Five key challenges to deliver strategic advantage have
been identified by a group of leading chief
executives.
The challenges, outlined in a report by the Chartered Management
Institute, focus on how leaders can better harness technology to
drive business growth.
The report, entitled
Business Leadership of Technological Change, was
launched at an event in the BT Tower in London last month, and is
an adjunct to the British Computer Society's initiative to drive
professionalism in IT.
According to the report, the five issues for CEOs to tackle
are:
● How to create transformational value rather than simply
implementing one-off IT projects
● The need to build capability for ongoing change so that IT
shapes new business models instead of being the business model
● How to create a climate of open communication
● The need to manage risk with confidence
● Recognising the need for personal IT capability and learning
about new IT issues.
At the event, John Browett, operations director for Tesco
Stores, said the CEO should assume responsibility for change in
organisations.
"Without the unswerving support of the CEO and the executive
committee there is absolutely no chance that you can get
transformation done, and what I see in most businesses is that the
CEO is not at work on change and transformation.
"They may talk about it, but they are not prepared to get their
hands dirty. They are not prepared to intervene in order to get
what they want. They are not prepared to put their best people on
it. They do not really understand it and they do not like it,"
Browett said.
The report concluded, "The continuing use by industry groups of
terms such as 'IT projects' as shorthand for what is major business
transformation involving organisational change and people and
process change, is continuing to sidetrack boards and their senior
business executives, including CIOs, into thinking of major change
as being technology-driven rather than technology-enabled."
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