The chameleon - SAGE Journals

The chameleon: a metaphor for the Chief Information Ocer Dan Remenyi Visiting Professor, School of Systems and Data Studies, Trinity College Dublin

Kenneth A. Grant Professor, School of Information Technology Management, Ryerson University, Toronto

Shaun Pather Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Business Informatics, Cape Peninsula University of Technology, Cape Town

The role of CIO has been around for a little more than 20 years. In that time it has evolved signi®cantly. Much has been written about the speci®c challenges faced by incumbents, describing the characteristics needed to be a business-focused executive leading a technology-intensive function. One aspect that has not been given enough consideration is that, because of the speci®c nature of role and use of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) in organisations and the dierent strategic and tactical issues faced by a CIO, the most needed characteristics may vary according to time and circumstance. Eight speci®c challenges that make the role dicult are identi®ed and dierent perspectives on the competencies needed are reviewed. This paper, through literature review and discussion, examines the speci®c challenges faced by ICT leaders and suggests that a range of personal characteristics are needed for long term success and that these can be compared to key features of the humble chameleon: 1. The ability to change 2. The ability to see in multiple directions 3. The ability to strike fast when required, and 4. The ability to hang on when the going gets tough!

Being CIO is a really tough job Being a Chief Information Ocer is often said to be one of the toughest jobs in commerce, industry or the public sector and there is plenty of reason to believe this is likely to continue. The CIO is that person who has overall responsibility for the operation of all the computers and associated information systems in the organisation. First introduced in print by William Synnott (1981), who is credited for the creation of the title, and who was appointed as the CIO for the Bank of Boston in 1980, it has become widely used, as he (Synnott, 1987) described it, for `the highest ranking executive with primary responsibility for information management.'

Journal of General Management

Vol. 30 No. 3 Spring 2005

1±11 1

Dan Remenyi, Kenneth A. Grant and Shaun Pather

As Earl (2000) suggests, `The traditional responsibilities of the job require technical competence plus the management know-how required to lead specialists and integrate the function with the rest of the business'. Earl also comments that the nature and even the existence of the CIO role is frequently being revisited. In the majority of cases, the CIO reports directly to the Chief Executive Ocer (CEO) or the Chief Operating Ocer, although sometimes the CIO is made accountable to a lesser corporate dignitary such as the Chief Financial Ocer (CFO). In most de®nitions, unless the top Information and Communications Technology (ICT) manager is a part of the senior management team, he or she would not be considered to be a CIO, one of the `Cs.' The evolution of corporate titles, over the last 20 years, especially in North America, has led to the emergence and de®nition of an increasing number of `Chief ' or `C' roles ± with the underlying assumption that, individually, they provide corporate leadership for a key business function and, collectively, they form the top management team. `CIO' started to emerge in the late 1980s and is now the most widely used title for the ICT leader in the corporation (Melymuka, 2002). This has not just been a change in title; it truly re¯ects an evolution in corporate attitudes towards the ICT leadership function. However, this new visibility has also lead to a perception that it is a very visible and dangerous role to have (Strassman, 1997). After all, `leadership is essentially the management of dilemmas' (Farson, 1997) and ICT is renowned for the many dicult dilemmas that it oers general management. To some degree the status, visibility, compensation and demand for the role varies with the demand for ICT services ± thus a decline in each of these factors was reported in the post-dotcom bubble era from 2000 or so and on. However, recent surveys suggest that this has passed to some degree, although some researchers have argued that this period of scepticism has yet again changed expectations for the role! These speculations have ranged from arguing that the role is òbsolete' (Maruca, 2000) to becoming even more business-oriented (CIO Insight, 2004). These recent events just reinforce the belief that the job of the CIO is regarded as being among the most challenging or dicult in the corporate hierarchy (Karlgaard, 2002). The evolving role of the CIO has even led to the holder of this title being described as `teacher' and `prophet' rather than technologist (Nolan Norton Institute, 2001). There are numerous reasons why this job is often so problematic and an understanding of the issues which make this job dicult is essential to anyone who has aspirations to holding this oce.

