This Vell research report on Characteristics of Successful CEOs investigates whether common perceptions regarding the predictors of CEO success are valid. The research uses data about public technology products companies in New England with over $100 M in revenues and their CEOs. Our research examines the correlation (or lack of) between a company's performance and the CEO's education, experience, tenure, age, reliance on an independent Chair, and whether the CEO came in as internal promotion vs. external hire. Not unexpectedly, technology companies differ from other companies in many significant ways. Although we work extensively with technology CEOs, some of the findings were surprising to us. For example, the predominance of founders among companies with revenues between $100 M $1 B was unexpected. Each topic has three sections. The Patterns Detected section summarizes the underlying distribution of our data set, e.g., the percent of CEOs who were founders by company size. The So Where Were the Differences section reports the correlation between corporate performance and the relevant characteristics, e.g., founders vs. non-founders. The Key Take-Aways section highlights the most striking conclusions.

Praise for the The Executive's Guide to Information Technology "This book is important reading. It offers practical, real-world insight and pragmatic no-nonsense approaches for people who have a stake in corporate IT. " --Lynda Applegate, Henry R. Byers Professor of Business Administration, Harvard Business School "Information systems and processes are very important parts of our due diligence assessment of a company--yet the jargon is often more difficult to understand than many foreign languages. Baschab and Piot effectively translate IT into words and concepts that businesspeople can easily understand and act upon. This book is a helpful reference guide for corporate executives and private equity groups of all types." --Neal Aronson, Managing Partner, Roark Capital Group "Business success increasingly depends on effective use of IT. Effective use of IT depends on the kind of in-depth, practical insight in this book. Baschab and Piot provide a pragmatic approach to information systems investment that should be required reading for senior executives and CIOs alike." --Erik Brynjolfsson, Schussel Professor of Management, Director of the Center for Digital Business, MIT "This book should provide valuable guidance for management and technology consultants. The Executive's Guide to Information Technology provides field-proven insight on all important aspects of IT planning and execution, from governance to applications to operations and infrastructure." --Gary J. Fernandes, former vice chairman, EDS, member of the Board of Directors, Computer Associates "Baschab and Piot do a great job of laying out the fundamental issues and challenges that every IT organization faces. More often than not, the issues are not technical in nature, but are a reflection of how the IT and business teams work together to define, execute, and implement new business tools. The threshold issue is leadership. Often it is difficult for business leaders to feel that they have the skills and perspective to provide that leadership on technical projects. The Executive's Guide to Information Technology provides non-technical business leaders a solid framework for engaging with their IT peers." --Tom Nealon, Chief Information Officer, J.C. Penney

The purpose of this book is to help IT organizations, and the enterprises they support, achieve greatness and be excellent work environments for employees. This greatness can only be achieved if there is excellent leadership. It is clear that business leaders are increasingly aware that technology can enable positive business change. Those business leaders who understand this best are demanding that their CIO and IT team become entrenched in the business planning process and be change agents for the business. This requires excellent senior IT leadership that can effectively lead technology teams that produce a product that enhances the ability of the core enterprise be winners in their market segment. Excellent information technology leaders have an aptitude for establishing great relationships with their team and with lateral managers. They are interested in producing a product that integrates with the enterprise. These are people who have a greater desire to coach their team than to make themselves looks good based on the results of their team. The CIO and team who bring the full power of technology value to the business will dramatically improve the enterprise's position in their industry and the position of the IT team in their enterprise. This book helps the information technologist understand the characteristics of information technology leadership and what it takes to be an effective leader of information technology teams.

As the field of information technology continues to grow and expand, it impacts more and more organizations worldwide. The leaders within these organizations are challenged on a continuous basis to develop and implement programs that successfully apply information technology applications. This is a collection of unique perspectives on the issues surrounding IT in organizations and the ways in which these issues are addressed. This valuable book is a compilation of the latest research in the area of IT utilization and management.