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What Makes Fractional CIO Engagements in SMEs Successful? – A Research Framework
Abstract
As information technology (IT) becomes more important for organizations, the necessity for strategic IT management and alignment grows. However, most small- to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) do not have the resources or appeal to employ a full-time Chief Information Officer (CIO). Refraining from assigning such responsibilities can have severe consequences on an organization’s performance. To address this gap, several individuals already follow the role of holding CIO positions at multiple SMEs, each with a fraction of their time. While the so-called “Fractional CIO” role is already creating value in practice, there is no research on Fractional CIO engagements. This paper develops a research framework for Fractional CIO engagement success based on interviews with 40 Fractional CIOs from 10 countries and existing literature. The components influencing success are the Fractional CIO, the client, their relationship, and the engagement setup. The paper contains implications for theory and practice and outlines detailed next steps.
... Therefore, we launched a major research project in November 2020 with the participation of Fractional CIOs from 10 different countries to investigate the role of the Fractional CIO. We derived a definition of the role and different types of engagements [16], identified and evaluated factors for the success of Fractional CIO engagements [17,18], and analyzed the Fractional CIO's role in mainland Europe, namely the German market [17]. Partially similar to an article we published recently in German [19], this article summarizes the findings of the research project with the intention of making them accessible to a wider audience of academics and practitioners. ...
... Therefore, we launched a major research project in November 2020 with the participation of Fractional CIOs from 10 different countries to investigate the role of the Fractional CIO. We derived a definition of the role and different types of engagements [16], identified and evaluated factors for the success of Fractional CIO engagements [17,18], and analyzed the Fractional CIO's role in mainland Europe, namely the German market [17]. Partially similar to an article we published recently in German [19], this article summarizes the findings of the research project with the intention of making them accessible to a wider audience of academics and practitioners. ...
... The second study on the Fractional CIO was conducted in two phases. First, between May and September 2021, we developed a framework of success factors for Fractional CIO engagements [17]. We used the analyzed interview data from the first Fractional CIO study [16] to quantitatively and qualitatively assess specific topics of interest. ...
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) increasingly need to manage information technology (IT) effectively in order to remain competitive. However, compared to larger organizations, SMEs often face challenges in terms of resources and employer attractiveness, and regularly do not have the need to employ a Chief Information Officer (CIO) on a full-time basis. To address this issue, a growing number of global experts have begun to provide CIO services on a part-time basis for multiple clients simultaneously. This approach allows SMEs to tap into the expertise of experienced IT leaders at a fraction of the cost and without committing to long-term arrangements. While these professionals, known as “Fractional CIOs”, have proven their value in the field, there has been a lack of academic research on this emerging trend. Therefore, we carried out a comprehensive research project between 2020 and 2023, involving 62 Fractional CIOs from 10 countries. The research produced a definition, different types of engagements, and success factors for Fractional CIOs and their engagements. This paper summarizes these findings for a wider audience of academics and practitioners.
... Hence, Fractional CIOs and the organizations that hire them do not have any guidance on what to pay attention to ensure a successful engagement. To get a first indication of what factors influence an engagement's success, we developed a theory-based framework for Fractional CIO engagement success in an earlier research project and empirically grounded it by interviewing 40 Fractional CIOs from all over the world [2]. This framework considers aspects pertinent to the Fractional CIO, his/her client, their relationship, and the overarching engagement setup (cf. ...
... Building on our previous work regarding the role of Fractional CIOs [2,3], in this section, we first provide theory-based background information on the role of strategic IT and fractional management in SMEs in general. Second, we introduce our previous conceptualization of the Fractional CIO role. ...
... To understand what makes Fractional CIO engagements successful, we aim to infer initial propositions from related fields and relevant theories [2]. The Fractional CIO acts as a CIO that is part of an organization's TMT. ...
... Entsprechend werden in diesem Kapitel die angrenzenden Forschungsgebiete, Interim-und Virtual-Management, Effektivität von CIOs und Führungskräften sowie Consulting beleuchtet. Dieses Kapitel ist angelehnt an Kratzer (2022). ...
... "Concourse" extrahiert werden. Ein Concourse ist eine Sammlung aller möglichen Aussagen zu einem bestimmten Thema (Stephenson 1986 (Kratzer 2022) McLachlin 1999), empirischen Daten aus den Interviews von Kratzer et al. (2022b) und Experteninterviews wurde aus dem Concourse eine repräsentative Q-Probe mit 25 Aussagen extrahiert. ...
