September 22, 1997

CIO FORUM: Networking Is Essential By Jim Kinney "You can observe a lot just by watching." -- Yogi Berra oday's information technology executive plays many roles: strategist, organizational leader, educator, visionary. Daunting as the expectations may be for the CIO, let's not forget that this balancing act must be carried out in the midst of immense and ever-present change. Don Walker, CIO at USAA, a San Antonio insurance company, recently described the challenge of managing today's IT infrastructure this way: "We have to keep the trains running while we are essentially replacing the train track." Jim Kinney is VP and CIO at Kraft Foods Inc., a subsidiary of Philip Morris Cos. How in this hectic world does the CIO find time to learn, and to establish an IT agenda? The challenge goes beyond technology. The CIO must know the important business-strategy implications for IT within the organization, have a deep understanding of customers and changes within the industry, and have sufficient knowledge of technology to help business managers understand how it will change the way they operate. As CIO at Kraft Foods Inc., I have used personal networking extensively, both for my own learning and for the IS organization as a whole. Networking includes the relationships that develop from professional contacts, social and personal relationships, and info rmation exchanges in shared interest groups or at professional conferences. Networking occurs both inside and outside the organization. Both types offer benefits to the CIO and the organization, but each has unique aspects. Michael Earl and David Feeney, in their article "Is Your CIO Adding Value?" (Sloan Management Review, Spring 1994), identify three practices that should help CIOs add value: obsessive and continuous focus on business imperatives, interpretation of external IT success stories, and establishment and maintenance of IS executive relationships. Networking with other managers at your organization provides the means to achieve "added value." Investing personal time to develop relationships that permit informative discussions about business strategy, organizational effectiveness, and even personal goals is critical to establishing credibility. Partnership between line management and IT depends on trust, which takes time and develops with frequent communication. Over and over again, the best examples of applying IT to achieve business advantage result from long relationships between the CEO and the CIO. Trust is clearly evident in the relationship. CIOs need to understand senior managers' concerns about the business and how IT can help achieve critical objectives. Executive Exchange As president of the Society for Information Management, I've worked on creating a new networking program for senior IT managers called the SIM Executive Exchange. The program includes a series of meetings at host company sites, where critical technology issues are explored in depth. A key feature is the involvement of senior line executives from the host organization. In sessions earlier this year, executives from host companies such as Xerox and Amoco described their expectations of the CIO and IT function, and the notion of partnership was clearly evident. So what's the price of networking? Fundamentally, it requires a willingness to meet with other organizations, to share internal practices-both successes and failures-and to occasionally host visitors to your company. In my view, networking has become a critical skill. It's an essential capability for any successful IT organization or CIO. Back to the IW500 Menu Send Us Your Feedback Top of the Page

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