Strategic management of IS/IT functions: the role of the CIO

Chief information officers (CIOs) have the difficult job of running a function that rues a lot of resources but offers little measurable evidence of its value. Line managers are increasingly assuming responsibility for planning, building, and running information systems that affect their operations. To respond to business and technological changes, CIOs now must build relationships with line managers and assume new and more strategic roles. The strategic role of the CIO is becoming ever more complex, requiring an expansion of the organizational and structural possibilities for filling that role. This paper presents an extensive literature review on the role of the CIO. The research examines CIO role in Norwegian organizations. In this paper, results from a survey of Norwegian CIOs are presented. Norwegian CIOs have on average worked in the current organization for eight years, have worked in information technology (IT) for twelve years, report mostly to the CEO or CFO, and have eleven people reporting to them. A large percentage have a masters degree. Also, formal IS planning tended to be adopted by organizations with higher annual revenue, larger number of total employees, and broader span of control (i.e., the number of people reporting to the CIO). Higher CIO reporting level was also associated with greater extent of information systems plan implementation.