The role, skills and responsibilities of CIOs in

Multinational Corporations

The Role of ICT in Globalization and Development of Network Society

Network Society Research Center

Seminar - 2005/06/07

Bertrand Leneveu

Contents

I. Introduction

II. The roles and the responsibilities of a CIO

III. The type of person and the skills required for a CIOa. Technical skills

b. Planning, managing skills and leader ship

c. Business leaership

IV. Criteria for a successful CIO

V. Recommandations in managing IT in MNCSA study case: Cisco Systems

a. Background

b. Cisco Systems’ strategy

c. Cisco Systems’ CIO’s roles and attributes

d. Conclusion

Introduction

• CIO: Chief Information Officer

• A rather new kind of job with an increasing demand

• Concerns big enterprises as well as medium-sized companies

• A complex role which has to be explained and clarified

I. IntroductionII. The roles and the

responsibilities of a CIOIII. The type of person and the

skills required for a CIOa. Technical skillsb. Planning, managing

skills and leader shipc. Business leadership

IV. Criteria for a successful CIO

V. Recommandations in managing IT in MNCSA study case: Cisco Systems

a. Backgroundb. Cisco Systems’ strategyc. Cisco Systems’ CIO’s

roles and attributesd. Conclusion

The roles and responsibilities of a CIO

• In the past years the roles and responsibilities of the CIOs have been ambiguous

• The role of the CIO is changing in profound ways as IT and the business become impossible to separate

• Now, CIOs must take the lead in interpreting the emerging digital economy

Leaders with good communication skills

I. IntroductionII. The roles and the

responsibilities of a CIOIII. The type of person and the

skills required for a CIOa. Technical skillsb. Planning, managing

skills and leader shipc. Business leadership

IV. Criteria for a successful CIO

V. Recommandations in managing IT in MNCSA study case: Cisco Systems

a. Backgroundb. Cisco Systems’ strategyc. Cisco Systems’ CIO’s

roles and attributesd. Conclusion

http://www.cio.com/archive/100104/hs_verdict.html

The roles and responsibilities of a CIO

A CIO should be ...

• A leader : - good information sharing - resource management - vendor management - contract negotiation

• An information resource : - collecting and distributing information - looking for new developments - watching what competitors are doing - value information for business strategy, developing plans, and business process

Business strategies

I. IntroductionII. The roles and the

responsibilities of a CIOIII. The type of person and the

skills required for a CIOa. Technical skillsb. Planning, managing

skills and leader shipc. Business leadership

IV. Criteria for a successful CIO

V. Recommandations in managing IT in MNCSA study case: Cisco Systems

a. Backgroundb. Cisco Systems’ strategyc. Cisco Systems’ CIO’s

roles and attributesd. Conclusion

The roles and responsibilities of a CIO

• An IT marketplace interpreter : - Helps senior executives understand the potential impacts of market events on the company • A business strategist : - develop a long-range of actions to align with the organization vision - identify and exploits opportunity for new products, services, and markets - change challenge May bring change or even revolution for the whole organization

I. IntroductionII. The roles and the

responsibilities of a CIOIII. The type of person and the

skills required for a CIOa. Technical skillsb. Planning, managing

skills and leader shipc. Business leadership

IV. Criteria for a successful CIO

V. Recommandations in managing IT in MNCSA study case: Cisco Systems

a. Backgroundb. Cisco Systems’ strategyc. Cisco Systems’ CIO’s

roles and attributesd. Conclusion

The roles and responsibilities of a CIO

• A technologist : - make decisions about what IT capabilities the

organisation needs - architect capabilities - find out the relationship between new

