding how to address causes of executive failure in leading the digital transformation of organizations.

Suggested Citation

  • Gerth, Anthony B. & Peppard, Joe, 2016. "The dynamics of CIO derailment: How CIOs come undone and how to avoid it," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 59(1), pages 61-70.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:bushor:v:59:y:2016:i:1:p:61-70
    DOI: 10.1016/j.bushor.2015.09.001
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    Cited by:

    1. Swen Nadkarni & Reinhard Prügl, 2021. "Digital transformation: a review, synthesis and opportunities for future research," Management Review Quarterly, Springer, vol. 71(2), pages 233-341, April.
    2. Patrick Hillebrand & Markus Westner, 2022. "Success factors of long-term CIOs," Information Systems and e-Business Management, Springer, vol. 20(1), pages 79-122, March.
    3. Culasso, Francesca & Gavurova, Beata & Crocco, Edoardo & Giacosa, Elisa, 2023. "Empirical identification of the chief digital officer role: A latent Dirichlet allocation approach," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 154(C).
    4. Mouhamadou Sow & Solomon Aborbie, 2018. "Impact of Leadership on Digital Transformation," Business and Economic Research, Macrothink Institute, vol. 8(3), pages 139-148, September.
    5. Lena Kessel & Lorenz Graf-Vlachy, 2022. "Chief digital officers: the state of the art and the road ahead," Management Review Quarterly, Springer, vol. 72(4), pages 1249-1286, December.
    6. Daniel Qi Chen & Yanlin Zhang & Jinghua Xiao & Kang Xie, 2021. "Making Digital Innovation Happen: A Chief Information Officer Issue Selling Perspective," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 32(3), pages 987-1008, September.
    7. Maren Gierlich-Joas & Thomas Hess & Rahild Neuburger, 2020. "More self-organization, more control—or even both? Inverse transparency as a digital leadership concept," Business Research, Springer;German Academic Association for Business Research, vol. 13(3), pages 921-947, November.
    8. Subramaniam, Mohan & Iyer, Bala & Venkatraman, Venkat, 2019. "Competing in digital ecosystems," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 62(1), pages 83-94.
    9. André Hanelt & René Bohnsack & David Marz & Cláudia Antunes Marante, 2021. "A Systematic Review of the Literature on Digital Transformation: Insights and Implications for Strategy and Organizational Change," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 58(5), pages 1159-1197, July.
    10. Darshna V. Banker & Shamita Garg & Mohita Maggon, 2023. "Virtual Leadership: Bibliometrics, Framework-Based Systematic Review, and Future Agenda," South Asian Journal of Business and Management Cases, , vol. 12(3), pages 300-332, December.
    11. Oludapo, Samson & Carroll, Noel & Helfert, Markus, 2024. "Why do so many digital transformations fail? A bibliometric analysis and future research agenda," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 174(C).
    12. Sascha Kraus & Paul Jones & Norbert Kailer & Alexandra Weinmann & Nuria Chaparro-Banegas & Norat Roig-Tierno, 2021. "Digital Transformation: An Overview of the Current State of the Art of Research," SAGE Open, , vol. 11(3), pages 21582440211, September.
    13. Jure Erjavec & Mojca Indihar Štemberger & Jurij Jaklič, 2024. "How to Develop Organizational Forms for a Successful Digital Transformation? Findings from Two Case Studies," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 15(2), pages 9576-9596, June.

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