Zusammenfassung
Auch kleine und mittlere Unternehmen (KMUs) benötigen zunehmend ein effektives Informationstechnologie- (IT)-Management, um wettbewerbsfähig zu bleiben. Im Vergleich zu großen Unternehmen verfügen KMUs jedoch oft nicht über die Ressourcen, die Arbeitgeberattraktivität oder den Bedarf, um einen Chief Information Officer (CIO) in Vollzeit zu beschäftigen. Um diese Lücke zu schließen, hat eine wachsende Zahl von Expertinnen und Experten weltweit damit begonnen, CIO-Dienste in Teilzeit anzubieten. Auf diese Weise erhalten KMUs Zugang zu erfahrenen und kompetenten IT-Führungskräften zu einem Bruchteil der Kosten und ohne langfristige Verpflichtungen. Während diese so genannten „Fractional CIOs“ in der Praxis bereits einen Mehrwert schaffen, gibt es noch kaum wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zu diesem neuen Phänomen. In einem größeren Forschungsprojekt mit insgesamt 62 Fractional CIOs aus 10 Ländern wurden daher eine Definition, Typen verschiedenartiger Engagements und Erfolgsfaktoren abgeleitet. Die vorliegende Studie fasst die Ergebnisse zusammen und setzt sie in Bezug zum deutschen Markt, indem sie drei Fractional CIOs/CTOs aus Deutschland befragt. Es zeigt sich, dass die folgenden vier Engagement-Typen von Fractional CIOs für KMUs in verschiedenen Situationen von Nutzen sind: Strategisches IT-Management, Restrukturierung, Skalierung und Hands-on Support. Darüber hinaus zeigt die Studie, dass Vertrauen, die Unterstützung durch das Top-Management-Team und die Integrität des Fractional CIOs Schlüsselfaktoren für den Erfolg von Fractional CIO-Engagements sind. Für den deutschen Markt werden die Ergebnisse durch drei befragte Fractional CIOs/CTOs weitgehend bestätigt. Die Fractional CIOs/CTOs können zwar keine genauen Gründe für die geringe Akzeptanz der Rolle nennen, betonen aber ihr Wertpotenzial für den deutschen Markt.
... Da die Herausforderungen des IT-Managements in KMUs einzigartig sind (Premkumar 2003), ist eine Weiterentwicklung der CIO-Rolle im Kontext von KMUs erforderlich. Ein erster Ansatzpunkt für die Lösung des IT-Führungsproblems in KMUs zeichnet sich durch das Konzept sogenannter "Fractional CIOs" ab, die jeweils mehrere KMUs zeitgleich als CIO betreuen, dabei aber wie ein klassischer CIO in die jeweiligen Organisationen integriert sind und sich damit deutlich von einem IT-Strategieberater oder einem Interimsmanager unterscheiden (Kratzer 2022). ...
Zusammenfassung
Trotz der Relevanz und des Reifegrads des Forschungsbereichs Chief Information Officer (CIO) gibt es nur wenige Studien, die den aktuellen Wissensstand objektiv und umfänglich zusammenfassen. Die vorliegende Arbeit schließt diese Forschungslücke und präsentiert eine umfassende Literaturübersicht über das CIO-Forschungsfeld unter Verwendung der Hauptpfadanalyse. Anhand einer quantitativen und qualitativen Analyse von 438 Forschungsbeiträgen werden die zentralen Arbeiten in der CIO-Forschung und verschiedene Forschungsrichtungen identifiziert. Es zeigt sich, dass sowohl etablierte Forschungsrichtungen, wie z. B. ‚Entwicklung der CIO-Rolle‘ und ‚Hierarchische Position und Beziehungen des CIOs‘, als auch neu entstehende Forschungsrichtungen, wie z. B. ‚CIO als Business Enabler‘, wachsende Aufmerksamkeit auf sich ziehen. Auf der Grundlage der Ergebnisse werden vielversprechende weitere Wege auf dem Gebiet der CIO-Forschung aufgezeigt, z. B. solche, die den Einfluss neuerer Technologien untersuchen.
After more than 35 years, Hambrick and Mason’s upper echelons theory (UET) stands as one of the most influential perspectives in management research. However, as the literature and its attendant reviews have become more numerous and specialized, discussion of the fundamental conceptual and methodological critiques leveled against research utilizing the UET perspective has grown fragmented. As such, the first aim of the present review is to identify and synthesize a set of common critiques levied against UET research. In doing so, we unpack important nuance within each critique while establishing a common vocabulary to facilitate greater consistency in how these critiques are discussed by scholars, editors, and reviewers. Next, we analyze the past decade of UET research (i.e., empirical and conceptual articles) to provide a progress report on the state of the literature as it pertains to each critique. Based on this analysis, we issue a “verdict,” providing clear guidance on what issues still need to be resolved and offering clear recommendations for UET scholars moving forward. Finally, we close by taking stock of how our recommendations position UET scholars to embrace the task of providing impactful insights on emerging challenges facing top executives.
Although there has been a growing understanding of theory in the information systems field in recent years, the process of theorizing is rarely addressed with contributions originating from other disciplines and little effort to coherently synthesize them. Moreover, the field’s view of theorizing has traditionally focused on the context of justification with an emphasis on collection and analysis of data in response to a research question with theory often added as an afterthought. To fill this void, we foreground the context of discovery that emphasizes the creative and often serendipitous articulation of theory by emphasizing this important stage of theorizing as a reflective and highly iterative practice. Specifically, we suggest that information systems researchers engage in foundational theorizing practices to form the discourse, problematize the phenomenon of interest and leverage paradigms and deploy generative theorizing practices through analogies, metaphors, myths and models to develop the information systems discourse. To illustrate the detailed workings of these discursive practices, we draw on key examples from information systems theorizing.