technique and the business goals

• Tomorrow’s CIO may be more involved in decision making

I. IntroductionII. The roles and the

responsibilities of a CIOIII. The type of person and the

skills required for a CIOa. Technical skillsb. Planning, managing

skills and leader shipc. Business leadership

IV. Criteria for a successful CIO

V. Recommandations in managing IT in MNCSA study case: Cisco Systems

a. Backgroundb. Cisco Systems’ strategyc. Cisco Systems’ CIO’s

roles and attributesd. Conclusion

http://www.01net.com/article/218483.html

The type of person and the skills required for a CIO

Technical skills

• Strong technical background

• Predominant skill during the 90’s

• As important as others skills now

• Be aware of last researches

• IT changes a lot

• Proactive skills to foresee the future in IT

I. IntroductionII. The roles and the

responsibilities of a CIOIII. The type of person and

the skills required for a CIO

a. Technical skillsb. Planning, managing

skills and leader shipc. Business leadership

IV. Criteria for a successful CIO

V. Recommandations in managing IT in MNCSA study case: Cisco Systems

a. Backgroundb. Cisco Systems’ strategyc. Cisco Systems’ CIO’s

roles and attributesd. Conclusion

http://www.optimizemag.com/article/showArticle.jhtml?articleId=53701400&pgno=1

The type of person and the skills required for a CIO

Planning, managing skills and leadership

• Plan projects– Respect the delay– Do not exceed the budget

• Teamwork

• Negotiation skills– Example 1 : argument between 2 employees– Example 2 : convince the business unit

• Team leader– The whole team must be satisfied– Manage the department

I. IntroductionII. The roles and the

responsibilities of a CIOIII. The type of person and

the skills required for a CIO

a. Technical skillsb. Planning, managing

skills and leader shipc. Business leadership

IV. Criteria for a successful CIO

V. Recommandations in managing IT in MNCSA study case: Cisco Systems

a. Backgroundb. Cisco Systems’ strategyc. Cisco Systems’ CIO’s

roles and attributesd. Conclusion

The type of person and the skills required for a CIO

Business leadership

• CIOs interfere with other departments

• Know the firm very well

• Negotiate IT projects with counterparts

• Weigh the pros and cons for each solution

• Example: information security

CIOs need to understand the business level

Must develop a business leadership

I. IntroductionII. The roles and the

responsibilities of a CIOIII. The type of person and

the skills required for a CIO

a. Technical skillsb. Planning, managing

skills and leader shipc. Business leadership

IV. Criteria for a successful CIO

V. Recommandations in managing IT in MNCSA study case: Cisco Systems

a. Backgroundb. Cisco Systems’ strategyc. Cisco Systems’ CIO’s

roles and attributesd. Conclusion

Criteria for a successful CIO

• No miraculous recipe

• Nevertheless, the successful CIO:

– Has a strong knowledge in IT

– Takes care of the environment (financial, human…)

– Is charismatic and pragmatic, being strict but using compromise

– Takes the initiative and risks

– Has a strong sense of organization

– Has a multicultural background

– Has the full support of his hierarchy

I. IntroductionII. The roles and the

responsibilities of a CIOIII. The type of person and the

skills required for a CIOa. Technical skillsb. Planning, managing

skills and leader shipc. Business leadership

IV. Criteria for a successful CIO

V. Recommandations in managing IT in MNCSA study case: Cisco Systems

a. Backgroundb. Cisco Systems’ strategyc. Cisco Systems’ CIO’s

roles and attributesd. Conclusion

A Study Case: Cisco Systems

Background

• American based company

• Hardware embedded software• Internal networks

• Leader in manufacturing equipment for all kinds of communications– Voice– Data– Video

• ‘One stop shop’ for an organization’s entire network infrastructure.

• Sells to over 100 countries

I. IntroductionII. The roles and the

responsibilities of a CIOIII. The type of person and the

skills required for a CIOa. Technical skillsb. Planning, managing

skills and leader shipc. Business leadership

IV. Criteria for a successful CIO

V. Recommandations in managing IT in MNCSA study case: Cisco Systems

a. Backgroundb. Cisco Systems’ strategyc. Cisco Systems’ CIO’s

roles and attributesd. Conclusion

A Study Case: Cisco Systems

IT Strategy

• Goal: make it easy to do business with the company.

