InformationWeek
Defining The Business Value Of Technology
August 16, 1999
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There are ramifications when CIOs don't have the influence or support they feel they need to get
the job done. At Nike, Harris was engaged in a frustrating battle of wills-a factor that may have
contributed to his decision to quit-over a supply-chain project that involved a multitude of
vendors, including i2 Technologies, SAP, and Siebel Systems, say sources close to Nike. In an
earlier interview, Harris denied there was friction; he declined to comment for this story.
Bob Rubin, CIO at chemicals manufacturer Elf Atochem for the past 15 years, says part of the
reason he's stayed put for so long is that he's had the CEO's ear. "Like most CIOs, I've had more
than an adequate number of people asking me to consider other jobs, but I've never found anything
that had the right combination of challenge and opportunity to make me want to leave," he says.
Rubin says Elf Atochem's CEO, Jacques Puechal, is supportive of the company's IT department,
which is imperative to his success as CIO.
Gaining that level of influence, however, can take time, says Tom Beauchamp, who took the CIO
job at Oxford Health Systems last year to help it clean up problems related to a failed
computer-system conversion. "CIOs have to earn the right to be involved with business processes
and strategy by having fundamentally sound operations," he says. "CIOs have to be careful not to
lose sight of that."
IT executives, CEOs, and recruiters agree that the loss of a CIO can have a profound impact on a
company. "When CIOs leave with just a little over a year of service, strategic projects can be put
on hold," says Michael Poehner, CEO of DMR Consulting in Quebec, adding that whenever he hires a
senior manager he looks for someone who likes to "see things to the end." Poehner says it
typically takes six months to recruit a CIO and another six months for that CIO to create and
implement a business plan-precious time that's lost when CIOs switch jobs frequently. In his
short time at Nike, Harris initiated several large-scale projects, including a multimillion-dollar
outsourcing contract with Lockheed Martin. Sources say Harris' departure exacerbates an already
tense situation in Nike's IT organization.(Aug. 9).
Legal Battles
Compaq's Napier says businesses can avoid some of the problems caused by the loss of a CIO by
creating a solid line of succession. "I always say there are no one-man shows-successful
companies build strong IT teams," Napier says. "My No. 1 job is to hire and develop the best
people. "
Gateway didn't flinch when Webb decided to leave. The same day the computer maker disclosed
that Webb had resigned, it named a replacement, promoting James Pollard from VP of global
applications to senior VP and CIO. "Any great IT department builds a bench of executives that can
quickly rise to a higher level," a Gateway spokesman says. Pollard had been with Gateway for
just three months, but he was ready to take the helm, the spokesman says.
Some CIOs say they have an obligation to finish the things they start. Before Kathy Brittain
White left AlliedSignal Inc. to join Baxter International as CIO in 1995, she made sure her $100
million ERP project at AlliedSignal was complete. "I personally would feel as though I left
something unfinished and that would bother me," says White.
Still, the forces of change E-commerce, the pace of technological development, and a robust
economy-are presenting opportunities that are hard for many CIOs to resist. If businesses want
to keep their CIOs, experts say, they need to create environments to keep them. "If you define
CIOs as people interested in strategy, constant change, and implementing new things, then
absolutely companies will lose good CIOs if they are not seeing the office that way," says
Beauchamp.
Executive recruiter McMann says CIOs have become impatient with companies that aren't doing
technology correctly. "If they don't feel rewarded or needed, they split," he says. "CIOs feel they
have a short amount of time to make a difference. If they can't do it at one company, they'll leave
to find another that's going to let them win at technology." That's something for CEOs to think
about.
With additional reporting by Gregory Dalton
Napier, Compaq's new senior VP and CIO, expects to get support from recently named CEO Michael
Capellas, who did a stint as CIO on his way to the top. "It didn't hurt that the CEO is the former
CIO," Napier says. "I'm working for an individual who really understands what I do and the
contributions I can make." That's important, Napier says, because "every business decision today
creates an IT event." Napier's first task is to work out a strategy that aligns Compaq's IT
organization with its business processes.
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Nike and Gap aren't the only companies in legal disputes that involve departing CIOs. McMann says
three CIOs his firm recently helped place face legal threats of their own. Although he declined to
identify the parties involved, McMann says all three disputes center around E-commerce and
employers' fears that trade secrets could be violated. "CIOs are being viewed more as assets, and
companies don't want to see them go work for competitors," McMann says.
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