Information Systems Leadership Research Articles

MaCuDE IS Task Force: Final Report and Recommendations

This Phase III report of the Management Curriculum for the Digital Era (MaCuDE) disciplinary task force on information systems (IS) synthesizes the main findings of the project’s two earlier phases. Based on the synthesis, this report formulates the task force’s recommendations (Phase III) for future IS curricula and graduate competencies associated with Big Data Analytics (BDA) and Artificial Intelligence (AI). During the MaCuDE project, the task force—collaborating with the Association for Information Systems leadership on education—first (Phase I) surveyed a sample of representative universities to examine the status of IS education in the digital era. During the next phase (Phase II), the task force interviewed industry leaders regarding their information systems education needs with a focus on emerging BDA and AI needs. This report builds on Phase I and Phase II results and associated feedback from project stakeholders and outlines an IS curriculum framework that identifies projected competency levels for key IS competency areas (both new and changing) within the main IS program types related to BDA and AI education (undergraduate and graduate programs; IS programs, other business programs, and non-business programs) in the coming decade. The report also highlights critical policy issues that need to be resolved to successfully implement the proposed IS curricula changes addressing BDA and AI needs.

Exploring the factors in aligning information systems and organizational strategies in tall organizational structures in an uncertain environment

AbstractFactors affecting the alignment of information systems (ISs) and organizational strategies (i.e., strategic alignment) vary depending on the organizational contexts, comprising both the structural and environmental contexts. Previous studies of strategic alignment were largely focused on organizations with flatter organizational structures and low environmental uncertainty. Therefore, findings from previous studies might not be applicable to organizations with tall organizational structures and in uncertain environments, like Iranian organizations. To this end, we aimed to discover less‐explored factors in achieving strategic alignment based on the contexts of Iranian organizations, using grounded theory. We conducted semi‐structured interviews with 29 experts in different organizations to illustrate and substantiate the development of an eightfold framework that specifies the factors for achieving strategic alignment. Specifically, the developed eightfold framework resulted in identification of 8 factors and 51 elements in achieving strategic alignment. Here, we identified five factors in achieving strategic alignment in addition to the factors reported by previous research (i.e., senior management, communication, and partnership), namely IS leadership, IS capabilities, organizational development, human resources, and IT infrastructure. The results indicate that these factors play a prominent role in determining the challenges and discerning the momentous requirements for achieving strategic alignment in organizations with tall structures in uncertain environments.

From Innovative I.S. Strategy to Customer Value

While information systems (IS) have traditionally been used primarily for firm-wide operational efficiency, emerging theoretical perspectives have shifted scholarly focus to IS as a force that can drive value through business innovation. This study examines how IS strategy creates customer value through an innovative business orientation and how IS leadership and the organizational context can influence the relationship between innovative IS and business strategies. Integrating several research streams under the umbrella of the IS strategic management literature, we develop and empirically validate a research model based on confirmatory analysis and structural equation modeling applied to survey data collected from senior IS executives in 165 organizations based in the United States and India. Our results suggest that organizations that have an innovative IS strategy are well positioned to engage in business innovation, which in turn yields greater customer value. Furthermore, we find that strong IS leadership and a creative organizational climate enhance the relationship between an innovative IS strategy and innovative business orientation.

The Fit between IS Leadership Style and Business Strategy to Achieve Business-IS Strategic Alignment

Alignment between business and Information Systems (IS) strategies has been identified as one of the most critical factors driving business success. As the top IS leader, the Chief Information Officer (CIO) plays a significant role in facilitating this alignment. Leadership literature suggests that leaders have different styles and thus different effects in different organizational contexts. However, it is not clear how the interplay between the leadership style of the CIO and the business strategy of a firm will affect its IS-business strategic alignment. Drawing on the leadership theory, strategic management and alignment literature, we propose a research framework and argue that CIOs with transformational leadership style fit best with firms adopting the prospector strategy, CIOs with transactional leadership style fit best with firms adopting the defender strategy, while firms adopting the analyzer strategy will need CIOs who are capable of exhibiting different leadership styles at different times. A method was then proposed to compute the alignment between CIO leadership style and business strategy. Theoretical and practical implications of the framework are discussed finally.