Eight reasons why managing the deployment and the use of Information Systems is dicult and, perhaps, a unique leadership challenge There are eight speci®c characteristics of any organisation's Information Systems that make the job of their management dicult. These are: 1. When employed correctly, Information Systems can deliver competitive or strategic advantage for the organisation. When badly implemented,

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The chameleon: a metaphor for the Chief Information Ocer

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they can produce the opposite eect and diminish any competitive or strategic advantage there may have been. Thus the CIO has very direct responsibility for activities that aect the organisation's strategic success. Earl and Feeny (1995) suggest that `The CIO must add value or IS will be seen as a problem.' The eective development and operation of Information Systems are expensive. It is not possible to scrimp on Information Systems without seriously jeopardising the quality. Implementation is an expensive and complex activity usually involving signi®cant change to major parts of the organisation. In addition, the rapid evolution of technology makes maintenance and replacement a signi®cant ongoing expense. Indeed, for many corporations, ICT is the biggest single capital expense ± very often under the direct supervision of the CIO. The ICT organisation typically has two very distinct functions ± the development and implementation of new systems and associated processes, and the operation and support of the implemented systems. These are very dierent types of activities involving quite dierent skill sets, management processes and client/customer relationships, giving the CIO very challenging management responsibilities (imagine a CIO with responsibility for both manufacturing operations and research and development ± managing such a diverse set of business functions could possibly give rise to con¯icts). The diverse skills required for the eective development and operation of Information Systems are not easy to ®nd or to retain within an organisation. In fact, increasingly, many of the needed skills will be provided by individuals from outside the organisation ± contractors, services suppliers and outsourcers. Thus, the CIO must contract or recruit, then develop and supervise, an often large and diverse workforce, many of whom are not their direct reports or even employees of the organisation. The Information Systems function tends to assume or be given responsibility for the appropriate use of this technology, even though the CIO has no direct or indirect in¯uence over most of those who use the systems. These users can be from other parts of the organisation or, increasingly, outsiders ± such as customers and suppliers (Haselkorn, 2003). Thus being responsible for actions of users not directly under your control creates an undue burden on the CIO. As information systems become critical elements of key business processes, often providing a direct link to customers and suppliers, the CIO can become directly responsible for the actual delivery of primary functions in the organisation's value chain ± not quite the role envisaged by Michael Porter (1980) who saw ICT as very much a secondary process within his value chain model! There is sometimes a culture gap between those who manage the ICT function and other business functions that may lead to a lack of trust. In fact, according to Patching and Chatham (2000), ÌCT managers and their peers in other functions do not have mutual respect for one another.' The role of CIO has seen signi®cant evolution over the last ten years or so. In many organisations it has been given formal or de facto responsibility



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for a number of other roles ± for example Earl (2000) suggests `change master' and `strategy maker'. In addition, some variants have recently emerged ± the Chief Technology Ocer (CTO) (Smith, 2003) and the Chief Knowledge Ocer (CKO) (Guns, 1998) are examples. These eight characteristics lead to the CIO job being on centre stage in many organisations, as there is often much at stake depending on the success of this function. When information systems crash or produce errors, many members of the organisation know about it. When information systems produce wrong information it can badly impact large parts of the organisation. When complex ICT-driven change projects go over budget or are poorly implemented, the ICT organisation usually gets most of the blame! Today's information systems are generally highly visible and considerable sums of money may be made or lost depending on the excellence of the information systems function ± even though success in these ICT activities needs successful contributions from throughout the organisation and beyond. The complexities outlined above, in respect of the CIO's function, often result in this position becoming highly politicised ± and this alone presents dicult challenges. Furthermore these characteristics call for the individual who takes on the job of CIO to have a wide range of skills and attributes. Some of the more important of these are: Technical competence: To begin with, the CIO needs to be technically competent. This does not mean that he or she needs to be a practising `techie' as such. What it does mean is that the incumbent has to have sufficient knowledge of information technology to be able to manage decisions concerning technology selection, development, implementation and maintenance. This is not trivial in a field characterised by rapid technology evolution and a very broad range of job functions (for example, the Canadian Software Human Resource Council identifies 24 distinct job classes (SHRC 2003) ). Knowledge of ICT trends: A CIO requires knowledge of information technology trends and a vision of where information technology is going and how the organisation might use it effectively (Brennan, 2002). He or she needs to know about the sourcing of information technology capabilities and about the cost implications related to different sourcing options. Corporate strategy competency: In addition to this knowledge and skill set, the CIO needs to be competent in the field of corporate strategy so that he or she can meaningfully contribute to the discussion as to how to align the Information Systems strategy to the overall corporate strategy (Smith, 2003). To do this effectively, the CIO must also have a good grasp of the core business of the organisation ± including its key markets and processes. Appropriate qualification mix: As the Information Systems function becomes more central to business planning, it becomes essential that the CIO has qualifications from both the ICT discipline as well as a background in core business disciplines such as marketing, finance, and strategic management. In fact some research (e.g. Enns et al. 2003), suggests that successful CIOs can come from a wide range of backgrounds, as long as they have the right leadership abilities.

