Strategic IT E-Book

Arthur M. Langer

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Fachliteratur
• Serie: Wiley CIO
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 376

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2013

Beschreibung

Solid guidance for CIOs on integration of technology intobusiness models Strategic IT Best Practices for IT Managers andExecutives is an exciting new book focused on the transitioncurrently taking place in the CIO role, which involves developing acapacity for thinking strategically and effectively engaging peersin the senior executive team. This involves changing both theirs,and often their colleagues', mindsets about technology and theirrole in the organization. Straightforward and clear, this book fills the need forunderstanding the learning processes that have shaped the strategicmindsets of technology executives who have successfully made thetransition from a technology-focused expert mindset to a strategicorientation that adds value to the business. * Defines strategy advocacy as a process through which technologyleaders in organizations build on their functional expertise * Focuses on the shift in mindset necessary for technologyexecutives to establish a seat at the table in the C suite as arespected strategic colleague * Includes stories of high performing CIOs and how they learnedsuccessful strategies for getting technology positioned as astrategic driver across the business Written by Art Langer and Lyle Yorks, recognized authorities inthe areas of technology management and leadership, Strategic ITBest Practices for IT Managers and Executives includesanecdotes from CIOs at companies including BP, Prudential, Covance,Guardian, Merck, and others.

Leseprobe

Table of Contents

Series page

Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

Foreword

Preface

How This Book Is Structured

Acknowledgments

Chapter 1: The CIO Dilemma

Business Integration

Security

Data Analytics

Legal Exposure

Cost Containment

Some History

The Challenge

The New Paradigm

Consumerization of Technology: The Next Paradigm Shift

The End of Planning

The CIO in the Organizational Context

IT: A View from the CEO

Notes

Chapter 2: IT Drivers and Supporters

Drivers and Supporters

Drivers: A Closer Look from the CIO

Supporters: Managing with Efficiency

IT: A Driver or a Supporter?

Technological Dynamism

Responsive Organizational Dynamism

IT Organization Communications with “Others”

Movement of Traditional IT Staff

Technology Business Cycle

Information Technology Roles and Responsibilities

Conclusion

Notes

Chapter 3: The Strategic Advocacy Mindset

What Is Strategic Advocacy?

A Political Economy Framework for Contextualizing Strategic Advocacy

Strategic Thinking: A Particular Kind of Mindset

Political Savvy as the Underpinning of Effective Strategic Advocacy

Conclusion

Notes

Chapter 4: Real-World Case Studies

BP: Dana Deasy, Global CIO

Merck & Co.: Chris Scalet, Senior Vice President and CIO

Covance: John Repko, CIO

Cushman & Wakefield: Craig Cuyar, CIO

Prudential: Barbara Koster, SVP and CIO

Procter & Gamble: Filippo Passerini, Group President and CIO

Cushman & Wakefield: A View from Another Perspective

Conclusion

Chapter 5: Patterns of a Strategically Effective CIO

Personal Attributes

Organization Philosophy

Conclusion

Notes

Chapter 6: Lessons Learned and Best Practices

Five Pillars to CIO Success—Lessons Learned

The CIO or Chief IT Executive

Chief Executive Officer

Middle Management

Conclusion

Notes

Chapter 7: Implications for Personal Development

Rationale for a Self-Directed Learning Process of Personal Development

Adopting a Developmental Action Inquiry Process for Both Strategic Insight and Mindset Awareness

Testing One's “Business” Acumen

Thinking Holistically in Terms of Situational Analysis and Synthesis of the Organization's Position

Developing Strategic Mindsets within the Technology Function

The Balanced Scorecard

Conclusion

Notes

Chapter 8: The Non-IT CIO of the Future

Driver-Side Responsibilities—New Automation

Conclusion

Notes

Chapter 9: Conclusion: New Directions for the CIO of the Future

Notes

Bibliography

About the Authors

Index

Founded in 1807, John Wiley & Sons is the oldest independent publishing company in the United States. With offices in North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia, Wiley is globally committed to developing and marketing print and electronic products and services for our customers' professional and personal knowledge and understanding.

The Wiley CIO series provides information, tools, and insights to IT executives and managers. The products in this series cover a wide range of topics that supply strategic and implementation guidance on the latest technology trends, leadership, and emerging best practices.

