HOW CHIEF INFORMATION OFFICERS LEAD INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY WORKERS Luis AC ...

171 Pages·2006·0.79 MB·English

LEADERSHIP IN THE INFORMATION AGE: HOW CHIEF INFORMATION
OFFICERS LEAD INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY WORKERS

Luis A. C. Lima

A Dissertation
Submitted to the Graduate College of Bowling Green
State University in partial fulfillment of
the requirements for the degree of

DOCTOR OF EDUCATION
August 2006
Committee:
Patrick D. Pauken, Advisor
Kenneth M. Shemberg,
Graduate College Representative
Kathryn S. Hoff
Judith A. Zimmerman
© 2006
Luis A. C. Lima
All Rights Reserved
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ABSTRACT
Patrick D. Pauken, Advisor
This dissertation reports the examination of the leadership behaviors of a small
sample (23 participants) of CIOs in Fortune 500 companies using a modified version of
the Leadership Practices Inventory (Kouzes & Posner, 2001). The aim of this survey
research was to identify leadership behaviors that support the effective leadership of
information technology (IT) knowledge workers by randomly selecting a representative
sample. The literature review discusses the role of IT in the attainment of competitive
advantage; the role of the CIO as a leader of IT knowledge workers; transformational,
exemplary, and technology leadership models; and a change management model; the
characteristics of CIOs were discussed.
Of Kouzes and Posner’s leadership behaviors, Challenging the Process and
Encouraging the Heart were identified by the participants as the behaviors they exhibit
most often, while Enabling Others to Act and Modeling the Way were designated as
areas in need of the most development. There was no significant statistical relationship
between the CIOs’ reported leadership behaviors and their demographic characteristics
(level of education, academic major, gender, length of tenure as a CIO, length of tenure
with present organization, number of years in the IT/MIS field, membership in the
organization’s top management team, frequency of informal interactions with members
of the top management team and with the CEO, and having a close relationship with
the CEO).
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Some of the relationship of leadership behaviors and demographic characteristics
of CIOs were found to support some of the theoretical assumptions found in the
literature. CIOs participating in this study reported to be performing as agents of
change within their organizations. Potential problems in the successful leadership of IT
knowledge workers included the identification of rewards that promoted the alignment
of employee and organizational goals.
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This dissertation is dedicated to my wife Marta and our grandson Lucas. You are
the strength and the promise behind all I do. Te amo!
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This dissertation started in the classroom, where the inspired and generous
contributions of my cohort and professors allowed me to conceptualize this humble
study as something worth pursuing. This dissertation would not have been possible
without your kaleidoscopic views on this fascinating topic. Thank you!
Special thanks go to the members my committee. Your talent and dedication to
your students in general and to this project in particular, allowed me to complete this
journey. Dr. Pauken, your patience, support, and guidance through the many phases of
this process were paramount to my success. Our inspired conversations were always as
deep as they were humorous and made the load easy to bear. Thank you!
To Dr. Hoff, whose superb dedication and commitment to her students is a
model I shall strive to emulate. Thank you for nurturing the writer in me and for your
support. To Dr. Schemberg for his sage criticism and contributions to this project as well
as to Dr. Zimmerman, for joining this project at its final stages and offering her
knowledgeable and unrestrained advice and support. Thank you!
I have been honored to have friends like JoAnn Kroll, whose intelligence,
sagacity, and generosity were extended to my family and I throughout this journey.
May you always be blessed, my friend, with health and wealth and good friends, too.
To Jeffrey Grilliot, whose friendship and companionship I will always cherish, and to
Dr. Charles Lyndaker, whose trust and vision started this journey many years ago in
Rio, thank you, my friends!
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION.....................................................................................1
Statement of the Problem.............................................................................................1
Purpose of the Study....................................................................................................9
Research Questions.....................................................................................................11
Significance of the Study............................................................................................12
Definitions of Terms...................................................................................................14
Limitations of the Study.............................................................................................18
CHAPTER II: LITERATURE REVIEW........................................................................20
A Brief History of Leadership Studies.....................................................................20
Trait Approaches...................................................................................................20
Attitudinal Approaches.......................................................................................21
Situational Approaches........................................................................................22
Integrative Approaches........................................................................................22
Transformational leadership according to Bass.........................................25
Change and transformational leadership....................................................32
The Leadership Challenge.........................................................................................39
Credibility..............................................................................................................41
Fundamental Practices of Exemplary Leadership............................................43
Characteristics of CIOs...............................................................................................54
The Top Management Team................................................................................56
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Relationship with the CEO..................................................................................59
Gender and the CIO..............................................................................................61
Level of Education of the CIO.............................................................................62
The Value of Experience......................................................................................62
Leading IT Knowledge Workers...............................................................................63
Motivation..............................................................................................................66
Representation.......................................................................................................67
Ambiguity..............................................................................................................68
Trust........................................................................................................................69
Summary......................................................................................................................70
CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY................................................................................71
Restatement of the Problem.......................................................................................71
Research Design..........................................................................................................73
Sampling Error......................................................................................................74
Measurement Error...............................................................................................75
Non-response Error..............................................................................................75
Contact with participants...............................................................................76
Incentives.........................................................................................................76
Personalization................................................................................................77
Sponsorship.....................................................................................................78
Other Considerations...........................................................................................78
Participants of the Study............................................................................................80
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Instrumentation...........................................................................................................81
Reliability...............................................................................................................82
Validity...................................................................................................................83
Additional Items...................................................................................................83
Variables.................................................................................................................85
Data Collection Procedures.......................................................................................88
Data Analyses..............................................................................................................91
Protection of Human Subjects...................................................................................91
Summary......................................................................................................................92
CHAPTER IV: RESULTS...............................................................................................93
Demographic Statistics...............................................................................................95
Research Question 1...................................................................................................96
Research Question 2.................................................................................................101
Summary....................................................................................................................105
CHAPTER V: DISCUSSION.......................................................................................107
Limitations.................................................................................................................107
Challenging the Process...........................................................................................108
Encouraging the Heart, Enabling Others to Act, Cooperative Teamwork, and
Transformational Leadership in IT........................................................................110
Demographics............................................................................................................116
Recommendations for Future Studies....................................................................117
Summary....................................................................................................................121
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REFERENCES...............................................................................................................122
APPENDIX A................................................................................................................143
APPENDIX B................................................................................................................148
APPENDIX C................................................................................................................151
APPENDIX D................................................................................................................153
APPENDIX E................................................................................................................155
APPENDIX F................................................................................................................157
APPENDIX G................................................................................................................159