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In the above respects the CIO acts largely as a `sta ' ocer in that he or she is primarily there to oer advice to the top management team. However, in another sense the CIO becomes much closer to a line manger when he or she becomes involved in working with information systems owners to help them realise bene®ts from the systems in which they have invested, especially when the ICT function actually runs signi®cant aspects of service/product delivery (e.g. in e-business relationships). This is a very challenging and somewhat controversial aspect of the CIO work and is a key dierentiator from other sta functions like human resources, training or even accounting. It is clear that someone in the organisation needs to be able to encourage the eective and ecient use of the systems, and it often falls to the CIO to do this. Clearly the CIO cannot be held solely responsible for the successful use of Information Systems. As Haselkorn (2003) points out, `To the CIO, the toughest problems occur not within areas under the responsibility of a functional manager, but rather with areas that cut across functional and hierarchical boundaries.' A number of studies have been done on the competencies required by a CIO. For example Gartner's (2001) Seven Competencies for the CIO are:

Build and maintain the technical platform and service delivery Ensure and demonstrate excellent value and performance Develop IS technical, service, and management skills Source intelligently from the external market Create an environment of opportunity Champion the impact of è' Lead the business

Alternatively, CSC (1996) de®ned six leadership roles: Informational, Decisional, Interpersonal, Chief Architect, Change Leader, Product Developer, Technology Provocateur, Coach and Chief Operating Strategist. If matching all of Gartner's Seven Competencies for the CIO or the Six Leadership Roles of CSC were to be a prerequisite for an appointment to the post of CIO it is unlikely there would be enough suitably quali®ed individuals to ®ll many posts. This assertion is further corroborated if one examines the 26 competencies of the CIO outlined by May (1995) or the managerial roles for the CIO suggested by Grover et al. (1993). Indeed, this high level of expected quali®cation has been an issue for many years. The comments of Applegate and Elam (1992) on the many challenges that face a CIO if they are to be successful still hold a high degree of currency. More recently, Gottschalk (2000) found all of the CSC leadership roles to be relevant in a survey of Norwegian IS managers. It could be argued that the reason this `paragon' of management is needed, with such a wide range of roles and attributes, may be because all are not needed at any given time. However, given the changing nature of the role of ICT in a corporation and its stage in its contribution to the organisation's strategy, all may be needed at some particular time. This leads us to consider a model for the changing attributes and ¯exibility needed, and such thoughts of change lead us to the Chameleon.



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The Chameleon as an analogy for the CIO's function Thus, the set of skills and attributes required for success in this job are indeed formidable and to understand them, it may be helpful to use the humble Chameleon as a reference point or an analogy. Often weighing no more than 50 grams and being only 10 to 15 centimetres in length, the Chameleon has some remarkable characteristics which cause it to be venerated in parts of Africa. In fact, its extraordinary abilities have been seen by some people with traditional beliefs as being almost magical. The Chameleon is actually a member of the Chamaeleontidae reptile family. It is part of a group of tree-dwelling lizards characterised chie¯y by their ability to change body colour, their zygodactylous toes1, the fast and independent movement of both its the eyes, a long, slender, extensile and fast moving powerful tongue which can stretch up to two and a half times the length of its body, as well as its ability to lift (relatively speaking) a very considerable amount of weight. The four characteristics of the chameleon which map well onto what is required of the CIO are: 1. The ability to change ± in the case of the chameleon, its body colour. Each species of chameleon is capable of undergoing a particular range of colour change. 2. The ability to see in multiple directions ± in the case of the chameleon, eyes that can look in opposite directions. In fact, the chameleon's eyes are one of its most remarkable features. It has the unique ability of being able to see in any direction without having to move its head at all. 3. Although the chameleon is one of the slowest moving creatures in the world, it also has the amazing ability to strike fast when required ± with its fast moving and powerful tongue. Although the chameleon itself is very sluggish and slow, its tongue can strike prey a distance as far away as more than two and a half times its body length. 4. The ability to hang on when the going gets rough ± in the case of the chameleon the zygodactylous toes. It spends a great deal of time tightly grasping, or holding itself close to branches. These four unique characteristics of the chameleon, in a metaphorical sense, are closely aligned to the distinctive nature of the CIO.

