Innovative IT climates_ CIO perspectives.doc

innovative it climates: cio perspectivesboston university school of management working paper #2004-07stephanie wattsassistant professor of information systemsboston university school of management595 commonwealth avenueboston, ma 02215tel: (617) 358-2330fax: (617) 353-5003andjohn c. hendersonprofessor of information systemsboston university school of management595 commonwealth avenueboston, ma 02215tel: (617) 353-6142fax: (617) 353-5003abstractin many organizations the cio is a key driver of business innovation. this research investigates how cios think about innovation and illustrates ways that cios foster innovative practices. we explore the concept of innovative it climates through qualitative analyses of interviews with 36 innovative cios, using a theoretical framework based on the climate literature. inductive grounded-theoretic methods are then utilized to develop two additional dimensions of innovative it climates reality checking and promoting credibility. findings expand our theoretical and empirical understanding of innovative it climates and provide practitioners with specific examples of how cios are actively working to create innovative it climates.keywords: innovative it, technology leadership, climate, cio2referencesanderson, n.r. and west, m.a. 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