Chief information officer role effectiveness: literature review and implications for research and practice is a recently published volume in the “Springer Briefs in Information Systems” series [1]. It seeks to add clarity and focus to the academic and professional debate about the emergence, expansion, and effectiveness of the chief information officer (CIO) position in organizations, and succeeds in doing so. It synthesizes almost 100 research studies into a valuable CIO role effectiveness model.

This research identifies six possible roles performed by CIOs: (1) technology provider, (2) strategic supporter, (3) business thinker, (4) innovator driver, (5) integration advisor, and (6) relationship manager.

Others are exploring this same territory. Singh’s research follows a similar path [2]; Alter provides practical advice about the relationship manager role [3]. Rossignoli elaborates on the nuts and bolts of managing information and technology from an organizational innovation and change perspective [4]. In a nutshell, these studies and papers reflect how challenging the position of a CIO can be, with job design, knowledge, and competency factors to be considered.

How a CIO can be effective in each role is described here in some detail. The compatibility of the six CIO roles is also examined; not all pair well together, which I can attest to from my own experience. In my job as a CIO for a community college, my chief executive officer (CEO) wanted me to be an innovation driver, preparing the organization for a digital future in the 21st century [5], while the other members of the top management team (TMT) primarily wanted a technology provider. Academics will appreciate the thorough description of the research design and methods utilized for this study, as well as the extensive list of references.

Senior human resources/organizational development (HR/OD) professionals will find the CIO role selection process developed by the authors useful when hiring new CIOs, and when assessing the departure of the previous one. HR leadership coaches will find the guidance for aligning TMT expectations and developing CIO performance metrics useful for collaborative coaching with CIOs. Organizational designers can utilize the role definitions and Simon’s spans of control, accountability, influence, and support to get the CIO’s job just right for the organizational context [6].

Most importantly, current and future CIOs will benefit from reading the model and discussion about roles and effectiveness, hopefully before it’s too late. Suggestions for further research are a comparison of the roles performed by the chief technology officer (CTO) versus that of the CIO, and an exploration of the future roles of a CIO [7].