Abstract
Building relationships and having influence are key mechanisms in getting things done as a CIO. This chapter presents a framework that provides guidance for the CIO in building peer relationships and exerting influence. From our data, we identified different categories of CxOs that CIOs are likely to encounter in their work. Understanding these and how to engage and interact with each type is important in successfully taking charge. In this chapter, we also introduce the concept of social capital, suggesting that this is really what the CIO is building in the early weeks and months of their tenure. It provides them with the resource to get things done.
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Notes
- 1.
See D. Preston and E. Karahanna, ‘Antecedents of IS strategic alignment: A nomological network’, Information Systems Research, Vol. 20, 2009, pp. 159–179; D. Smaltz, V. Sambamurthy and R. Agarwal, ‘The antecedents of CIO role effectiveness in organizations: An empirical study in the healthcare sector’, IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management, Vol. 53, 2006, pp. 207–222 and S. Wei and T.S. Cho, ‘Exploring involuntary executive turnover through a managerial discretion framework’, Academy of Management Review, Vol. 30, 2005, pp. 843–854.
- 2.
Some examples of these pre-existing perceptions are discussed by M. Kaarst-Brown, ‘Understanding an organization’s view of the CIO: The role of assumptions about IT’, MIS Quarterly Executive, Vol. 4, 2005, pp. 287–301 and P.A. Gonzalez, L. Ashworth and J. McKeen, ‘The CIO stereotype: Content, bias, and impact’, The Journal of Strategic Information Systems, Vol. 28, No. 1, 2019, pp. 83–99.
- 3.
B. Reich and I. Benbasat, ‘Factors that influence the social dimension of alignment between business and information technology objectives’, MIS Quarterly, Vol. 24, 2000, pp. 81–113.
- 4.
B. Reich and I. Benbasat, ‘Factors that influence the social dimension of alignment between business and information technology objectives’, MIS Quarterly, Vol. 24, 2000, pp. 81–113.
- 5.
S. Wei and T.S. Cho, ‘Exploring involuntary executive turnover through a managerial discretion framework’, Academy of Management Review, Vol. 30, 2005, pp. 843–854. See also M. Wiersema and A. Bird, ‘Organizational demography in Japanese firms: Group heterogeneity, individual dissimilarity, and top management team turnover’, The Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 36, 1993, pp. 996–1025.
- 6.
D.S. Preston and E. Karahanna, ‘Antecedents of IS strategic alignment: A nomological network’, Information Systems Research, Vol. 20, 2009, pp. 159–179.
- 7.
B. Reich and I. Benbasat, ‘Factors that influence the social dimension of alignment between business and information technology objectives’, MIS Quarterly, Vol. 24, 2000, pp. 81–113.
- 8.
W. Boeker, ‘Executive migration and strategic change: The effect of top manager movement on product-market entry’, Administrative Science Quarterly, Vol. 42, 1997, pp. 213–236; D. Hambrick and P. Mason, ‘Upper echelons: The organization as a reflection of its top managers’, Academy of Management Review, Vol. 9, 1984, pp. 193–206; W. Shen and A.A. Cannella Jr., ‘Power dynamics within top management and their impacts on CEO dismissal followed by inside succession’, Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 45, 2002, pp. 1195–1206 and M. Wiersema and A. Bird, ‘Organizational demography in Japanese firms: Group heterogeneity, individual dissimilarity, and top management team turnover’, Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 36, 1993, pp. 996–1025.
- 9.
J.F. Manzoni and J.L. Barsoux, ‘The interpersonal side of taking charge’, Organizational Dynamics, Vol. 38, No. 2, 2009, pp. 106–116; J. Gabarro, The Dynamics of Taking Charge, Harvard Business School Press, Boston, 1987 and S. Davis, ‘Should a 60 percent success rate be acceptable?’ Industrial and Commercial Training, Vol. 37, No. 7, 2005, pp. 331–335.
- 10.
