How Incoming CIOs Transition into Their New Jobs

During their first year on the job, incoming CIOs use various approaches to establish their credibility and provide value to the organization. We interviewed 36 CIOs of large organizations across a variety of industries and categorized their transition approaches as either incremental or radical. Incremental means that during their first year, they initiated change in only one major area at a time—either IT human resources, IT processes, IT infrastructure, or IT’s relationship with the business. Radical means that within their first year, they simultaneously initiated change in at least three of the four major areas.