CHAPTER 5 : ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURES THAT SUPPORT STRATEGIC INITIATIVES

Organizational Structure

• Employees across the organization must work closely together to develop strategic initiatives that create competitive advantages.
• Understanding the basic structure of a typical IT department including titles, roles, and responsibilities will help an organization build a cohesive enetrpridewide team. 

IT Roles and Responsibilities

• Information technology is a relatively new functional area, having been around formally in most organizations only for about 40 years.

Most organizations maintain positions such as:

• Chief Executive Officer (CEO)
• Chief Financial Officer (CFO)
• Chief Operations Officer (COO)

There are more IT-related strategic positions such as :

• Chief Information Officer (CIO)
• Chief technology Officer (CTO)
• Chief Security officer (CSO)
• Chief Privacy Officer (CPO)
• Chief knowledge Officer (CKO)

The chief information officer (CIO) is responsible for:

1. overseeing all uses of information technology 
2. ensuring the strategic alignment of IT with business goals and objectives.

the CIO often reports directly to the CEO. Broad functions of a CIO :

1. Manager = ensure the delivery of all IT projects, on time and within budget.
2. Leader = ensure the strategic vision of IT is in line with the strategic vision of the organization.
3. Communicator = advocate and communicate the IT strategy by building and maintaining strong executive relationships.

The chief technology officer (CTO) is responsible for:

1. ensuring the throughput, speed, accuracy, availability. and reliability of an organization's information technology.

The chief security officer (CSO) is responsible for:

1. ensuring the security of IT systems and developing strategies and IT safeguards against attack from hackers and viruses.

The chief privacy officer (CPO) is responsible for:

1. ensuring the ethical and legal use of information within an organization.

The chief knowledge officer (CKO) is responsible for:

1. collecting, maintaining, and distributing the organization's knowledge. 

The Gap between Business Personnel and IT Personnel

1. Business personnel = possess expertise in functional areas such as marketing, accounting, sales, and so forth.
2. IT Personnel = have the technological expertise.

IMPROVING COMMUNICATIONS

• must seek to increase their understanding of IT
• to increase their understanding of the business
• responsibilities of CIO to ensure effectiveness communication between business personnel and IT personnel.

Organizational Fundamentals- Ethics and Security

ETHICS = the principles and standards that guide our behavior toward other people.

PRIVACY = is the right to be left alone when you want to be, to have control over your own personal possessions, and to not be observed without your consent.

Issues Affected by technology Advances

SECURITY - How much will Downtime Cost Your Business

The reliability and resilience of IT systems have never been more essential for success as businesses cope with the forces cope with the forces of globalization, 24/7 operations, government and trade regulations, and overextended IT budgets and resources. 




PROTECTING INTELLECTUAL ASSETS

Information security -  is a broad term encompassing the protection of information from accidental or intentional misuse by persons inside or outside an organization.