How are C-suite executives different? A comparative empirical study of the survival of American chief information officers

• There is a perception that the poor Chief Information Officer (CIO) is doomed to short job tenures due to the speed of technology refreshment.
• CIO contributes to the success of the organization and holds a strong relationship with the success of the management of technology.
• Scholars have not rigorously explored the key similarities and differences between the CIO and other members of the top management team.
• Scholars have implicitly assumed that CIOs are alike, regardless of industry, environment, gender, or gender composition of the top management team.
• By examining the survival patterns of the CIO, we find that CIOs have a great deal in common with other leaders.
• However, we also find substantial and sometimes disturbing differences within the CIO population.

This research employs non-parametric, semi-parametric, and parametric survival analysis methods to explore theory-based aspects of CIO and other C-suite executives' job tenures. We analyze a large data set of C-suite executives, including 400 CIOs, drawn from the public and private sectors, including federal, state, county and city agencies, and Fortune 500 firms. The data span 1994 to 2009, and include the job start and finish dates of the different executives, as well as relevant variables for the individual, organizational, market and technological environments that permit us to assess the patterns of their survivability. We report evidence to suggest that CIOs have more in common regarding survivability with other C-suite executives than is widely believed. We also report differences based on individual characteristics (gender, education, income, time in position), organization type (government versus Fortune 500), organization size, and reactions to changes in the stock market. In addition, CIO job tenures have grown longer from the early 1990s to the present day. Though there are few differences due to CIO gender, the relatively rare presence of female executives is associated with shorter job tenures for male executives.