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We conceptualize the new phenomenon of the Fractional Chief InformationOfficer (CIO) as a part-time executive who usually works for more than one pri-marily small- to medium-sized enterprise (SME) and develop promising avenuesfor future research on Fractional CIOs. We conduct an empirical study by drawingon semi-structured interviews with 40 individuals from 10 different countries whooccupy a Fractional CIO role. We derive a definition for the Fractional CIO, dis-tinguish it from other forms of employment, and compare it with existing researchon CIO roles. Further, we find four salient engagement types of Fractional CIOsoffering value for SMEs in various situations: Strategic IT management, Restruc-turing, Rapid scaling, and Hands-on support. The results reveal similarities withexisting CIO roles as well as novel insights concerning the different engagementtypes. Lastly, we propose a research agenda for the Fractional CIO field, based onfour research themes derived from existing CIO research and insights from theinterviews.

As small- to medium-sized enterprises struggle with IT management, an increasing number appoint Fractional CIOs, i.e., CIOs that work part-time for multiple organizations simultaneously. We use Q-methodology to empirically evaluate the relative importance of factors for Fractional CIO engagement success and find that trust, top management team support, and the Fractional CIO's integrity are most important. Further, we identify three groups of Fractional CIOs: Strategic IT Advisors, Full-ownership CIOs, and Change Agents. Our results guide organizations when hiring and working with Fractional CIOs and provide the basis for further research on Fractional CIO archetypes.As small- to medium-sized enterprises struggle with IT management, an increasing number appoint Fractional CIOs, i.e., CIOs that work part-time for multiple organizations simultaneously. We use Q-methodology to empirically evaluate the relative importance of factors for Fractional CIO engagement success and find that trust, top management team support, and the Fractional CIO's integrity are most important. Further, we identify three groups of Fractional CIOs: Strategic IT Advisors, Full-ownership CIOs, and Change Agents. Our results guide organizations when hiring and working with Fractional CIOs and provide the basis for further research on Fractional CIO archetypes.

For decades, the importance of information technology (IT) for organizations has continuously increased. To ensure effective IT management and operations, to enable the business, and to stay competitive, many large organizations appoint a Chief Information Officer (CIO) as their highest-ranked IT executive (Preston et al., 2008). While many small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) face similar challenges concerning IT, they often lack the resources to employ a full-time IT executive (Bhagwat & Sharma, 2007; Cragg et al., 2013). However, Kamariotou and Kitsios (2022) find that strategic planning and alignment with IT are important determinants for increasing an SME’s business value. An increasing number of SMEs started to employ CIOs part-time to avoid the risk of not staying competitive and losing business value (Moise, 2021; Pratt, 2022). Such so-called “Fractional CIOs” are often highly experienced and skilled individuals working for multiple SMEs simultaneously (Kratzer et al., 2022). By contracting a Fractional CIO, SMEs benefit in various ways. First, they get an experienced IT leader at a fraction of the cost. Second, they remain flexible concerning billable hours and the time horizon of the engagement. Third, they are receiving an outside-in perspective and might profit from the Fractional CIO’s experience gained from simultaneous engagements. Even though the Fractional CIO role benefits SMEs, adoption and awareness are still low. Further, substantial research on the novel role is missing. This dissertation aims to establish a new stream in CIO research that explores the role of the Fractional CIO. Our comprehensive literature review of the CIO research field provides the basis for this research (Kratzer et al., 2023b). As we explore this novel phenomenon, we are also interested in how to best report research findings. We, therefore, aim to conceptualize techniques to convey novel phenomena in information systems (IS) research in an illustrative way. Hence, we posed the following overarching research questions: RQ1: How can novel phenomena be communicated in an illustrative yet rigorous way in research papers? RQ2: What is the state-of-the-art in the CIO research field, and what are further avenues for research? RQ3: What concepts provide SMEs with the experienced IT executive management they need? RQ4: What makes Fractional CIO engagements successful? RQ5: How does the role of the Fractional CIO take shape in practice in the German market? These overarching research questions are answered through six consecutive publications. 1) 'Literary Sketches in Information Systems Research: Conceptualization and Guidance for Using Vignettes as a Narrative Form' This paper is conceptual and has a methodological focus on the use of vignettes. The paper contributes to the usage of vignettes as a narrative form in academic research, providing a taxonomy that structures vignettes and identifies three archetypes. By conceptualizing vignettes through a taxonomy and archetypes, we create transparency for the usage of vignettes, encourage the use of vignettes, and provide recommendations how to use them more rigorously. Long term, this might contribute to a better exchange between academia and practice through better comprehensibility of academic papers. 2) 'Four Decades of Chief Information Officer Research: A Literature Review and Research Agenda Based on Main Path Analysis' In this paper, we conducted a bibliographic literature review using main path analysis, which helped to objectively identify existing topics based on their importance. We also illustrated the knowledge flow in CIO research by identifying major and emerging research streams and analyzing their evolution over time. Additionally, we aggregated central papers in CIO research and developed a research agenda to provide guidance for future research. Overall, this paper helps to advance the understanding of the CIO research field and provides insights for researchers and practitioners. 3) 'The Fractional CIO in SMEs: Conceptualization and Research Agenda' With this paper, we were the first to conceptualize the role of the Fractional CIO and to develop a research agenda for this novel research field. The results from this paper contribute to research and practice in several ways. First, we are the first authors to conceptualize the role of the Fractional CIO, derive a definition, compare it to existing CIO role research, and derive four engagement types. Second, we develop a research agenda to guide future research in the new Fractional CIO research field. Third, we contribute to practice by promoting the role’s awareness among potential Fractional CIOs and organizations. Fourth, we show that Fractional CIO services are versatile and can benefit organizations of different sizes and maturity levels, and there are diverse possibilities for evolution. 4) 'What Makes Fractional CIO Engagements in SMEs Successful? – A Research Framework' In this paper, we developed a research framework for Fractional CIO engagement success. It makes contributions to research and practice. First, we propose a research framework for Fractional CIO engagement success and, therefore, develop a common ground for future research. Second, we provide practical advice for Fractional CIOs and SMEs regarding factors for engagement success. Third, we raise awareness about the Fractional CIO role that may benefit many SMEs around the world. 5) 'Factors for Fractional CIO Engagement Success' In this paper, we used Q-methodology to empirically evaluate the relative importance of factors influencing Fractional CIO engagement success and to identify different viewpoints on engagement success. Our paper makes several contributions to research and practice. First, our paper is the first to identify and evaluate the importance of factors for Fractional CIO engagement success. Therefore, it serves as a basis for further research in the new Fractional CIO research field. Second, we find that upper echelon theory (Hambrick & Mason, 1984) can be applied to executives independent of their contractual relationship in cases of comparable responsibilities. Third, by thoroughly applying Q-methodology, we showcase an exploratory tool for identifying opinions and preferences of participants and clustering them accordingly. This approach provides guidance for other IS scholars to apply it. Fourth, we develop preliminary archetypes of Fractional CIOs and, based on that, provide tentative advice for Fractional CIOs and organizations that hire them. These preliminary archetypes enabled us to identify further theoretical explanations of this phenomenon. In addition to transaction cost theory, agency theory, and upper echelon perspective, we found that stewardship theory and dynamic capabilities explain additional characteristics of Full-ownership CIOs and Change Agents. 6) 'Mehr als Vollzeit: Fractional CIOs in KMUs' This paper summarizes the results of our previous studies regarding the Fractional CIO role in German language and conducts semi-structured interviews with three Fractional CIOs from Germany to complement it with a perspective on the German market. Overall, we find that the Fractional CIO role in the German market is performed similarly to the international market. The interviewed German Fractional CIOs/CTOs could not clearly identify any hurdles that might explain the low adoption of the role. However, all three German Fractional CIOs agree that German SMEs would strongly benefit from Fractional CIOs. (References to be found in the full text)

