Chapter 5 : Organizational Structures That Support Strategic Initiatives

Assalamualaikum,

Organizational structure refers to a sum of activities that have one single goal that is to achieve all of the organization's aim. Such activities can include task allocation, supervising, coordinating people or leading them. From the workers point of view, the structure of a company, represents how the workers see their company and how they perceive the environment they are working in. The most common form of organizational structure is the hierarchical structure. It is the most popular because it creates a simple and fair chain of responsibilities. Each person in a business has to answer to someone who is in a superior position.

Within Information Technology (IT), there are several IT- related positions such as chief information officer (CIO), chief technology officer (CTO), chief security officer (CSO), chief privacy officer (CPO), and chief knowledge officer (CKO).

Chief Information Officer (CIO) 

Chief Information Technology (CIO) is a job title commonly given to the person in an organization responsible for the information technology and computer system that support organization goals. Their task are :

• proposes the information technology an organization will need to achieve its goals 
• work within a budget to implement the plan
• analyzing and reworking existing business processes
• identifying and developing the capability to use new tools
• reshaping the organization's physical infrastructure and network access
• identifying and exploiting the organization's knowledge resources
• head the organization's efforts to integrate the Internet and the World Wide Web into both its long term strategy and its immediate business plan   

Chief Technology Officer (CTO)

Chief Technology Officer (CTO) is an executive whose primary responsibility is to manage and address technical issues that a company faces, including Research and Development (R&D). Also called Chief Technical Officer. Their task are :

• identify technology trends and evolving social behavior that may support or impede the success of the business
• collaborate with the appropriate departments to assess and recommend technologies that support company organizational needs.
• direct development and execution of an enterprise-wide disaster recovery and business continuity plan
• establish a governance process that meets government, partner and company expectations for customer information privacy 

Chief Security Officer (CSO)

Chief Security Officer (CSO) is the person who is responsible for the security of a company's communication and other business system, especially those now exposed to intrusion from outsiders on the Internet. Their task are :

•  involved in both the business (including people) and technical aspects of security
• include training others for security awareness
• developing secure business and communication practices
• purchasing security products 
• ensuring that security practices are being followed

Chief Privacy Officer (CPO)

Chief Privacy Officer (CPO) is a senior executive who manages policies and procedures on how an individual business handles and protects its client data. Client data encompasses a wide variety of information, such as personal e-mail addresses, account balances, credit scores, purchasing history and social security numbers. Their task are divided into two sections :

General 

• leadership for privacy program
• compliance related to privacy, security and confidentiality
• liaison to regulatory and accrediting bodies
• collaborate on cyber privacy and security policies and procedures 
• monitor systems development and operations for security and privacy compliance
• counsel relating to business partner contracts

Specific

• develop Corporate Privacy Policies & Procedures 
• use and disclosure of Protected Health Information (PHI)
• amendment/correction of PHI 
• access/inspection/copying of PHI

Chief Knowledge Officer (CKO) 

Chief Knowledge Officer (CKO) is a corporate title for a professional within an organization who oversees its knowledge management. Their task are : 

• actively promote the role of knowledge and knowledge management agenda both inside and outside of the organization
• build, develop and support an organizational culture that support the knowledge management effort
• develop, manage and measure knowledge assets
• create and share a vision for the organizational knowledge management effort, and develop strategy and coordinate activities that supports attainment of that vision
• innovating and optimizing the returns on investments in knowledge including people, processes and intellectual capital