Amidst all the turmoil, IT shops within firms and governmental institutions have to keep the operations humming while contributing to the survival of the organization."
— Gabriele Piccoli, Editor
As I write the introduction to this issue of Cutter Benchmark Review, the global economy is struggling to emerge from what has been termed by many the "great recession," a financial and economic crisis with few, if any, counterparts in the past. It seems like we are making the proverbial two steps forward and one step back, with the latest leap backward being provided by the news that financial deficits in Greece have been severely underestimated for years. Amidst all the turmoil, IT shops within firms and governmental institutions have to keep the operations humming while contributing to the survival of the organization.
Management in a crisis is one of those epochal topics that goes far beyond the standard focus of a benchmarking publication, even though we pride ourselves in seeking to answer some of the most pressing IT management questions. But setting course for the IT function in a financial and economic storm is a subject that requires insight from some special contributors. Thus, to help us understand the options and evaluate optimal strategies that you can implement during tough times, we have assembled one of the best duos of CBR contributors since I took over editing of the publication in 2006. On the academic side we have Dorothy Leidner, the Randall W. and Sandra Ferguson Professor of Information Systems and Director of the Center for Knowledge Management at Baylor University (USA). Those of you who have been following CBR over the last few years already know Dorothy from the March 2006 issue on knowledge management (Vol. 6, No. 3). Aside from being a highly accomplished academic and a world-recognized expert on knowledge management practice within the academy, Dorothy is also an editorial board member and frequent author of MIS Quarterly Executive, a journal devoted to bridging the gap between IS academia and practice. Dorothy's work in MIS Quarterly Executive centers on CIO leadership and decision making.
Complementing Dorothy's perspective we have one of my favorite IT leaders: Tom Murphy, Senior VP and CIO of AmerisourceBergen, a US $54 billion wholesale distributor of pharmaceuticals and related healthcare products. I met Tom when I was at Cornell, when he was invited as a speaker. Tom has more than 21 years of IT leadership experience, primarily in the tour and travel industry. He was named one of Computerworld's Premier 100 IT Leaders in 2002, and his organizations have been recognized for innovation and resourcefulness as well as for being "best places to work in the IT industry." But beyond his credentials, Tom is a captivating speaker who is willing to share openly the wisdom he has developed over the years. Since meeting him, Tom became the default "closer" for my course at Cornell, and I would invite him every time he would be available to deliver the last lecture in my class on IS for hospitality managers. My favorite Tom Murphy moment happened at lunch once — a good seven or eight years ago — when I asked him what he would do next, being in his early 40s and already a CIO at a major corporation, since, after all, I told him "we all know that CIO means Career Is Over." His calm response: "I am going to be CEO. Who else has the complete visibility and understanding of all the business processes of the organization if not IT?" Today, seeing IT leaders moving out of the IT organization and ultimately to the CEO position is not really surprising (in my book, Information Systems for Managers: Text & Cases, I chronicle a number of high-profile examples). Ten years ago, however, the trend was not so clear. It is this ability that Tom has to take the pulse of managerial leadership within the IT function that made him the perfect candidate for this issue.
Dorothy begins her contribution by leveraging her previous research and introducing a categorization of four general approaches to managing IT during downtime. I think you will find her categorization — based on the two dimensions of short- and long-term perspective and "rethink versus extend the strategic plan" — very useful in mapping where your organization is. Following this broad categorization are a number of considerations with respect to organizational biases and tendencies that I believe will help you best frame your options. With her general framework established, Dorothy attentively analyzes the survey data merging her insight with research findings she carried out in 2001 during the previous recession. She also evaluates the relationship between the firm's overall IT strategic posture and IT decision making during the economic decline. She then concludes the piece with a set of suggestions that I believe you will find both relevant and useful.
Tom takes a different approach, less grounded in the survey data (which he nonetheless uses to highlight important points) and more rooted in his experience over the years navigating through at least three major recessions from within the IT function. As a consequence, his piece is a reflective collection of insight from the field that I think you will find very stimulating (albeit not simple to appropriate without significant discipline!). Tom identifies the three key levers within the control of IT leaders as strategy, governance, and relationship. The value of his piece is in the set of suggestions and guidelines that he develops for putting each of the three levers in place — before rather than during a crisis!
Much has been written about this latest crisis, and this is not surprising as we are still struggling to recover from it. But very little tangible guidance exists for those in charge of the IT function during economic difficulties. I hope that this issue of CBR will help you reflect on your portfolio of responses to disruptive events beyond the control or the scope of the IT shop, as much of what happens within the IT shop before and during the crisis can help the organization make the best of the situation.