The CIO and coping with change It is not a question of being able to accommodate change as it occurs, but rather internalising change as a way of doing business to ful®l the role of the CIO. Thus, the ability to cope with change in a number of dierent ways is an integral part of the CIO's function. Here, the change required goes well beyond what is usually needed in other corporate roles. This stems from the 1

Having the toes disposed in pairs with the ®rst and fourth toes of each foot directed backward and the second and third forward.

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fact that the CIO needs to be both technically competent and at the same time fully au fait as a business strategist and a business leader. These tasks not only require dierent skills and knowledge but they also require dierent mindsets. Individuals who are interested in technology are often quite dierent in personality and values to those who are interested in business or corporate strategy or leadership and ®nding these together in one person is often unusual. The President of an Executive search ®rm suggested (quoted in Kwak, 2001) that `the ideal CIO needs to be a marketer, a strategist, a technologist, a leader, an organizational behaviourist ± all those things.' But being able to move between technologist, strategist and leader is not the whole story. Another dimension of the need to be highly adaptable is the CIO's need continually to scan the information technology horizon to see what developments there are in the pipeline, both in the technology itself and its application. When appropriate new developments are identi®ed, change is again part of the scene when the CIO dons the cap of the impresario. In essence, CIOs are expected not only to be contributors to major change within the wider organisation (a change agent), but they are also expected to manage continuous and rapid change within their own area of responsibility (a target of change). As such, they need to be particularly skilled in exercising in¯uence on others (Enns et al., 2003) and overcoming behavioural barriers (Fiegener and Coakley, 1995), since they lack direct control over many of the factors that aect strategic systems success.

The CIO and the ability to see in multiple directions Corporate life is challenging for all senior executives. However, the complex nexus of functions and relationships within which the CIO works is particularly challenging. As a result the CIO needs to `keep an eye on' a wide range of current and future issues spanning across the various functions mentioned above. Thus, like the chameleon, the CIO needs to be able to see in several directions at once and to make sense of con¯icting inputs from these dierent directions. Here the notion of leadership and the ability to work with paradoxes is critical to success. In a recent survey of some 500 CIOs (CIO Insight, 2004), they saw their primary role as strategy alignment, determining technology strategy and leveraging technology for business advantage; and their top priorities for 2004 were alignment, creating a more adaptive and ¯exible organisation, ensuring security and business continuity and reducing the cost of doing business. A daunting list! It is also correct to say that because of the potential for the IT function to be political the CIO needs to be able to anticipate the possibility for criticism from a variety of sources. Thus the CIO, like the chameleon, clearly bene®ts from being able to see what is going on behind him or her.



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The CIO and the ability to strike fast when required There is little doubt that the speed of response of the IT function is a major issue in many organisations. In fact, the speed of delivery of information systems solutions is now regularly seen as a limiting factor in business agility and ¯exibility. According to Treacy and Wiersema (1993) quality and price have ceased to be dierentiators in business competitiveness, and rather that: `speed of implementation of new ideas now de®nes the edge.' This view is also clearly supported by Pritchett (1994) when he states: `We live in an impatient world, with ®erce competition and ¯eeting opportunities. Organisations that are lean, agile, and quick to respond, clearly have the edge.' In many organisations it is believed that this sense of urgency has not permeated down to the information systems department. In fact, a central problem is that traditional information systems development methods tend to mitigate against speed to market, agility, short cycle times and innovation. This has, in part, been due to the lack of tools available, but also an acceptance of the aphorism more haste, less speed. Some would say that the normal speed of the information systems development function is comparable to the slowmoving chameleon. But, for CIOs to succeed, it is necessary for them and the IT function to demonstrate the slow/fast character of the chameleon. On the one hand, they must provide the stability and incremental evolution of major infrastructure and key operational systems, while still being able to respond very quickly when a real need arises. Comparative advantage is sometimes a question of being a ®rst mover and this can require rapid action. Even if others have taken the ®rst mover's position, being a fast follower may be crucial. This is where the chameleon's ability to strike with a spring-loaded tongue becomes a useful analogy. When speed is required, it is really needed, and the CIO needs to be able to respond in good time to the corporate need while ensuring high quality systems.

