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Based on the case studies and research presented thus far in this article, I can now formulate a list of 11 key planks that represent the core of what constitutes a technology CEO's set of best practices:
1. The chief IT executive should report directly to the CEO.
2. CEOs should be actively committed to technology on an ongoing basis, as opposed to a project-by-project involvement.
3. CEOs should be willing to be management catalysts to support new technology-driven projects. They, in effect, need to sometimes play the role of technology champion.
4. CEOs should focus on business concepts and plans to drive technology. In other words, technology should not drive the business.
5. CEOs should use consultants to provide objective input to emerging technology projects.
6. CEOs should establish organizational infrastructures that foster the creation of communities of practice. They need to create joint ownership of IT issues by fostering discourse between IT and business managers and staff.
7. CEOs may need to take control of certain aspects of technology investments such as setting milestones and holding management and staff to making critical project dates.
8. CEOs need to foster Cultural Assimilation, which may lead to reorganization since technology changes processes.
9. CEOs need to understand organizational learning and knowledge management theories and participate in organizational transformation.
10. CEOs need to understand how the technology life cycle behaves, with specific attention to the transition from Driver activities to Supporter functions. To that end, CEOs need to understand the short- and long-term investments that need to be made in technology.
11. CEOs should create organizations that can effectively operate within Technological Dynamism. This process will educate management and staff to handle the dynamic and unpredictable effects of emerging technologies. It will also foster the development of both middle-up-down and bottom-up management of technology.
Summary
The formation of best practices to implement and sustain mature uses of technology at the CEO level is a complex task. It involves combining traditional best practice methods (that is, what seems to work for proven organizations and individuals) with developmental theory on individual maturation. The combination of these two components provides key reasons why some CEOs succeed in maximizing benefits from technology, and others do not. My next article will demonstrate how to measure your CEO's technology maturity.
References
Dragoon, A. (2002) This Changes Everything, HTTP: http://www.darwinmag.com (accessed 15 December 2003).
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