Top management teams’ (TMTs’) behavioral integration has received extensive attention from strategic management scholars in recent years. To learn more about the consequences of this phenomenon at the team level, we explore the relationship between TMTs’ behavioral integration with their innovativeness and sustainability orientation. To accomplish this, we surveyed 40 TMTs in Iranian small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) at two points in time. We ran a hierarchical multiple regression in order to test the hypotheses of the study. Building a theoretical model based on the Upper-Echelons framework, we found that the extent to which a TMT is behaviorally integrated is positively and significantly related to TMT innovativeness. Furthermore, our result reveals that a highly behaviorally integrated TMT is more likely to engage in sustainability-oriented actions. Hence, behaviorally integrated TMTs offer its team members an increased chance of being innovative and generating new ideas as compared to less behaviorally integrated TMTs. Finally, our results indicate that the generation of novel ideas is higher in teams with younger members, and that highly educated TMTs generate more innovative ideas in the workplace.
The objective of this paper is to highlight similarities and differences across various case study designs and to analyze their respective contributions to theory. Although different designs reveal some common underlying characteristics, a comparison of such case study research designs demonstrates that case study research incorporates different scientific goals and collection and analysis of data. This paper relates this comparison to a more general debate of how different research designs contribute to a theory continuum. The fine-grained analysis demonstrates that case study designs fit differently to the pathway of the theory continuum. The resulting contribution is a portfolio of case study research designs. This portfolio demonstrates the heterogeneous contributions of case study designs. Based on this portfolio, theoretical contributions of case study designs can be better evaluated in terms of understanding, theory-building, theory development, and theory testing.
Information technology (IT) is regarded as a facilitator for both small and large firms to speed up transactions between firms and their suppliers and customers, achieve real-time communication, lower transaction costs, and enhance speed and flexibility. However, understanding whether and how IT helps small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs) to create business value still remains unclear. Drawing upon resource-based view theory, source-positional advantage-performance framework, we develop and test a theoretical model to explore the interrelationships between IT resources (IT expertise, IT infrastructure), IT capability (IT integration), IT-enabled inter-firm partnership processes (activity integration, coordination, partnership enhancement), and organizational performance in the fast growth SME context. We propose that IT business value depends on how firms employ IT resources to develop IT capability which facilitates inter-firm partnership processes along value chains. Structural equation modeling is employed to test our theoretical conceptualization of 310 Australian fast-growth SMEs across different industrial sectors. Results show that IT contributes to fast growth SME performance through the development of IT capability and enhancement of inter-firm partnership activities. This research highlights the role of IT in business value creation and the ways in which IT is used by fast growth SMEs to foster core business competencies.
The call for more extensive research regarding the role of processes within top management teams (TMTs) in organizational functioning is addressed in this study. The focus is on the service sector, which according to recent estimations accounts for more than 60% of the total economic activity in most Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development countries and examines the relationship between TMT behavioral integration and multiple performance measures of service organizations. Results from survey data of TMTs from 96 organizations show that TMT behavioral integration is positively associated with both human resource performance and economic performance. The relationship between TMT behavioral integration and service quality and development was only marginally significant.
Developing information technology (IT) strategy that supports and is supported by business strategy is critical for generating business value in today's organizations. In the face of rapidly changing business conditions and continuously evolving IT, however, organizations have yet to learn how to develop an effective IT strategy. To explore and understand the issue, we conducted a research using focus group methodology. The results from our research suggest that there are five critical success factors that organizations must consider. The research also identifies five practices and the challenges faced while developing an effective IT strategy.
While a firm’s ability to jointly pursue both an exploitative and exploratory orientation has been posited as having positive performance effects, little is currently known about the antecedents and consequences of such ambidexterity in small-to medium-sized firms (SMEs). To that end, this study focuses on the pivotal role of top management team (TMT) behavioral integration in facilitating the processing of disparate demands essential to attaining ambidexterity in SMEs. Then, to address the bottom-line importance of an ambidextrous orientation, the study hypothesizes its association with relative firm performance. Multisource survey data, including CEOs and TMT members from 139 SMEs, provide support for both hypotheses.
Q-sort offers a powerful, theoretically grounded, and quantitative tool for examining opinions and attitudes. This article provides clear guidelines in an effort to facilitate successful understanding and application of Q-sort. Following a description of the steps of Q-sorting, an example Q-sort of MIS professors on the topic of PhD preparation is presented. The example includes details of Web-based data collection and data analysis using freeware tools. The use of Q-sorting in MIS research and issues surrounding the use of Q-sort are discussed.
Today's firms are faced with new competitive and technological challenges. As a consequence, many senior executives are looking for information technology (IT) leaders who not only can understand technology but also can comprehend technology's potential to affect business strategy. For the IT leaders, rising to such numerous, and often conflicting, challenges is not easy. Indeed, there is a higher than average corporate dismissal rate and shorter tenure for IT leaders compared with other top executives. Based on the responses from 213 IT leaders in the financial services industry, this study found that the rank and role of a firm's IT leader must be aligned with the firm's competitive strategy. The implications of the findings for the firms' executives, as well as researchers, are discussed in detail.
The objectives of the research were to identify factors enabling or inhibiting the adoption and use of information systems and technology (IS/IT) in Portuguese manufacturing small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and understand how these factors interrelate in determining relative success in the adoption and use of IS/IT. This research elicited factors from previous quantitative and qualitative research, which had been shown to influence IS/IT adoption in SMEs in other contexts. A strategic change framework was used to structure the factors and ensure that comprehensive evidence about their nature and effects could be obtained in the empirical research. Further factors were identified by initial fieldwork, before carrying out 12 in-depth case studies, across a range of situations – different industries, different levels of adoption and a range of degrees of success in IS/IT use. The pattern that emerged from the analysis of the data shows that certain factor combinations and relationships appear to determine the relative degrees of IS/IT success across the firms. This pattern can also be explained by interpreting the roles and relationships of the key actors involved in the process of IS/IT adoption and use. Top management perspectives and attitudes towards IS/IT adoption and use play an important role in the development of internal IS/IT competencies and provide an important contribution to the development of a context that enables IS/IT success.
