Effects of CIO Skills and Demand-side Leadership on Digital Innovation

Abstract

Abstract: Despite the large amount of benefits of digital innovation to contemporary firms, scholarly insight about how CIO may lead digital innovation within an organization is limited. Drawing upon transformational leadership theory, the study examines how CIOs could lead their enterprises' digital innovation initiatives. We propose that it is the CIO demand-side leadership that directly influences the level of enterprises' digital innovation. Furthermore, CIO's structural power could positively moderate the impact of CIO demand-side leadership on enterprises' digital innovation. In addition, we identify three enabling forces of CIO demand-side leadership:1) IT-related strategic knowledge, 2) political savvy, and 3) networking ability. The research hypotheses are supported by matched-pair data collected from senior business and IT executives of 179 organizations. The findings of the study suggest that the CIO demand-side leadership offers a powerful concept to examine CIO's strategic impacts in the digital era.

Key words: CIO, demand-side leadership, transformational leadership, digital innovation, leadership skills

Zhang Yanlin, Deng Fuxiang, Tang Hongting. Effects of CIO Skills and Demand-side Leadership on Digital Innovation[J]. Management Review, 2021, 33(11): 145-156.

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