The Changing Roles of IT Leaders

Abstract

Information technology (IT) leadership has undergone fundamental changes over the past decade. Despite increased interest in recent years, little empirical research on IS/IT leadership has been done. To better understand the changes, this study compares leadership roles, individual characteristics and position characteristics of newly appointed IS/IT executives (who have been in their position for two years or less) with established IS/IT executives based on a survey in Norway. Survey results indicate that new leaders spent more time in the informational role and in the change leader role than established leaders. New leaders had worked shorter in the organization and shorter in IS/IT than established leaders. New leaders had less responsibility for computer operations, communication networks and technical infrastructure than established leaders. New leaders had more responsibility for strategic alignment between IT and business.