Almost 30 years after the introduction of the CIO position, the ideal CIO reporting structure (whether the CIO should report to the CEO or the CFO) is yet to be identified. There is an intuitive assumption among some proponents of IT that the CIO should always report to the CEO to promote the importance of IT and the CIO's clout in the firm, while some adversaries of IT call for a CIO-CFO reporting structure to keep a tab on IT spending. However, we challenge these two ad hoc prescriptions by arguing that neither CIO reporting structure is necessarily optimal, and that the CIO reporting structure should not be used to gauge the strategic role of IT in the firm. First, extending the strategy-structure paradigm, we propose that a firm's strategic positioning (differentiation or cost leadership) should be a primary determinant of its CIO reporting structure. We hypothesize that differentiators are more likely to have their CIO report to the CEO in order to pursue IT initiatives that help the firm's differentiation strategy. We also hypothesize that cost leaders are more likely to have their CIO report to the CFO to lead IT initiatives to facilitate the firm's cost leadership strategy. Second, extending the alignment if it view, we propose that firms that align their CIO reporting structure with their strategic positioning (specifically, differentiation with a CIO-CEO reporting structure and cost leadership with a CIO-CFO reporting structure) will have superior future performance. Longitudinal data from two periods (1990-1993 and 2006) support the proposed hypotheses, validating the relationship between a firm's strategic positioning and its CIO reporting structure, and also the positive impact of their alignment on firm performance. These results challenge the ad hoc prescriptions about the CIO reporting structure, demonstrating that a CIO-CEO reporting structure is only superior for differentiators and a CIO-CFO reporting structure is superior only for cost leaders. The CIO reporting structure must, therefore, be designed to align with the firm's strategic positioning, independent of whether IT plays a key strategic role in the firm.
Senior managers often feel frustration--even exasperation--toward information technology and their IT departments. The managers complain that they don't see much business value from the high-priced systems they install, but they don't understand the technology well enough to manage it in detail. So they often leave IT people to make, by default, choices that affect the company's business strategy. The frequent result? Too many projects, a demoralized IT unit, and disappointing returns on IT investments. What distinguishes companies that generate substantial value from their IT investments from those that don't? The leadership of senior managers in making six key IT decisions. The first three relate to strategy: How much should we spend on IT? Which business processes should receive our IT dollars? Which IT capabilities need to be companywide? The second three relate to execution: How good do our IT services really need to be? Which security and privacy risks will we accept? Whom do we blame if an IT initiative fails? When senior managers aren't involved in these decisions, the results can be profound. For example, if they don't take the lead in deciding which IT initiatives to fund, they end up overloading the IT department with projects that may not further the company's strategy. And if they aren't assessing security and privacy risks, they are ignoring crucial business trade-offs. Smart companies are establishing IT governance structures that identify who should be responsible for critical IT decisions and ensure that such decisions further IT's strategic role in the organization.
Despite the relevance and maturity of the Chief Information Officer (CIO) research field, no studies exist that exhaustively summarize the current body of knowledge, focusing on the development of the field over its entire timespan. The paper at hand addresses this research gap and presents an exhaustive literature review on the CIO research field using main path analysis. We identify the central papers in CIO research and eight main research streams by quantitatively and qualitatively analyzing 466 papers. We find that established research streams, e.g., 'Evolving role of the CIO' and 'CIO hierarchical position and relationships' as well as recently emerging research streams, e.g., 'CIO as business enabler' and 'CIOs and IT security,' draw growing attention. Based on our findings, we develop promising further avenues for research in the CIO field.
Purpose
Academic research on management consulting or having management consultancy as the main research field is huge as the sector is a strategic one for management innovation, but a systematic and updated literature review is missing. This paper aims to fill this gap by providing a comprehensive systematic review of scholarly peer reviewed journals looking at the ambivalent roles of consultants in driving management innovation as well as management fashions.
Design/methodology/approach
A systematic literature review has been performed.
Findings
This paper provides a systematization of existing literature, where the state of the art is assessed and future research paths are highlighted.
Originality/value
The proposed research fills the gap concerning a review of literature on this topic and provides an analysis of 50 years of scholarly research, highlighting both the bright and dark sides of management consulting.
Grounded theory methodology (GTM), with its espoused goal of theory development of novel phenomena, has
found broad application in Information Systems (IS) research. To investigate how GTM is applied in IS
research and how the research contributions are contingent on those applications, we review 43 GTM-based
articles in major IS and related journals. Ten of the articles develop theory. The other 33 articles use GTM
to develop models and rich descriptions of new phenomena as their theoretical contribution. We show that
each of the three forms is valuable to the IS community. For example, studies that develop theories and models
are highly cited in the IS literature. We identify nine GTM procedures that are applied in various combinations
to develop the three forms of research contribution. Treating GTM as a portfolio of the nine procedures, we
examine the implications for the research contribution of adopting the core GTM procedures compared with
a partial portfolio of those procedures.
