The Next Leap in Productivity: What Top Managers Really Need to Know about Information Technology

3.3. A New Partnership

Marjorie Magner describes the ideal relationship between the CEO and the CIO as a partnership.

Magner knows a lot about the value that well-managed information technologies can bring to a large organization. Before launching a private equity firm in 2007, she was the CEO of Citigroup's Global Consumer Banking Group.

In that role, she led Citigroup's efforts to serve customers through retail banking, credit cards, and consumer finance in over 50 countries. Nearly 200,000 employees worked in her organization, which grew at a compound annual rate of 22% from 2001 to 2005.

IT was a major part of her strategy. "But it was never technology just for technology's sake. It was technology in service to the business," she explains.

The relationship between the CEO and the CIO is just as important as the relationship between the CEO and any other C-level executive, says Magner.

"I call it a partnership because you both understand what you're trying to accomplish and you're both thinking about it the same way. That doesn't mean you never disagree, but once you're out there and doing it, you're both on the same page, you're trying to make the same things happen for the business. You're doing it together."

The CEO's relationship with the CIO is especially crucial because of the many potential benefits that technology provides to the business. "Whether you're talking about delivering a product to the customer, managing your cost structure or analyzing data, IT is absolutely ...