Positioning the role of chief technology officer in an organisation

Abstract

The technology landscape has changed dramatically over the past three decades. Organisations encounter extreme difficulty in managing their core capabilities which are enabled by technology. In light of this, organisations require strategic individuals who can continually carry the organisation to the new s-curve which will afford them the competitive advantage. The purpose of this study is to assist the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) and the c-level suite executives to effectively and appropriately position the CTO in an orgainsation. This will prevent Chief Information Officer (CIO) / CTO distortion and ensure that the CTO is being evaluated fairly. The findings of academics, as is evident in the literature review, underscore the essence of my finding that the position of the CTO in an organisation is not fully understood. The researcher has revised the current CTO models to develop the new ‘CTO TIE model’. This research highlights the viewpoint that the positioning of the CTO role will be influenced by two key variables; whether the CTO reports to the CIO or CEO? and whether the company is internally or externally technology focused? Copyright