The effectiveness of the chief information officer (CIO) in organizations is an important topic in the information systems literature because it affects IT success. Recent research is in agreement that an accurate understanding of CIO effectiveness is not possible without considering the organizational roles in which the CIO can operate. Despite the emerging research efforts in this field of study, an integrative perspective on CIO role effectiveness does not exist. To close this research gap, we review the literature in order to develop a set of organizational roles in which the contemporary CIO can act. These CIO roles are termed technology provider, strategic supporter, business thinker, innovation driver, integration advisor, and relationship manager. In consideration of these six CIO roles, we develop a model that comprises four antecedents of role effectiveness, which emerged from analysis of literature on CIO role effectiveness, namely (1) CIO personal competence, (2) CIO hierarchical position, (3) the management environment, and (4) the IT infrastructure of the organization in which the CIO operates. Altogether, our literature review synthesizes the results of highly fragmented work related to CIO role effectiveness reported in 98 studies published during the past three decades. Thereby, we contribute to the information systems literature. First, we integrate what is known about the scope and responsibilities of CIO organizational roles in the present management context. Second, based on our model, we guide research and practice by revealing how and why CIOs can achieve effectiveness in the six roles. Finally, we discuss limitations and potential avenues for future research.
- This paper describes the process of inducting theory using case studies from specifying the research questions to reaching closure. Some features of the process, such as problem definition and construct validation, are similar to hypothesis-testing research. Others, such as within-case analysis and replication logic, are unique to the inductive, case-oriented process. Overall, the process described here is highly iterative and tightly linked to data. This research approach is especially appropriate in new topic areas. The resultant theory is often novel, testable, and empirically valid. Finally, framebreaking insights, the tests of good theory (e.g., parsimony, logical coherence), and convincing grounding in the evidence are the key criteria for evaluating this type of research.
There are various views about the nature of service quality in a consulting engagement. This paper utilises literature from a number of disciplines, along with exploratory interviews with seven consultants and one client, to address one question, namely, “What is engagement success in consulting, from both the client and the consultant points of view?” In addressing this question, the paper considers distinctions between types of consulting, client expectations and needs, and short- and long-term revenue streams. It concludes by suggesting that a consulting engagement is successful if the consultant has met client expectations (by improving one or more of client performance, client capabilities, or organisational culture, without making any category worse) – whether or not a core need has been addressed – and the consultant has enhanced his or her reputation, with expectations of future revenue streams – whether or not any immediate income has been received.
First and foremost, decision support systems must be accepted by their users if the systems are to be used. Recently, user satisfaction with DSS has been studied in several different ways. This paper explores the relationship between organizational subcultures and users of DSS, in order to discover how subcultures can be useful in explaining user satisfaction with decision support systems. Active DSS users from three functional areas of a large midwestern financial institution participated in the study. The existence of organizational subcultures was determined through multiple methods and questionnaires were used to determine user satisfaction for the same population of DSS users. The three subcultures were more successful than demographic variables in explaining variation. Implications of this study include utilizing information about subcultures to design decision support systems acceptable to the various subcultures.
Purpose
This paper aims to conceptualize perceived management consulting success, derive relevant success factors based on principal-agent theory and the resource-based view as well as investigate the particular factors’ influence. Management consulting has become important for improving the competitiveness of a variety of firms. Surprisingly, there is little empirical evidence clarifying what constitutes a successful management consulting project.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors conduct a survey to empirically investigate the hypotheses. They develop the survey instrument through a literature review, expert interviews, a pre-test and an item-sorting test. To analyze the data from 348 management consultants, the authors apply structural equation modeling. Additionally, they choose a triangulation approach by asking secondary informants about the originally surveyed consultants’ responses.
Findings
Initially, the authors develop the second-order construct perceived management consulting success, consisting of the factors compliance with budget and schedule, degree of target achievement, profitability as well as expansion and extension. Additionally, they develop an understanding of management consulting’s success factors. In this regard, five of six factors show a significant impact on perceived management consulting success.
Originality/value
According to the results, the factor intensity of collaboration is of highest importance for perceived management consulting success. Further, the factors common vision, consultant expertise and top management support show comparably strong significant influences. Yet, the authors have to reject the hypothesis about trust. This result conveys the complicacy of the consultant–client relationship and shows that building a trustful relationship between both parties is hard to accomplish.
This analysis considers the impact of the top managers in an organization on the organization's outcomes, specifically strategic choices and performance levels. The focus is not on the chief executive alone, but rather on the entire top management team. Using a macro view, these organizational outcomes are perceived to be related to the values and cognitive bases of those high-power individuals in the organization. In developing the model, emphasis is on the background characteristics of the top managers as opposed to the psychological dimensions. A series of propositions that should be tested to support the upper echelons theory are presented. The topics of these propositions include age, functional track, other career experiences, education, socioeconomic roots, financial position, and group characteristics. The creation of this model is just the beginning of the work that is necessary to evaluate and understand the upper echelons theory. Further input is needed from areas such as the executive recruiting industry. Additionally, clinical and statistical studies are both necessary to fully develop this theory. (SRD)
This paper investigates the determinants of success of the client-consultant relationship from the consultant's point of view. Ten consultants from various fields (e.g. change management, information technology, etc.) based in the province of Quebec in Canada were interviewed. They were asked to comment on issues relating to their roles in the consultancy project, expectations, and the determinants of success of the client-consultant relationship. Interview data were analysed using an interpretive frame. The research findings reveal that consultants perceive their contribution and role positively and perceive themselves as change agents and knowledge transmitters. Trust, active communication, and shared feedback were identified as the major determinants of success of the client-consultant relationship. The results support and help advance earlier research findings in the management consulting field. Consultants are conscious that a long-term relationship built on trust, active communication, and shared feedback, identified as major determinants of success in the client-consultant relationship, is essential. The qualitative findings of the study add to, and help support, earlier research findings on consultants' perception of their roles and contributions within client organisations.
