by Mark P. McDonald | April 15, 2013 | Submit a Comment
Playing to Win is highly recommended as perhaps the first and one of the few books you should ever read about business strategy. Penned by the former CEO of P&G (AG Lafley) and the Dean of the Rothman Business School (Roger Martin) this book takes the esoteric and jargon based world of strategy and drives [...]
Category: Book Review Strategic planning Strategy Tags: Book Review, Strategy, Strategy and Planning
by Mark P. McDonald | March 20, 2013 | Submit a Comment
Last week the CIO Leadership Forum landed in London at Heathrow Terminal 5 where more than 250 CIOs shared their experiences, ideas and concerns. This week Huntington Beach California, outside Los Angeles hosted the North American event where more than 350 CIOs gathered to discuss the theme of “Digital Enterprise and Beyond.” Part of the [...]
Category: 2013 Digital Edge Digitalization Hunting and Harvesting in a Digital World Leadership Strategy Tags: 2013 Planning, IT Leadership, Strategy and Planning
by Mark P. McDonald | March 6, 2013 | 3 Comments
Digitalization requires a type of collaboration that spans the organization to create a digital edge based on an integrated customer experience. The idea of a ‘chief” role responsible for a specific aspect of the enterprise is not new but its getting a lot of attention and discussion. While it is easy to make the case [...]
Category: Digital Edge Digitalization Leadership Tags: Business Leadership, Business Management, Business Strategy, Digital Edge, Digitalization, Strategy and Planning
by Mark P. McDonald | March 5, 2013 | Submit a Comment
This week Gartner hosts its first Symposium in the Middle East and for those attending the event, my personal welcome. A Symposium represents an opportunity for a group of peers to gather and cover a wide range of complex issues. Information Technology professionals certainly face a range of complex issues as they look to hunt [...]
Category: 2013 CIO Digital Edge Tags: CIO strategy, gartnersym, IT and Business, IT strategy, Strategy and Planning, symposium
by Mark P. McDonald | March 1, 2013 | 1 Comment
Today starts sequestration; the term for the ‘draconian’ budget cuts in the U.S. The 6% across the board cuts to social programs and 8% cut for defense programs has been the subject of discussion, hyperbole, blame storming on all sides. CIOs are familiar with the idea of having to manage in an environment of broad [...]
Category: budgets CFO CIO Tags: 2013 Planning, CFO, IT and Business, Leadership, personal musing, Strategy and Planning
by Mark P. McDonald | February 22, 2013 | Submit a Comment
There are many ‘reasons’ why the C Level colleagues of the CIO should pay attention. Frankly many of those arguments about the power of technology, its strategic importance, etc. fall flat in the eyes of fellow C Level executives who have a tough time understanding the connection between technology and changes in business performance. Ask [...]
Category: 2013 Amplifying the Enterprise CFO CIO Leadership Management Strategic planning Strategy Tags: CIO Leadership, CIO strategy, IT strategy, Leadership, Strategy and Planning, Technology Leadership
by Mark P. McDonald | January 30, 2013 | 2 Comments
For years CIOs and researchers have highlighted the imperative for IT become a larger part of the business. The advice offered is for CIOs to be more strategic, business focuses, business relevant and the like have consumed tons of paper, millions of pixels and pounds of toner. Over the last 10 years the issue of [...]
Category: 2013 Digital Edge Digitalization Re-imagine IT Strategy Tags: IT and Business, IT Leadership, Strategy and Planning
by Mark P. McDonald | January 25, 2013 | 5 Comments
It is time for the annual IT kickoff and presentation of the 2013 IT strategy. The kickoff meeting offers a unique opportunity to assess IT, its role in the enterprise, its goals for the coming year, etc. These sessions provide insight into how isolated IT is from the rest of the enterprise. Here are ten [...]
Category: 2013 Strategic planning Tags: 2013 Planning, IT strategy, Strategy and Planning, Technology
by Mark P. McDonald | January 23, 2013 | 8 Comments
As more and more attention turns to digital technology (mobile, big data, social, cloud) the greater the temptation to invest in a ‘digital’ strategy. The idea sounds clear, simple and intuitive. Digital technology is complex both in terms of the technology itself and the relationships between the business and technology. That complexity and the relative [...]
Category: Digital Edge Digitalization Strategic planning Strategy Technology Tags: Digital Edge, Digitalization, Strategy, Strategy and Planning, Technology, Technology Leadership
by Mark P. McDonald | January 16, 2013 | 10 Comments
This morning I had the honor of appearing on CNBC to announce the results of the 2013 Gartner Executive Programs CIO survey and CIO agenda report. Follow this link to the video and this link to the press announcement. The title of this year’s report revolves around extending technology’s role in the enterprise to include [...]
Category: 2013 Digital Edge Digitalization Hunting and Harvesting in a Digital World Strategic planning Tags: 2013 Planning, IT Leadership, Strategy and Planning, Value of IT
