Delegation: The Biggest Test For Transformational CIOs
CIO, January 19th, 2023
Distributing decision-making authority at pace for technical and financial approvals is an essential component of digital transformation, but are CIOs ready to let go?
Two events influenced Schneider Electric CIO Elizabeth Hackenson to distribute more decision-making authority throughout the company's IT organization. 'During the pandemic we needed to have people make as many local decisions as possible,' which she says was essential to keep operations moving across the 100 countries in which the company operates. More importantly, the company's push toward digital transformation required that IT speed up its decision-making processes. Schneider Electric's IT organization achieved that goal by reducing the layers for technology- and budget-related approvals, and by trusting managers and staff to make as many of those decisions as possible within the company's 'delegation of authority pathways' framework.