IT Management
Objective
Technology is considered one of the cornerstones for success of any business organization in the contemporary market. However, technology is dynamic in nature, as it changes rapidly from time to time. To keep up with these changes, it implies that an organization should keep updating its technology over time; otherwise, its technology would become obsolete. This is particularly relevant in the case of publishing companies. The in this case, objective is to assess the implications of hiring a new leader to oversee the transformation of the information technology department in Penguin Group publishing Company. Besides, the company also intends to implement a reorganization and downsizing strategy in this department, with a change in focus to managing outsourced services. To achieve this objective, interest would be placed on examining the trends behind the changes within IT management and governance, which would form the basis of the qualifications required of the new manager to oversee the above mentioned functions. Particularly, this could be achieved through assessing the changing roles of CIO with the invention of new technologies.
Penguin Group, initially penguin Books, is a Canadian publishing company that was established in 1974. Its head office is located in Toronto, Ontario, but it has various outlets throughout Canada. At its formative stages, the company was a distribution outlet for Penguin International. The company started its publishing operations in 1982, and was known for publishing homegrown Canadian work. The main objective of this company is to publish books that speak to the broad learning public, as well as to address primary issues regarded as socially important. A point to note is that the company frequently produces controversial books, dealing with diverse subjects including health care crisis, Canadian nationalism, the misfortunes of homelessness and mental disorders, and the role of Canada in the economy of the world (Penguin Group).
The company is well known for publishing a wide range of experienced and talented authors including Joseph Boyden, Stuart Mclean, Johanna Skibsrud, Jack Whyte, Guy Gavriel Kay, Adrienne Clarkson, and John Ralston. From an international perspective, it publishes and distributes books of global authors such as Elizabeth Gilbert, Kathryn Stockett, Khaled Hosseini, Zadie Smith, Philip Roth, among others (Penguin Group).
Penguin Group is among the leading employers in Canada. The company strives for a diverse workforce that is a reflection of its customers and the community at large. It takes into consideration candidates from various educational and professional backgrounds to run its businesses. Although the company does not precise targets for recruitment, or preferment of specific groups, it emphasizes on ensuring that a diverse pool of workforce is hired. The business of the company comprises of design and production, as well as marketing and sales (Penguin Group).
The Company operates in a highly competitive market. There are a large number of publishers, both established and upcoming, in Canada. The company has managed to stand out among these competitors, thanks to its huge investments in advanced technology as well as other strategic measures. However, to continue being among the market leaders, the company has to keep on investing in new technology, or updating the existing one (Penguin Group).
CIO trend
The Chief Information Officer (CIO) is among the most influential leaders when it comes to Information Systems Leadership. He is responsible for guiding an organization in acquiring and implementing IS that could assist the organization to cope with the ever changing technology requirements. Nevertheless, intense changes in the industry are influencing the role that the CIO as well as the potential foundations of the value of the CIO (Earl and Feeny, 11). Over the years, roles and responsibilities of CIO have changed, and this is attributed to a shift in the role that technology plays in an organization. As such, the demand of IT managers has shown an increasing trend specifically in the United States, and generally in the global market (Ross and Feeny, 389).
In the past 50 years, considerable changes have been observed in IT management. Initially, IT management was seen as a basic functioning (Elena and Richard 71). At some point, it was seen as a cost reduction, before it gained popularity in supporting the decision-making process. Current, management of IT plays pivotal role in inter-organizational supply-chain as well as business eco-system (Preston, 25). Based on these shifts, IT executives have been bestowed upon the responsibility of providing IT vision and leadership. Modern CIO is expected to participate in various aspects within the organization. For instance, the CIO takes part in leadership, through developing its vision through understanding its business. He is also expected to give a hand in governing through establishing the structure of IS governance (Enns, Huff and Golden, 14). With regard to investing, CIO is expected to shape the IT portfolio. Lastly, in the case of the managing role, the CIO is responsible for creating integrity, IT functions management, and nurturing change within the organization. All these illustrate the changing trend in the roles and responsibilities of the CIO in the modern organizational set-up (Smaltz, Sambamurthy and Agarwal, 213).
Works Cited
Earl M.J and Feeny, D.F “How to be a CEO for the information age,” Sloan Manage. Rev; 2000, Vol. 41, no. 2, p. 11
Elena Karahanna and Richard Thomas, W. Information Systems Leadership. IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management, 2006 Vol. 53, No 2.
Enns, H. G., Huff , S. L., and Golden, B. R. “How CIO’s obtain peercommunication to strategic IS proposals: Barriers and facilitators,” Strategic Inf. Syst., vol. 10, pp. 3–14, 2001.
Penguin Group.Com, 2014
Preston, D.S. Shared Mental Models Between the Chief Information Officer and Top Management Team: Toward Information Systems Strategic Alignment. Athens, GA: Dept. MIS, Univ. Georgia, 2004.
Ross, J.W and Feeny, D.F “The evolving role of the CIO,” in Framing the Domains of IT Management: Projecting the Future Through the Past, R.W. Zmud, Ed. Cincinnati, OH: Pinn Flex, 2000, pp. 385–402.
Smaltz, D.H Sambamurthy, V and Agarwal, R. “The antecedents of CIO role effectiveness in organizations: An empirical study in the healthcare sector,” IEEE Trans. Eng. Manage., 2006, Vol. 53, no. 2; 207–222