There is a deep research pool of how a CIO’s relationships with the rest of the executive leadership team impacts their effectiveness. A small sample of these studies are D.F. Feeny, B.R. Edwards and K.M. Simpson, ‘Understanding the CEO/CIO relationship’, MIS Quarterly, Vol. 16, No. 4, 1992, pp. 435–448; M. Kaarst-Brown, ‘Understanding an organization’s view of the CIO: The role of assumptions about IT’, MIS Quarterly Executive, Vol. 4, 2005, pp. 287–301; D. Preston, D. Leidner, and D. Chen, ‘CIO leadership profiles: Implications of matching CIO authority and leadership capability on it impact’, MIS Quarterly Executive, Vol. 7, 2008, pp. 57–69; J. Peppard, ‘Unlocking the performance of the chief information officer (CIO)’, California Management Review, Vol. 52, 2010, pp. 73–99 and J. Gerow, V. Grover and J. Thatcher, ‘Power and politics: Do CIOs have what it takes to influence the executive team’s commitment to IT initiatives?’ AMCIS 2012 Proceedings, Paper 1.
- 11.
See J.A. Conger, ‘The necessary art of persuasion’, Harvard Business Review, May–June, 1998, pp. 84–97.
- 12.
See D. Kipnis, S.M. Schmidt, and I. Wilkinson, ‘Intraorganizational influence tactics: Explorations in getting one’s way’, Journal of Applied Psychology, Vol. 65, No. 4, 1980, pp. 440–452; G. Yukl, Leadership in Organizations (5th ed.), Prentice-Hall, 2002. The following studies focused solely on CIOs: H. Enns, S. Huff, and C. Higgins, ‘CIO lateral influence behaviors: Gaining peers’ commitment to strategic information systems’, MIS Quarterly, Vol. 27, No. 1, 2003, pp. 155–176 and H. Enns and S. Huff, ‘How CIOs can effectively use influence behaviors’, MIS Quarterly Executive, Vol. 6, No. 1, 2007, pp. 29–38.
- 13.
See J. Hall, V. Bachor and S. Matos, ‘Developing and diffusing new technologies: Strategies for legitimization’, California Management Review, Vol. 56, No. 3, 2014, pp. 98–117; B.E. Ashforth and B.W. Gibbs, ‘The double-edge of organizational legitimation’, Organization Science, Vol. 1, No. 2, 1990, pp. 177–194; R. Suddaby and R. Greenwood, ‘Rhetorical strategies of legitimacy’, Administrative Science Quarterly, Vol. 50, No. 1, 2005, pp. 35–67 and M.C. Suchman, ‘Managing legitimacy: Strategic and institutional approaches’, Academy of Management Review, Vol. 20, No. 3, 1995, pp. 571–610.
- 14.
For a sociological study of the influence of Gartner’s ‘Magic Quadrant’, see N. Pollock and R. Williams, ‘The sociology of a market analysis tool: How industry analysts sort vendors and organize markets’, Information and Organization, Vol. 19, 2009, pp. 129–151.
- 15.
For a study of building legitimacy for IT innovations, see E. Kaganer, S. Pawlowski and S. Wiley-Patton, ‘Building legitimacy for IT innovations: The case of computerized physician order entry systems’, Journal of the Association for Information Systems, Vol. 11, No. 1, 2010, pp. 1–33.
- 16.
For more on how leaders create networks, see H. Ibarra and M. Hunter, ‘How leaders create and use networks’, Harvard Business Review, January, 2007, pp. 40–47.
- 17.
W. Tsai and S. Ghoshal, ‘Social capital and value creation: The role of intra-firm networks’, Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 41, No. 4, 1998, pp. 464–476; P.S. Adler and S.-W. Kwon, ‘Social capital: Prospects for a new concept’, Academy of Management Review, Vol. 27, No. 1, 2002, pp. 17–40; J. Nahapiet and S. Ghoshal, ‘Social capital, intellectual capital, and the organizational advantage’, Academy of Management Review, Vol. 23, 1998, pp. 242–266 and D. Krackhardt and J. R. Hanson, ‘Informal networks: The company behind the chart’, Harvard Business Review, July–August 1993, pp. 104–111.
- 18.
For a study that has looked at the relationship between social capital and CIO-CxO relationships, see E. Karahanna and D. Preston, ‘The effect of social capital on the relationship between the CIO and top management team on firm performance’, Journal of Management Information Systems, Vol. 30, No. 1, 2013, pp. 15–55.
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Gerth, T., Peppard, J. (2020). Peers, Relationships and Influence. In: Taking the Reins as CIO. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-31953-3_8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-31953-3_8
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