Free How Cios Overcome The Competing Values Challenge Article Review Sample

Perhaps the most demanding task for any chief information officer (CIO) of a company is gaining the support of their colleagues for new projects within their firms—in the face of competing values. Enns, Mc Farlin and Sweeney (2011) performed focused interviews with Irish CIOs regarding the influence process and the competing values phenomenon. In this article, two propositions were proposed: (1) everything else being equal, influence attempts are less likely to result in commitment to the new initiative when competing values exists between CIOs and the targets of their influence attempts; and (2) the impact of competing values on the target’s response will be moderated by the CIO’s influence approach. The qualitative study done was able to shed light on the phenomenon of competing values: CIOs that did not have any competing values were able to influence executives for support, while those who did face competing values were also successful, albeit with much difficulty compared to the former. Although this should not be used to draw practical conclusions from, it does tell something about the nature of competing values; that its absence may mean a greater chance of success for a project and its absence may mean a harder time to influence change. Nevertheless, skillful executives can overcome this form of resistance to successfully influence other executives, with the right combination of influence behaviors and management.
Competing values are a reality of any organizational life, but this does not mean that having it would stop the organization. With proper management, even the most unmoved executive can be influenced. As CIO of my company, this article tells me that my reach does not end in my department. I have to influence others, and compete with their values, to push my ideas. I have to keep in mind that these should all be for the good of the company. This article could help in decision making within the company and in keeping in mind what the other executives’ values are. Companies like mine need to make better decisions because of volatile economic conditions and daunting competitive challenges, thus having knowledge of competing values would help in doing so.
As CIO, this article tells me a reality that I have to face, as I am one of the executives. Indeed, there would always be, at some points, values clashing between executives. People would not agree, or sometimes people would fully agree with you. Indeed, a job like a CIO requires nerves of steel. Perhaps the most daunting part is that there is always a remote chance that someone disagrees with you in your company, just because of values that do not agree. Moreover, influencing subordinates to enthusiastically follow your project ideas may also come as a challenge, especially if they do not see anything good for them coming from it. Similar to the other factors influencing decisions, it pays to always look to both sides of the coin. Risking, as in any other business, will always be a part.