The central premise of upper echelons theory is that executives' experiences, values, and personalities greatly influence their interpretations of the situations they face and, in turn, affect their choices. At the invitation of the editor, I recap the AMR article in which the theory was originally presented (Hambrick & Mason, 1984), discuss subsequent refinements of the theory, and lay out several promising avenues for future upper echelons research.
Extending Hambrick's (1994) concept of behavioral integration, a meta-construct of top management team process, we theorized on the extent to which CEO-, team-, and firm-level determinants shape behavioral integration. Using survey data from 402 firms, we developed a reliable measure of the construct and found strong support for our structural model. Although determinants at each level explained some variance in behavioral integration, considering all three levels in concert explained the most variance.
This study examined how top management team diversity variables and debate interacted to influence two measures of company financial performance. Further, it assessed the degree to which decision comprehensiveness mediated those interaction effects. Multi-informant data from the top management teams of 57 manufacturing companies revealed that more job-related types of diversity interacted with debate to influence financial performance, but a less job-related type (age diversity) did not. Decision comprehensiveness partially mediated those effects.
Prior research evidence shows that within-team interdependence moderates the process-performance relationship in small groups. Data collected from 94 top management teams (TMTs) replicated and extended the small groups finding. Specifically, TMTs with high interdependence (i.e., real teams) had higher team and subsequent firm performance when the team was more cohesive and had more communication. However, teams with low interdependence (i.e., working groups) had higher performance when communication and cohesion were lower. This constructive replication provides the first examination of the moderating effect for team interdependence within TMTs on both team and firm performance.
This study examined three factors that influence information technology (IT) success in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs): internal IT support, external IT support, and IT management. Using survey data gathered from 289 small and medium-sized Chartered Accounting firms in New Zealand, the results suggest that IT management in SMEs is best understood as a multidimensional concept consisting of practices related to: IT planning, IT organizing, IT controlling, and IT leading. This view clarifies and improves our understanding of the nature and character of IT management in SMEs. The results show that some SMEs are significantly more sophisticated than others in terms of their IT management practices. Both IT planning and IT leading were found to influence IT success.
Although Indian small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are competent enough to produce and supply internationally acceptable quality goods and services, they are yet to get sufficient economic returns. According to the survey results presented in this study, one of the reasons for this is the absence of proper information systems (IS) architectures that can provide the required information at the right time to help them become more competitive in today's era of globalisation. In the absence of a proper IS, Indian SMEs are unable to reap the benefits for which they are the deserving candidates. This issue has been addressed in this paper by investigating the SMEs' IS-related practices by conducting a survey of 210 select SMEs of the western part of India. The survey results observed an increasing trend in using information technology (IT) in the SME sector, but SMEs lack the capabilities to exploit it optimally for their development in the present competitive market. Further, this research effort contributes an IS architecture for a cluster of SMEs, which includes information modules to support the business operations of SMEs from strategic to operation level. The proposed IS architecture can help SMEs not only operate internally but also provide information externally, to compete in the global market.
This paper investigates which drivers affect information technology (IT) adoption and which factors relate to a successful IT implementation in small businesses, where the adoption rate is traditionally low and the failure rate is high. The findings from this study suggest that customers are the main driving force of IT adoption. When it comes to IT implementation, our results suggest that managers/owner–managers must engage with five factors: organization, internal IT resources, external IT consultants, supplier relations, and customer relations. These findings give further insight into IT adoption in small businesses and highlight the importance of customer relations in the adoption process.
Based on multiple-case research, this paper develops a model of strategic information systems (IS) investment in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). IS investment is modelled as a function of an SME's strategic context as defined by its strategic focus, i.e. cost reduction versus value added and its market positioning, i.e. few versus many customers. The paper first investigates the ways in which IS may add value to organizations. It then outlines the use of IS in SMEs. This is followed by an analysis of competitiveness in small businesses. The paper develops an analytical model, which is termed the focus-dominance model, analyses case studies of 27 firms and reports that IS investment is strongly influenced by an SME's strategic context. Four cases are presented in order to illustrate the four different IS profiles identified. Finally, the implications for theory and practice are discussed.Journal of Information Technology 2001 16, 133–144. doi:10.1080/02683960110063672
As organizations restructure to increase flexibility, interim management by contractors is increasing as an alternative to employment of `permanent' managers. Interim managers begin their new role on the basis of transactional psychological contracts with their employer Their careers are based on a logic of accumulation of learning across organizations. However, there are also forces that may over time cause the redefinition of the psychological contract, employment relationship and career orientation. Based on an interview survey of 50 interim managers, various metaphors are proposed to assist understanding. Interim managers may be considered, for example, as displaced persons, customers at a dating agency, or hired guns. A number of metaphors are employed to extend understanding of their developing employment relationships and careers. The implications of the findings are examined in relation to predictions concerning 21st-century forms of employment, organization and career.
