The Transformational CIO: Leadership and Innovation Strategies for IT Executives in a Rapidly Changing World

Transitioning to Global Leadership

Jay Crotts is vice president of IT Services at Shell Oil. When I asked him to chat about the role of senior IT executives in global corporations, he gently reminded me that not every company that calls itself global operates as a global enterprise.

The truly global enterprise is more than just a collection of businesses located in various parts of the world. The truly global enterprise strives toward developing common global strategies for delivering its products and services to real customers in real markets—wherever they are.

In a truly global enterprise, IT plays an absolutely critical role by enabling and supporting that global delivery strategy on a 24/7 basis. In a sense, IT becomes one big global solution, and IT executives become global leaders.

Lesson

The growth of e-business and all of the newer digital customer interfaces means that in many situations, IT has become the company's face. That puts a different kind of responsibility on the CIO's shoulders.

For some CIOs, the transition to a global leadership role has been tricky. But Jay sees it somewhat differently. I'll let him describe the changing role of the CIO in his own words:

The CIO's basic responsibilities haven't changed radically since the role emerged 20 or 30 years ago. The CIO is still responsible for integrating IT into the business strategy, translating business strategy into IT outcomes, and ensuring that IT is efficient and effective.

The challenge now is that the ...