IEEE TEM: IS Leadership

Information Systems (IS) leadership is an enduring concern to IS academics and practitioners alike. IS Leadership is broadly defined to include research on IS leaders such as CIOs, CKOs, and CTOs, research on technological leadership in organizations, as well as research on IS governance. As organizational dependence on IS increases, IS leadership has increasingly become a concern of executive boardrooms. Given the level of discomfort executive teams experience when discussing IS-related issues, IS leaders, such as CIOs, play a pivotal role in providing guidance and in achieving IS strategic alignment. In addition, many freely acknowledge that IS has a pivotal role in organizational success and stories of the use of IS as a competitive tool abound. For example, firms that achieve sustainable IS leadership are more likely to develop superior capabilities in IS (e.g., Wal-Mart's logistics system, Sabre's airline reservation system, and Cisco's order fulfillment system) and gain a considerable competitive advantage. Hence, a more profound understanding of IS leadership is critical to the development of the IS field specifically and management thinking in general.

This special issue seeks to explore the various dimensions, theoretical bases, and perspectives on IS leadership and to advance the state of scholarship on the issue. Conceptual and empirical papers employing both qualitative and quantitative methods are welcome.

Possible topics include but are not limited to:

IS Leadership

CIO Research:
CIO power/influence
Determinants of CIO effectiveness
CIO, CKO, and/or CTO roles in the organization
Relationship of the CIO with top management
CIO, CKO, and/or CTO careers
Impact of the CIO to strategic alignment and organizational effectiveness

IS Technological Leadership

Creating sustainable IS leadership
Impact of IS leadership on firm performance
Types of IS leadership
Organizational designs for effective IS technological leadership
Organizational capabilities associated with effective IS technological leadership
Best practices in IS technological leadership
How do CIOs, CKOs, and/or CTOs build successful relationships within the IS unit and/or across the organization
Success factors for CIOs, CKOs, and/or CTOs

IT Governance

Impact of non-IS executives on IT effectiveness
Executive leadership roles contributing to IT implementation, adoption, and diffusion within the organization
Effect of the top management team (TMT) structure on IT management
Influence of the TMT on the strategic alignment of IT
Effect of CEO/TMT demographics on IT strategy
Impact of the “IT savvy” executive on IT practices
Executive roles within an “IT intensive” firm
Influence of non-IS executives use of IT on firm performance
Influence of mergers and acquisitions on IT
Effect of the board of directors and shareholders on IT policy and management
External market effects on IT within the organization
Best practices in executive leadership for IT

Papers submitted to the special issue will be reviewed in accordance with the IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management editorial policy. Papers must be submitted via the IEEE electronic submission Web site by September 30, 2004. Abstracts may also be submitted well in advance of the deadline to ensure appropriateness to the special issue.

Authors might consider presenting an early version of their IEEE submission to the AIS SIGLead conference to be held on April 10, 2004.

Elena Karahanna		Richard T. Watson J. Rex Fuqua Distinguished Chair for Internet Strategy Director of the Center for Information Systems Leadership
	MIS Department Terry College of Business University of Georgia Athens, GA 30602-6273 USA