In this paper, we study the relationship between factors influencing the strategic use of IT and business performance by conducting a survey of small and medium-size enterprises (SMEs). From the results of our survey we came to several conclusions which are presented here. First, IT investment has a significant impact on the strategic use of IT, and the strategic use of IT has a significant impact on business performance. Second, SME investment in IT and strategic use of IT are influenced by both the intensity of competition in the market environment and partnership with other organizations. Third, the support from the management group in SMEs is a core factor for IT investment and strategic use of IT. Finally, for SNIEs to use IT strategically and successfully, it is necessary to combine members' participation with a flexible organizational structure and culture.
This study reviews recent research building on Hambrick and Mason’s [Hambrick, D. C., & Mason, P. A. (1984). Upper echelons: The organization as a reflection of its top managers. Academy of Management Review, 9: 193–206] upper echelons (UE) perspective with the aim of identifying challenges and opportunities for future UE-based organizations research. Our review highlights a number of central facets of the UE perspective: It is at once a theoretical framework predicting that organizations will be a reflection of their top management teams and a methodology that relies on executive demography as a measurement proxy for underlying individual and group cognitions and behaviors. In proposing new research directions, we challenge organizations researchers to (1) reconsider the universality of the top management team (TMT) construct, (2) carefully explore the practical and theoretical meaning of TMT demographic characteristics vis-à-vis the deeper constructs they are presumed to proxy, (3) integrate other determinants of managerial cognition and behavior into UE theorizing, and (4) revisit the roles of causality and intertemporal dynamics among the antecedents, consequences, and composition of top management teams.
Clients engage consultants for many reasons, not always successfully. Based on a literature review and client and consultant interviews, this paper suggests six universal factors -- stated as testable propositions -- to help explain consulting engagement success. The factors are consultant integrity -- in particular in putting the client’s interests first, client involvement and readiness to change, a clear agreement concerning requirements and expectations, client control of the engagement -- partly via clear and limited assignments, consultant competence, and a good fit along a number of dimensions -- including models of consultancy, client expectations, consultant capabilities, and consultant type. The paper also addresses the distinction between organisation development consultation and other types of management consulting and concludes that the distinction need not be so sharp.
Part I describes Q-technique, a methodology for dealing with intra-individual data. Its relations to other methods of multivariate data analysis are described and, in particular, the implications of factor analysis for it as compared with other types of analyses are discussed. Illustrations close Part I. Part II discusses practical applications to different fields, e.g. type psychology, social psychology, projective tests, etc. Considerable further elaboration of the method is demonstrated in these latter chapters. 210-item bibliography. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
The chief information officer (CIO) is crucial to integrating information technology into firm strategy. While there is evidence that capital markets react favorably to CIO appointments in the days surrounding the appointment announcement, this is the first study to examine the change in firm accounting performance in the years following the appointment of a new CIO. To control for exogenous factors unrelated to CIO effectiveness, the performance of appointing firms is measured relative to industry-wide average performance for firms that did not create a new or fill an existing CIO position. Using multiple accounting return measures that are responsive to changes in efficiency and effectiveness, we find an improvement in performance that is limited largely to firms appointing to newly created positions. As expected, there are significant performance increases for “first movers” who create new CIO positions early relative to their competitors; however, firms late to appoint their first CIO also obtain similar advantages. We also find that the effect on firm performance is contingent on the economic environment of the firm and that performance improvement is most pronounced for CIO appointments occurring later in calendar time, for firms operating in industries with low sales growth, and for firms in industries with highly dynamic economic environments.
Identifying which factors affect firms' performance is a critical issue in strategic management research. This paper addresses the influence of managerial team over the behaviour and performance of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). By treating top management team (TMT) characteristics as predictors of a firm's strategic orientation, we seek to provide a more complete understanding of how the characteristics of managerial teams shape decision-making processes and SMEs' behaviours in order to successfully compete in low munificent environments. Based on primary data regarding managerial characteristics and firms' behaviours of a sample of 295 SMEs, our results confirm that a firm's strategic orientation plays a mediating role in explaining how TMT characteristics determine SMEs' performance.
The extent to which CEOs influence firm performance is fundamental to scholarly understanding of how organizations work; yet, this linkage is poorly understood. Previous empirical efforts to examine the link between CEOs and firm performance using variance decomposition, while provocative, nevertheless suffer from methodological problems that systematically understate the relative impact of CEOs on firm performance compared to industry and firm effects. This study addresses these methodological problems and reexamines the percentage of the variance in firm performance explained by heterogeneity in CEOs. The results of this study suggest that in certain settings the ‘CEO effect’ on corporate-parent performance is substantially more important than that of industry and firm effects, but only moderately more important than industry and firm effects on business-segment performance. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Too often the relationship between clients and external consultants is perceived as one of protagonist versus antagonist. Stories on dramatic, failed consultancies abound, as do related anecdotal quips. A contributing factor to many "apparently" failed consultancies is a poor appreciation by both the client and consultant of the client's true goals for the project and how to assess progress toward these goals. This paper presents and analyses a measurement model for assessing client success when engaging an external consultant. Three main areas of assessment are identified: (1) the consultant's recommendations, (2) client learning, and (3) consultant performance. Engagement success is empirically measured along these dimensions through a series of case studies and a subsequent survey of clients and consultants involved in 85 computer-based information system selection projects. Validation of the model constructs suggests the existence of six distinct and individually important dimensions of engagement success. Both clients and consultants are encouraged to attend to these dimensions in pre-engagement proposal and selection processes, and post-engagement evaluation of outcomes.