The CIO and the ability to hang in or on The IT function is one which often faces changing fortunes. In some organisations the top management team will hold this function in high regard and consider it to be an integral part of the organisation's strategic assets and its core competencies. In other organisations it will continue to be seen as a cost ± a utility ± and will be on the agenda to be outsourced as soon as a suitable supplier is identi®ed. Even in organisations where it is clear that IT is strategic, there will be times when the IT function's star is in the ascendant and there will be times when IT will be regarded as a nuisance. According to Paul Strassman (1997), research has suggested that the average job-holding expectancy was about 30 months. (Note: other research disputes this ± Baatz (1996) argued that CIO turnover in major US corporations was little dierent than that of other `Cs'). Regardless, this is clearly not an encouraging situation and career survival is a key issue for many CIOs. This

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has lead to a second meaning being attributed to the three-letter acronym CIO which is ± career is over! Indeed, even when organisations develop good and appropriately aligned IT strategies they still suer doubts and may fail to stay on course (Hirschheim and Sabherwal, 2001). The CIO needs to have the strength of character that can persuade the naysayers to stick to the commitments and make sure the systems are implemented successfully and the bene®ts realised. After the bursting of the dotcom bubble and when budgets are under pressure, many CIOs are under great strain from many directions. For example, in a recent US survey (Overby, 2003) on the pressures facing CIOs in the US, issues of downsizing, budget cutting, outsourcing, status reduction and the need to deliver more value were all mentioned! It takes a tough-minded individual to be able to cope with this and the CIO needs to be able to take the rough with the smooth. When times are bad he or she will have to hang on like the chameleon on a branch in a strong wind. When times are good the CIO can relax as the chameleon does (while still keeping a lookout in all directions for the next challenge).

Summary and conclusion Being a successful CIO is no pushover. Those who are in this position or those who aspire to it need to be highly skilled, self con®dent and quite robust when it comes to taking criticism. This job is not suitable for those who are timid or who easily take oence. Perhaps to a greater degree than other `C' positions, it has continued to be a role undergoing constant change, and one that demands dierent skills for survival and success, depending on the timing and the business environment. For success it is essential to have the ability to change rapidly, be tolerant of ambiguity, contradictions and paradoxes, strike quickly when required and hang in when the going gets rough. But the opportunities are also signi®cant. Being a CIO can be a very rewarding experience in terms of status, relationships and ®nancial earnings. The activities of the CIO go to the very heart of the organisation. IT used strategically can substantially transform the business. The CIO is in a position to make a real dierence to the success of the business. Furthermore, he or she can directly help individuals to achieve greater results by providing them with and encouraging them to use technology in a successful way. By understanding these distinctive characteristics of the chameleon, the CIO can perhaps learn some lessons which can help make the most of the opportunities which this post brings and at the same time manage the complexities inherent in such a position.

References Applegate, L. M. and Elam, J. J. (1992), `New Information Systems Leaders: A Changing Role in a Changing World', MIS Quarterly, Vol. 16.4, December 1992. Baatz, E. B. (1986), `The Truth About Turnover', CIO Magazine, November 1, 1996.