Titles in the Wiley CIO series include:

The Agile Architecture Revolution: How Cloud Computing, REST-Based SOA, and Mobile Computing Are Changing Enterprise IT by Jason Bloomberg

Big Data, Big Analytics: Emerging Business Intelligence and Analytic Trends for Today's Businesses by Michele Chambers, Ambiga Dhiraj, and Michael Minelli

The Chief Information Officer's Body of Knowledge: People, Process, and Technology by Dean Lanea

CIO Best Practices: Enabling Strategic Value with Information Technology by Joe Stenzel, Randy Betancourt, Gary Cokins, Alyssa Farrell, Bill Flemming, Michael H. Hugos, Jonathan Hujsak, and Karl D. Schubert

The CIO Playbook: Strategies and Best Practices for IT Leaders to Deliver Value by Nicholas R. Colisto

Enterprise IT Strategy, + Website: An Executive Guide for Generating Optimal ROI from Critical IT Investments by Gregory J. Fell

Enterprise Performance Management Done Right: An Operating System for Your Organization by Ron Dimon

Executive's Guide to Virtual Worlds: How Avatars Are Transforming Your Business and Your Brand by Lonnie Benson

Innovating for Growth and Value: How CIOs Lead Continuous Transformation in the Modern Enterprise by Hunter Muller

IT Leadership Manual: Roadmap to Becoming a Trusted Business Partner by Alan R. Guibord

Managing Electronic Records: Methods, Best Practices, and Technologies by Robert F. Smallwood

On Top of the Cloud: How CIOs Leverage New Technologies to Drive Change and Build Value Across the Enterprise by Hunter Muller

Straight to the Top: CIO Leadership in a Mobile, Social, and Cloud-based World (Second Edition) by Gregory S. Smith

Strategic IT: Best Practices for Managers and Executives by Arthur M. Langer

Strategic IT Management: Transforming Business in Turbulent Times by Robert J. Benson

Transforming IT Culture: How to Use Social Intelligence, Human Factors and Collaboration to Create an IT Department That Outperforms by Frank Wander

Unleashing the Power of IT: Bringing People, Business, and Technology Together by Dan Roberts

The U.S. Technology Skills Gap: What Every Technology Executive Must Know to Save America's Future by Gary Beach

Cover image: © merrymoonmary/iStockphoto

Cover design: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Copyright © 2013 by Arthur Langer and Lyle Yorks. All rights reserved.

Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey.

Published simultaneously in Canada.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:

Langer, Arthur M.

Strategic IT : best practices for managers and executives / Arthur M. Langer, Lyle Yorks.

pages cm. — (CIO series)

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-1-118-45687-3 (cloth) — ISBN 978-1-118-62848-5 (pdf) — ISBN 978-1-118-62858-4 (epub) — ISBN 978-1-118-63732-6 (mobipocket)

1. Information technology—Management. 2. Strategic planning. 3. Chief information officers. I. Yorks, Lyle. II. Title.

HD30.2.L365 2013

658.4′ 038—dc23

2013000735

I want to thank and acknowledge all of my students at Columbia University for their dedication and inspiration to continue to explore the complexities of the role of the CIO.

A very special thanks to Shane Anthony Caprio, my second grandchild and newest member of our expanding family.

—Arthur Langer

To my granddaughters, Maya, Zoe, and Maisy, and my grandson, Ian.

—Lyle Yorks

Foreword

After a 44-year career at IBM, I have experienced many changes in the information technology (IT) industry and how firms struggle to understand the value of IT in general. After all those years, many of the controversies are still discussed at board meetings today. What is most troubling is the ongoing debate over the role of the CIO: who should CIOs report to, their specific responsibilities, and whether they can contribute strategically to the business.

Drs. Langer and Yorks's book, Strategic IT: Best Practices for Managers and Executives, deals with the issues that all CIOs faces no matter where they work. Independent of geography, size, business, or purpose, the constant, critical question facing each and every CIO in the twenty-first century is this: Are you a cost or are you an investment? That is, are you part of the business tactics or part of its strategy? Langer and Yorks have written the complete CIO survival handbook for thriving in this fast-paced and rapidly changing world. Langer and Yorks remind us that change is the norm for CIOs and that time to change is not an ally; rather, speed and demand typically dictate the environment CIOs call home.

Drs. Langer and Yorks use the rich data made available to them from Columbia University where they hold CIO workshops and teach in the Executive Master of Science program in Technology Management, therefore, much of their experience with CIOs and students back up their theories and coursework. Their real-world examples bring life to the A–Z framework of success. Indeed, I have witnessed the excitement of participants at their lectures.