The Impact of Situational Factors On Information System (Is) Managerial Leader Behaviors: What Information Systems Employees Want

Information systems leadership has evolved dramatically over the past 40 years. Early in the era of computing most attention was focused on the technical skills of IS managers. As IS has become ubiquitous in our organizations and increasingly embedded in our everyday lives, the need for a broader approach to IS management has emerged with an increasing emphasis on non-technical skills in business practices and an appreciation of the impact of organizational culture. Further, information systems managers increasingly find themselves in crisis situations that may require different leadership skills to successfully navigate. These crises may be caused by the physical destruction of computer hardware, the loss of critically sensitive data, sophisticated hacking of company computers, or a coding error in a mission critical software program. The research on managerial leadership in crisis situations is relatively sparse; however, the research on managerial leadership behaviors for the information systems sector is essentially nonexistent. This research study attempts to fill that gap, finding that there are a few desired managerial leadership behaviors in common between the information systems group and other studied groups, as well as differences and desired shifts in priorities.

The Significance of Management Information Systems for Enhancing Strategic and Tactical Planning

Management Information Systems (MIS) is the key factor to facilitate and attain efficient decision making in an organization. This research explores the extent to which management information systems implemented to make successful decisions at two selected financial organizations. The research examined whether the selected financial institutions of Bahrain vary as to the use of Management Information Systems leadership of decision making for strategic and tactical planning purposes. The research adapted the quantitative research design to examine two research hypotheses. A total of 190 forms were equally distributed to those who are working at different management levels at the selected organizations. The results of the research showed that MIS was primarily used to enhance strategic planning in both financial institutions. The regression analysis revealed that Tactical planning is found to have no effect on Decision Making, while Strategic planning has a clear effect on the Decision Making Effectiveness in both organizations.

A qualitative analysis of an electronic health record (EHR) implementation in an academic ambulatory setting

To determine pre-implementation perspectives of institutional, practice and vendor leadership regarding best practice for implementation of two ambulatory electronic health records (EHRs) at an academic institution. Semi-structured interviews with ambulatory care network and information systems leadership, medical directors, practice managers and vendors before EHR implementation. Results were analysed using grounded theory with ATLAS.ti version 5.0. Qualitative data on perceived benefits of EHRs as well as facilitators and barriers to successful implementation. Interviewees perceived data accessibility, quality and safety measurement, improvement and reporting as benefits of EHR use. Six themes emerged for EHR implementation best practice: effective communication; successful system migration; sufficient hardware, technical equipment, support and training; safeguards for patient privacy; improved efficiency; and a sustainable business plan. Achieving the benefits of EHRs identified by our interviewees depends on successful implementation and use. Further identification of best implementation practices for EHRs is required, given the financial and clinical consequences of poor implementation.

Information systems leadership

Information system (IS) leadership is a critical area for many organizations because of their increasing dependence on ISs both for operational stability and for enablement of process innovation and business strategy. IS Leadership is distinctive from leadership in general because the Chief Information Officer (CIO) is expected to combine IS technical skills with an in-depth understanding of the organization across all functions from operational to strategic. Thus, unique leadership challenges arise due to the technology/business interface. The breadth of the IS Leadership role implies that IS Leadership research needs to cover a wide range of topics concerning the role and characteristics of the CIO, the CIO's interface with the top management team, and the CIO's organizational impact. This essay discusses the distinctive aspects of IS Leadership, identifies the dominant themes in prior IS Leadership research,and introduces five papers on IS Leadership in this issue.

Special issue on information systems leadership

Special issue on information systems leadership

Special issue on information systems leadership

Special issue on information systems leadership

Special Issue of IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management on Information Systems Leadership

Special Issue of IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management on Information Systems Leadership

Information Systems Leadership Roles

Information systems (IS) leadership roles have undergone fundamental changes over the past decade. Despite increased interest in recent years, little empirical research on IS managers has been done. This article presents results from a survey in Norway. The survey collected data on general leadership roles such as informational role, decisional role and interpersonal role, as well as on specific IS leadership roles such as chief architect, change leader, product developer, technology provocateur, coach and chief operating strategist. The empirical analysis indicates that strategic responsibility as well as network stage of growth influence the extent of informational role, while the extent to which the chief executive uses IT influences the extent of decisional role, and the extent to which subordinates use IT influence the extent of interpersonal role. IS managers with greater operating responsibility will be chief architects. The role of a change leader is positively influenced by the number of years in IT, the extent of IT use, the extent of strategic responsibility and the organisation’s revenue, while it is negatively influenced by the number of years in the current position. Product developer can be predicted by strategic responsibility and chief executive’s IT use, while technology provocateur can be predicted by the extent of IT use. Coach can be predicted by the extent of subordinates’ IT use, and chief operating strategist can be predicted by the extent of strategic responsibility. Although several significant predictors of IS leadership roles were identified in this research, the search for more significant explanations should continue in future research.