The Chief Information Officer and Chief Financial Officer Dyad in the Public Sector: How an Effective Relationship Impacts Individual Effectiveness and Strategic Alignment

Within the domain of Information Technology Governance (ITG), the study of Chief Information Officer (CIO) relationships has historically focused on the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and the Top Management Team (TMT). Within knowledge-intensive, publicly funded, and not-for-profit organizations, the specific relationship between the CIO and the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) is a critical pairing, which impacts both individual effectiveness and strategic alignment. Findings from multiple case studies suggest that while the CIO and CFO pair are similar to other TMT relationships in many ways, their perceptions of the other's strategic role within the organization is a key differentiator that can lead to effective or adversarial relationships with individual and firm-level outcomes. The research model in this paper suggests that when the relationship is positive, both individual role effectiveness and strategic alignment improve.