Based on my experience, Langer and Yorks touch on the critical issues facing CIOs today. While CIOs must be experts in technology, have organizational skills, contribute to the bottom line, and have executive presence, the more vital skill today is their need to be an enabler of innovation and a change agent in their firms. Whether we're talking about a large or small enterprise, a for-profit or not-for-profit organization, the CIO's success is all about understanding change. The only way to help transform organizations is by having a very agile and focused IT strategy. As a director on a number of boards, I understand the complexity of dealing with the multiple perspectives on how to use information technology. I hear all of the different opinions about the value of big data, mobile applications, mobile devices, cyber security, and cloud computing, just to name a few. What is most challenging is that all of these new technologies develop and change in the wink of an eye. Yet little, if any, of these new technologies were discussed, let alone needed, five years ago. And what will be needed five years from now is truly a mystery to most enterprise leaders today.

For all these reasons and many more, Langer and Yorks's definition of the successful CIO in Strategic IT is spot-on. So much of an organization's success depends on whether the CIO and the leadership team work closely together and have a shared vision of the business. Strategic IT will give CIOs more than a fighting chance to make a difference in their organizations—a difference that most of them want to accomplish but they need the tools to survive and thrive in today's fast-paced world.

—Nicholas Donofrio,IBM Fellow Emeritus & Executive Vice President,Innovation and Technology (Ret.),NMD Consulting, LLC

Preface

How This Book Is Structured

Four broad themes provide the structure for this book:

1. How is technology organizationally positioned as an effective strategic driver?

2. What challenges are posed by various ways of positioning technology, and what are the implications of how these challenges are resolved?

3. What strategies are used by effective chief information officers (CIOs) in addressing these challenges and strategically positioning technology?

4. How did these CIOs learn these strategies, and what are the implications for developing this capacity in high-potential technology managers?

This book grows out of the work we have done with the CIO Institute conducted at Columbia University and the Executive Master of Science in Technology Management program at Columbia University, along with several projects working with the technology management staff within corporations focusing on developing their staff to the strategic realities described earlier. Part of this work has experimented with educational and mentoring strategies with successful CIOs to foster strategic mindsets and the capability of meeting the challenges of navigating into senior executive roles.

Specifically, this book provides a comparative analysis of case studies of organizations with CIOs widely regarded as being at forefront of addressing the challenge of strategically positioning technology within the business models of their organizations. These CIOs are recognized as having successfully made the transition into the C-suite and having earned their “seat at the table” through integrating technology as a business driver.

Each case study involves interviews with the CIOs, their colleagues in the C-suite, and chief executive officer (CEO), along with archival documents to describe both the personal and organizational transitions that have occurred. The cases involve Procter & Gamble, Covance, Cushman & Wakefield, Merck, and Prudential, among others. Cross-case analysis reveals the essential and unique themes of strategically positioning technology in the organization along with developmental practices for high-potential technology managers.

The remaining chapters of this book develop the remedies as we see them based on best practices from our cases, the integration of theories in the areas of learning and development and how they relate to the successful growth of the CIO position. Here is a brief summary of each chapter.

Chapter 1: The CIO Dilemma

Chapter 1 addresses why CIOs need to make technology an important part of business strategy, and why few of them understand how to accomplish it. In general, we show that most CIOs have a lack of knowledge about how technology and business strategy can and should be linked to form common business objectives. The chapter provides the results of a research study of how chief executives link the role of technology with business strategy. The study captures information relating to how chief executives perceive the role of information technology (IT), how they manage it and use it strategically, and the way they measure IT performance and activities.

Chapter 2: IT Drivers and Supporters

This chapter defines how organizations need to respond to the challenges posed by technology. We present technology as a “dynamic variable” that is capable of affecting organizations in a unique way. We specifically emphasize technology's unpredictability and its capacity to accelerate change—ultimately concluding that technology, as an independent variable, has a dynamic effect on organizational development. This chapter also introduces the theory of driver and supporter and responsive organizational dynamism (ROD), defined as a disposition in organizational behavior that can respond to the demands of technology as a dynamic variable. We establish two core components of ROD: strategic integration and cultural assimilation. The chapter also provides a perspective of the technology life cycle so that readers can see how ROD is applied on an IT project basis, defining the driver and supporter functions of IT and how it contributes to managing technology life cycles.

Chapter 3: The Strategic Advocacy Mindset

Chapter 3 provides a framework for engaging in strategic advocacy, linking strategic learning practices such as analog reasoning, and scenario thinking with political savvy influencing practices in organizations. Distinctions between technological, adaptive, and generative challenges that confront the IT executive are presented along with the implications for effectively building productive relationships with senior executives. Specific practices are provided along with examples from both our research and working with a range of IT executives. How the IT executives' mindset impacts the effectiveness of how they utilize these practices is also developed.

