The Chief Information Officer

Abstract

The chief information officer (CIO) can be defined as the highest ranking IT execu-tive who typically exhibits managerial roles requiring effective communication with top management, a broad corporate perspective in managing information resources, influence on organizational strategy, and responsibility for the planning of IT. This definition is in line with research which applied the following criteria when select-ing CIOs for empirical observation: (1) highest ranking information technology executive; (2) reports no more than two levels from the CEO (i.e., either reports to the CEO or reports to one of the CEOs direct reports); (3) areas of responsibility include information systems, computer operations, telecommunications and net-works, office automation, end-user computing, help desks, computer software and applications; and (4) responsibility for strategic IS/IT planning.