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Brennan, J. (2002), `Seeing the Whole Board: Valuable lessons in IT thought leadership ± for the CIO and CEO', CIO Magazine, September 1, 2002. CIO.com CIO Insight (2004), `The CIO Role, Do You Have the Right Stu?', Zi Davis Media Inc, available at: http://www.cioinsight.com/article2/0,1397,1551609,00.asp CSC (1997), `Foundation Report 109: New IS Leaders', CSC Index Research, London, UK. Earl, M. J. (2000), `Perspectives: Are CIOs Obsolete?', Harvard Business Review, March-April, 2000. ÐÐ and Feeny, D. F. (1995), Ìs your CIO Adding Value?', The McKinsey Quarterly, Number 2, 1995. Enns, H. G., Hu, S. L. and Golden, B. R. (2003), `CIO In¯uence Behaviours: The Impact of Technical Background', MIS Quarterly, Vol. 27, No.1, March 2003. ÐÐ ÐÐ Higgins, C. A. (2003), `CIO Lateral In¯uence Behaviours: Gaining Peers' Commitment to Strategic Information Systems', MIS Quarterly, Vol. 27, No.1, March 2003. Farson R. (1997), Management of the Absurd Paradoxes in Leadership, New York: Touchstone, p23. Fiegener, M., and Coakley, J. (1995), `CIO Problems and Practices: Impression Management', Journal of Systems Management, Vol. 46.6, Nov/Dec. 1995. Gartner (2001), http://dijest.editthispage.com/discuss/msgReader$364 Gottschalk, P. (2000), ÌS/IT Leadership Roles', Proceedings of the 33rd Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences. ÐÐ (2001), Ìs the CIO the Future Leader of the Firm?', Henley Working Paper Series, HWP 0103. Grover, V, Jeong, S-R, Kettinger, W. J., Lee, C.C. (1993), `The Chief Information Ocer: A Study of Managerial Roles', Journal of Management Information Systems, Vol. 10, No. 2, Fall 1993. Guns, B. (1998), `The Chief Knowledge Ocer's Role: Challenges and Competencies', Journal of Knowledge Management, 1(4), June 1998, pp. 315±319. Haselkorn, M. P. (2003), `Chief Information Ocers and Technical Communication', Proceedings, IEEE Professional Communication Conference, Orlando, 2003. Hirschheim, R. and Sabherwal, R. (2001), `Detours in the Path toward Strategic Information Systems Alignment: Paradoxical Decisions, Excessive Transformations, and Uncertain Turnarounds', California Management Review, 44(1), Fall 2001, pp. 87±108. Karlgaard, R. (2002), Àmerica's Worst C-Title', Forbes, November 25, 2002. Kwak, M. (2001), `Technical Skills, People Skills: It's Not Either/Or', MIT Sloane Management Review, Spring 2001. Maruca, R. F. (2000), Àre CIOs Obsolete?', Harvard Business Review, March-April, 2000. May, T. A. (1995), `Chief information ocer ABCs', Information Management & Computer Security, 3(5), pp. 23±24. Melymuka, K. (2002), `35 Years of IT leadership: the evolution of the IT leader', Computerworld, September 30, 2002. Nolan Norton Institute, (2001), `Say goodbye to the CIO, welcome to the business prophet', Information Management & Computer Security, 9(3), pp. 123±125. Overby, S. (2003), `The Incredible Shrinking CIO', CIO Magazine, October 15, 2003. Patching. K. and Chatham, R. (2000), Corporate politics for IT managers, Oxford: Butterworth Heinemann, p3. Porter, M. (1980), Competitive Strategy: Techniques for Analysing Industries and Competitors, New York: Free Press. ÐÐ (1998), Competitive Advantage, New York: Free Press. Pritchett, P. (1994), New work habits for a radically changing world, Dallas Texas: Pritchett & Assoc., p. 10. Smith, R. D. (2003), `The Chief Technology Ocer: Strategic Responsibilities and Relationships', Research Technology Management, July/August, 2003. Software Human Resources Council (2003) Òccupational Skills Pro®le Model', SHRC available at: http://www.shrc.ca/ospm/index.html Strassman P. (1997), `The Price of Uncertain Leadership', Computerworld, November 10.

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Synnott, W. R. (1987), The Information Weapon, New York: John Wiley & Sons Inc. ÐÐ and Gruber, W. H. (1981), Information Resource Management: Opportunities and Strategies for the 1980s, New York: John Wiley & Sons Inc. Treacy, M. and Wiersema F. (1993), `Customer intimacy and other value disciplines', Harvard Business Review, Jan±Feb, pp. 84±93. Dr Dan Remenyi is a Visiting Professor in Information Systems Management at the School of Systems and Data Studies at Trinity College, Dublin and an associated member of Faculty at Henley Management College in the United Kingdom. His original academic interests are in the ®eld of information systems management and he has researched and been published widely in that area. Kenneth A. Grant teaches in the areas of IT Strategy, Knowledge Management, Process and Performance Improvement and Electronic Commerce and IT Consulting at the School of Information Technology Management at Ryerson University, Toronto. He conducts research and consulting work in these areas, with a particular focus on business and technology strategy and the strategic use of knowledge. He is also a frequent author and speaker on business and IT topics in both academic and business environments. Recently, he co-authored Innovation Nation: From Java to Jurassic Park (2002). Shaun Pather, in his capacity as Senior Lecturer in the Faculty of Business Informatics at Cape Peninsula University of Technology, is interested in investigating e-commerce success with reference to SMEs in the South African context. He also has conducted research into the motivational factors necessary to encourage academic research.



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