Companies that are using technology to set the business apart tend to have CEOs who are pushing IT-driven business innovation as a core strategy throughout their organization, according to new research from Harvard Business Review Analytic Services.
That doesn’t mean that the CIO’s role at these organizations is being watered down. In fact, there’s a much better chance that the CIOs at these companies are playing a strategic role in the business, the research found, particularly as a “key player on the CEO’s growth team.”
“CIOs lead this type of innovation — either alone or together with a business partner — in 41% of organizations today,” according to the report.
Support from the CEO is key, especially when it comes to getting innovations implemented, says Sven Gerjets, senior vice president of IT at DirectTV.
“The role of the CEO when it comes to enabling innovation is critical. Number one, you’ve got to have a culture that’s driven, that allows for innovation because one of the things that shuts down innovation quicker than anything is when people innovate and those innovations fall on the floor and don’t get implemented,” Gerjets said. “So a CEO’s leadership is really critical in building a culture where ideas are able to trickle up and get implemented.”
To learn more about why innovation leadership starts at top at these organizations, download the full report: Business Transformation and the CIO Role.
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