Mutual understanding between the CEO and CIO is thought to facilitate the alignment of an organization's IS with its business strategy, and thereby enhance the contribution of the IS to business performance. A survey of 202 pairs of CEOs and CIOs was taken to investigate the relationships between them. Mutual understanding was measured as the role of IS in the organization, using the perspectives of both executives. Strategic alignment was measured as the fit between the CEO's assessment of eight STROBE dimensions and the CIO's assessment of the analogous STROEPIS dimensions; both the CEO and CIO evaluated IS contribution. Mutual understanding of the role of IT led to seven alignment dimensions whereas six alignment dimensions led to IS contributions. Our study extended the theory of IT strategic alignment and provided direction for CEOs and CIOs interested in improving the IS contribution of their organization.
Many factors may affect the success of management consulting projects. These factors are composed of three major sets of variables: characteristics of the client organisation such as top management support for consulting, the commitment of client team members, and the presence of a client/sponsor; the competence of a consultant; and the consultation mode such as clearly defined goals, methodological compatibility, standardisation of procedures, and clients' participation. Although this study is on the success of management consulting projects, the discussions seem relevant and generalizable to other consulting sectors: construction, engineering, and etc.
This study was motivated by the existence of two opposing schools of thought on managing information technology (IT) in a global context. One study proposes that managing IT in a global context is largely the same as managing IT in a domestic context. The other proposes that there is a difference. The results from interviews with 65 project managers, of whom 27 had international management experience, reflect a reality that lies somewhere between the two extremes. Using Q-methodology techniques, the project managers rated the relative importance of 33 items for decisions about the distribution of IT applications' hardware, software, and data. Although the most important factors influencing an application's IT distribution decision appear to hold across both domestic and global contexts, the global context contributes variability, unfamiliarity, and complexity that cannot be Ignored. Compared with their domestic counterparts, project managers with global experience tended to be more cosmopolitan in their viewpoints, emphasized more local units' responsiveness, were more sensitive to power issues at headquarters as well as in local units, stressed the need for continuous, uninterrupted 24-hour services, and took into greater account the legal issues related to governmental regulations.
It assimilation is regarded as an important outcome in the efforts of firms to leverage the potential of information technologies in their business activities and strategies. Despite significant investments in information technology, considerable diversity exists in how well firms have been able to assimilate IT and leverage the business value of IT. This research draws upon the emerging knowledge-based and resource-based views of the firm to examine the influence of three factors on IT assimilation: (i) quality of senior leadership, (ii) sophistication of IT infrastructures, and (iii) organizational size. Drawing upon a large-scale sample survey where responses were obtained from CIOs and senior business executives who were members of the firms' top management teams, the study examines a variety of mostly normative prescriptions. The findings provide robust evidence about the impacts of CIOs' business and IT knowledge on IT assimilation. Further, we find that CIOs' membership in top management teams and their informal interactions with TMT members enhance their knowledge, particularly their business knowledge. We find that the intensity of the relationship between CIO's interactions with the top management team and their level of IT and business knowledge is much stronger in firms that articulate a transformational IT vision. The sophistication of IT infrastructures was also found to significantly impact IT assimilation. Surprisingly, the IT knowledge of senior business executives was not found to be a significant influence on IT assimilation. The implications of these findings for evolving a deeper understanding of the dynamics underlying IT assimilation are presented.
How should the effectiveness of Chief Information Officers (CIOs) in organizations be assessed? What are the primary antecedents of their role effectiveness, particularly as assessed by their top management teams (TMTs)? Despite a wealth of normative and prescriptive writings about what roles CIOs should play in contemporary firms, there has been limited empirical research on the above two questions. This study addresses the above questions, particularly with respect to the effectiveness of the CIOs in the healthcare sector. Based on survey data from CIOs and members of the TMTs, we find that there are six salient CIO roles: business strategist, integrator, relationship architect, utility provider, information steward, and educator. Further, CIO capabilities, in the form of business and strategic information technology knowledge, political savvy, and interpersonal communication makes CIOs effective, particularly in the roles of business strategist, integrator, and relationship architect. High levels of engagements between the CIOs and TMTs do not directly impact CIO's role effectiveness, but are mediated by the effects of CIO capabilities. These findings have significant implications for researchers and senior information systems (IS) executives.
The Importance of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs): An Integration of the Extant Literature on ICT Adoption in Small and Medium Enterprises
- P Taylor
Taylor, P., "The Importance of Information and
Communication Technologies (ICTs): An Integration of
the Extant Literature on ICT Adoption in Small and
Medium Enterprises", International Journal of
Economics, Commerce and Management, 3(5), 2015,
pp. 274-295.
Using ICT to Improve SMEs Performance: Does the CIO Matter?
- F Pigni
- A Ravarini
- M Tagliavini
- J Moro
Pigni, F., A. Ravarini, M. Tagliavini, and J. Moro, "Using
ICT to Improve SMEs Performance: Does the CIO
Matter?", in Proceedings of the 6th World
Multiconference on Systematics, Cybernetics and
Informatics, SCI, Orlando, Florida, USA, 14-18 July.
2002.