Start Date
12-16-2013
Description
Researchers have often emphasized the ambiguous and challenging role that CIOs play in organizations. While some argue that CIOs are embracing new leadership roles in their organizations and suggesting that CIOs should mean Chief Influential Officers, many others argue the opposite and even refer to the term CIO as the Career Is Over. We argue that these roles may be influenced by the existence and potentially persistence of distinct stereotype profiles at the C-suite level. This paper explores business students’ perceptions of CIOs in comparison with CMOs and CFOs. We identified 18 variables that best discriminate CIOs from these two executives, revealing that CIOs are perceived as having adequate social leadership skills, but lacking leader dominance skills such as taking initiative and being assertive. Our results suggest that business students enter their professional careers with well-defined stereotypes that can potentially influence the role of the CIO.
Recommended Citation
Gonzalez, Paola and McKeen, James, "Is the CIO the “last among equals”? Students’ Perceptions of the Stereotype profiles of CIOs, CFOs, and CMOs" (2013). ICIS 2013 Proceedings. 8.
https://aisel.aisnet.org/icis2013/proceedings/GovernanceManagement/8
Is the CIO the “last among equals”? Students’ Perceptions of the Stereotype profiles of CIOs, CFOs, and CMOs
Researchers have often emphasized the ambiguous and challenging role that CIOs play in organizations. While some argue that CIOs are embracing new leadership roles in their organizations and suggesting that CIOs should mean Chief Influential Officers, many others argue the opposite and even refer to the term CIO as the Career Is Over. We argue that these roles may be influenced by the existence and potentially persistence of distinct stereotype profiles at the C-suite level. This paper explores business students’ perceptions of CIOs in comparison with CMOs and CFOs. We identified 18 variables that best discriminate CIOs from these two executives, revealing that CIOs are perceived as having adequate social leadership skills, but lacking leader dominance skills such as taking initiative and being assertive. Our results suggest that business students enter their professional careers with well-defined stereotypes that can potentially influence the role of the CIO.