Chapter 4: Real-World Case Studies

In Chapter 4, we provide five case studies of companies that as a result of the strategically focused business mindset of the CIO have made the journey transitioning from a service to driver positioning of technology. These cases, among other data sources, have provided the basis for the points made in previous chapters and the more detailed analysis that follows. Emphasis is placed on how the CIO has enabled or is enabling this ongoing transition. Drawn to provide variance in terms of industry and/or markets, the cases are BP, Covance, Cushman & Wakefield, Merck, Procter & Gamble, and Prudential, along with a summary framing the following chapter.

Chapter 5: Patterns of a Strategically Effective CIO

Chapter 5 provides evidence of why certain CIOs have attained success as a strategic driver of their businesses. This evidence is presented from the case studies and integrates our findings based on our theories of why certain CIOs are more successful than others. These theories have led us to understand the patterns that suggest why these CIOs have been successful in introducing an IT strategy and how they build credibility among C-level peers in their organizations.

Chapter 6: Lessons Learned and Best Practices

This chapter seeks to define best practices to implement and sustain strategic advocacy and success at the CIO level. The chapter sets forth a model that creates separate, yet linked best practices and maturity “arcs” that can be used to assess stages of the learning development of the chief IT executive, the CEO, and the middle management in an organization. We discuss the concept of “common threads,” where each best practice arc links through common objectives and outcomes that contribute to overall performance in the CIO suite.

Chapter 7: Implications for Personal Development

In Chapter 7, we provide a framework for the development of high-potential IT talent. The importance of both formal and informal experiential learning of working across a business is emphasized along with development of both strategic learning and influencing practices. Specific exercises are provided for fostering these practices. Effective mentoring practices are also presented, again based on experience.

Chapter 8: The Non-IT CIO of the Future

This chapter explores the future requirements for CIOs, particularly placing an importance on business knowledge and how technology provides competitive advantage and operational efficiencies. We see the role of the CIO becoming more of a chief of operations or chief being functionally responsible for contracts, equipment management, general automation, and outsourcing while having a central role in conversations strategically leveraging emerging new technologies.

Chapter 9: Conclusions

Chapter 9 summarizes the primary implications of the book for the IT field and the implications for other executives in terms of building strategically productive relationship with IT.

Acknowledgments

There are many colleagues and corporate executives who have provided significant support during the development of this book.

We owe much to our colleagues at Columbia University, Teachers College, namely Professor Victoria Marsick and Professor Lee Knefelkamp for their ongoing mentorship on adult learning and developmental theories. We appreciate the support of Aarti Subramanian, our graduate assistant, for her participation in the research process, including transcribing interviews, and to Jody Barto, another graduate assistant, who helped with finalizing some of the exhibits. A special thanks to Melissa Kavlakoglu for helping to format the sections and coordinating the completion of the book. Nicholas Donofrio, emeritus (retired) executive vice president of innovation and technology at IBM, also provided valuable direction on the complex issues surrounding the emerging role of CIOs, especially how they operate with boards of directors.

We appreciate the corporate CIOs who agreed to participate in the studies that allowed us to apply our theories to actual organizational practices (in alphabetical order): Dana Deasy from BP; Chris Scalet now retired from Merck; John Repko from Covance, now at Tyco International; Craig Cuyar from Cushman & Wakefield; Barbara Koster from Prudential Financial; and Filippo Passerini from Procter & Gamble. All of these executives contributed enormous information on how corporate CIOs can integrate technology into business strategy.

And, of course, we are indebted to our wonderful students at Columbia University. They continue to be at the core of our inspiration and love for writing, teaching, and scholarly research.

Chapter 1

The CIO Dilemma

The role of the chief information officer (CIO) continues to be a challenge in many organizations. Unlike the CIO's related “C-suite” colleagues, organizations struggle to understand the need for the role and more importantly how to measure success. We know that most CIOs have short lives, the vast number only last about three years. At CIO conferences, many CIOs have coined the CIO acronym as standing for “Career Is Over.” Nothing should be further from the truth. We know that technology continues to be the most important factor in strategic advantage among chief executive officers (CEOs). And we also know that there is a population of CIOs that have clearly demonstrated the success of the role by the sheer longevity that they have held their position. We will cover some cases of these individuals later in the book. This chapter focuses on the common dilemmas that face CIOs based on our research and practice.