Unravelling the Mind of the CEO: an Information Management Study of Ten Chief Executive Officers

Abstract

This research addresses the problem of describing the information management behaviour of Chief Executive Officers (CEOs). CEO Information Management is about how CEOs manage the information which they receive each day. This is an important area for research because, by better understanding how executives work, it should be possible to prescribe schemes (computer-based executive support systems or other) for improving the personal effectiveness of senior executives. The thesis begins with an extensive review and critical discussion of the management literature about CEOs, their jobs, and how they work with information. The review and discussion provide the foundation for the development of a single research hypothesis to identify, differences in the patterns of information management behaviour of a set of CEOs. To test this hypothesis, a model of CEO management behaviour is proposed. Along with an associated set of research instruments, an extensive case study protocol is developed which provides guidelines for the administration, coding and analysis of interview data. The research protocol was used to analyse the 480 information events identified in 10 case studies. Case studies were conducted to document the daily information management behaviour of 10 New Zealand CEOs. Each CEO was observed and interviewed over a 10-day period; their Personal Assistants were also interviewed. These cases are contextually rich in that they recount the "stories" behind information events in considerable detail, with careful attention to nuances. The information events are those that CEOs considered important in shaping their thinking about their organisations. The main findings from this study support the research hypothesis by concluding that all 10 CEOs in this study displayed distinctive "information personalities" during the period of observation. This study was able to describe various aspects of these differences. Other important findings to emerge from this study are that CEOs make few decisions, that CEOs need to develop schemes of "issues management" and "active reflection," and that "CEO loneliness" is a serious problem for senior executives. Finally, the study identifies some important implications for management theory and practice and suggests some possible ways of extending the research area of CEO Information Management.