Nature Of CIO Position Power: Evidence From China

This paper extends the power theory established in western management literature to study Chinese CIOs’ position power. By conducting case study on six logistics companies, we investigate what CIO position power includes, how CIOs acquire the position power, and determining factors of CIO position power. We find Chinese CIOs typically have three kinds of legitimate position power (i.e., power of participating IT assessment activities, IT-enabled business process power, and data administration power) and coercive/punishment position power. They gain legitimate position power and coercive/punishment position power through different ways. In addition, we find that firm strategic orientation, CEO’s IT competency, and CIO tenure are factors that determine the nature of CIO position power.