Information is a key: Systematic literature review and empirical results on role configurations of chief information officers and chief digital officers

Abstract

In the context of the digitization of companies, the executive positions of chief information officer (CIO) and chief digital officer (CDO) are becoming more important. Based on a systematic literature analysis and an empirical survey among German companies, this article shows that there are clear overlaps and role conflicts between CIOs (Hunter, 2010) and CDOs (Kunisch et al., 2020) in company practice. However, the CDO in particular has some areas of responsibility, such as communicating the need for digitization in companies, which are not attributed to the CIO. These might therefore be seen as new tasks. In contrast, topics such as information technology (IT) costs and efficiency as well as strategy orientation, but also cybersecurity and IT governance are more likely to be seen as the responsibility of the CIO. Judging by the results of the literature analysis and the empirical study, it might be feasible to maintain both positions in the future.