CIOs and IT professionals as change agents, risk and stakeholder managers: a field study

This paper summarizes findings on project and organizational roles and responsibilities of eight CIOs, eleven VPs, and seventy-five IT staff members in seven Fortune 500 companies from the manufacturing, defense, financial services, biotechnology and utilities industries. Results confirm studies that show CIOs and IT leaders are increasingly assuming change management, information, and strategic roles in organizations. Our findings also indicate that IT leaders are required to manage and share business risks while orchestrating cultural and political interests of multiple stakeholders to effectively accomplish project and organizational work. Other observed roles and skills of IT professionals are also presented. We conclude by identifying implications from research and our findings for effective IT project leadership.