• 3 strategic decisions:– Focus IT on customers:

• IT moves from CFO to Customer Advocacy (takes care of all customer touching services & products).

• Projects which don’t raise customer satisfaction aren’t funded.

– Managers of business units (BU’s) decide WHICH applications to build -> IT decides HOW.

– Creation of an enterprise-wide network & standards. BUs do not have to justify infrastructure investments.

I. IntroductionII. The roles and the

responsibilities of a CIOIII. The type of person and the

skills required for a CIOa. Technical skillsb. Planning, managing

skills and leader shipc. Business leadership

IV. Criteria for a successful CIO

V. Recommandations in managing IT in MNCSA study case: Cisco Systems

a. Backgroundb. Cisco Systems’ strategyc. Cisco Systems’ CIO’s

roles and attributesd. Conclusion

A Study Case: Cisco Systems

CIO’s roles and attributes

I. IntroductionII. The roles and the

responsibilities of a CIOIII. The type of person and the

skills required for a CIOa. Technical skillsb. Planning, managing

skills and leader shipc. Business leadership

IV. Criteria for a successful CIO

V. Recommandations in managing IT in MNCSA study case: Cisco Systems

a. Backgroundb. Cisco Systems’ strategyc. Cisco Systems’ CIO’s

roles and attributesd. Conclusion

A Study Case: Cisco Systems

CIO’s roles and attributes

I. IntroductionII. The roles and the

responsibilities of a CIOIII. The type of person and the

skills required for a CIOa. Technical skillsb. Planning, managing

skills and leader shipc. Business leadership

IV. Criteria for a successful CIO

V. Recommandations in managing IT in MNCSA study case: Cisco Systems

a. Backgroundb. Cisco Systems’ strategyc. Cisco Systems’ CIO’s

roles and attributesd. Conclusion

• Peter Solvik, CIO, has to coordinate efforts in BUs to achieve a company wide information system.

• Advantages:– Centrally managed infrastructure investment– Extensive functional management team

involvement in IT.– CIO measures only if the infrastructure costs

will add more value to the product/service sold/provided.

A Study Case: Cisco Systems

CIO’s roles and attributes

I. IntroductionII. The roles and the

responsibilities of a CIOIII. The type of person and the

skills required for a CIOa. Technical skillsb. Planning, managing

skills and leader shipc. Business leadership

IV. Criteria for a successful CIO

V. Recommandations in managing IT in MNCSA study case: Cisco Systems

a. Backgroundb. Cisco Systems’ strategyc. Cisco Systems’ CIO’s

roles and attributesd. Conclusion

• Qualities the CIO must have:– Leadership– Management– Business planning– Technical savvy

• ‘Net ready’ company qualities– Leadership– Governance – Competencies– Technology

A Study Case: Cisco Systems

CIO’s roles and attributes

I. IntroductionII. The roles and the

responsibilities of a CIOIII. The type of person and the

skills required for a CIOa. Technical skillsb. Planning, managing

skills and leader shipc. Business leadership

IV. Criteria for a successful CIO

V. Recommandations in managing IT in MNCSA study case: Cisco Systems

a. Backgroundb. Cisco Systems’ strategyc. Cisco Systems’ CIO’s

roles and attributesd. Conclusion

• Conclusion:

– Widely successful strategy, personified by their CIO.

– 80% of business done on-line

– $550 million profit increase in last 5 years

– Raised customer satisfaction by 25%

– Savings of $250 million through the use of the enterprise wide network.

Further reading

• Jerry N. Luftman, “Managing the Information Technology Resource: Leadership in the information age.”, Prentice Hall 2004

• Hartman, Amir & Sifonis, John & Kador, John Net, “Ready strategies for success in the E-conomy”, McGraw-Hill [Computer file edition] 2000

• http://www.cio.com/

• http://www.itworld.com/

Thank you for your attention!

Questions?