Auch kleine und mittlere Unternehmen (KMUs) benötigen zunehmend ein effektives Informationstechnologie- (IT)-Management, um wettbewerbsfähig zu bleiben. Im Vergleich zu großen Unternehmen verfügen KMUs jedoch oft nicht über die Ressourcen, die Arbeitgeberattraktivität oder den Bedarf, um einen Chief Information Officer (CIO) in Vollzeit zu beschäftigen. Um diese Lücke zu schließen, hat eine wachsende Zahl von Expertinnen und Experten weltweit damit begonnen, CIO-Dienste in Teilzeit anzubieten. Auf diese Weise erhalten KMUs Zugang zu erfahrenen und kompetenten IT-Führungskräften zu einem Bruchteil der Kosten und ohne langfristige Verpflichtungen. Während diese so genannten „Fractional CIOs“ in der Praxis bereits einen Mehrwert schaffen, gibt es noch kaum wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zu diesem neuen Phänomen. In einem größeren Forschungsprojekt mit insgesamt 62 Fractional CIOs aus 10 Ländern wurden daher eine Definition, Typen verschiedenartiger Engagements und Erfolgsfaktoren abgeleitet. Die vorliegende Studie fasst die Ergebnisse zusammen und setzt sie in Bezug zum deutschen Markt, indem sie drei Fractional CIOs/CTOs aus Deutschland befragt. Es zeigt sich, dass die folgenden vier Engagement-Typen von Fractional CIOs für KMUs in verschiedenen Situationen von Nutzen sind: Strategisches IT-Management, Restrukturierung, Skalierung und Hands-on Support. Darüber hinaus zeigt die Studie, dass Vertrauen, die Unterstützung durch das Top-Management-Team und die Integrität des Fractional CIOs Schlüsselfaktoren für den Erfolg von Fractional CIO-Engagements sind. Für den deutschen Markt werden die Ergebnisse durch drei befragte Fractional CIOs/CTOs weitgehend bestätigt. Die Fractional CIOs/CTOs können zwar keine genauen Gründe für die geringe Akzeptanz der Rolle nennen, betonen aber ihr Wertpotenzial für den deutschen Markt.

Despite the relevance and maturity of the Chief Information Officer (CIO) research field, no studies exist that exhaustively summarize the current body of knowledge, focusing on the development of the field over its entire timespan. The paper at hand addresses this research gap and presents an exhaustive literature review on the CIO research field using main path analysis. We identify the central papers in CIO research and eight main research streams by quantitatively and qualitatively analyzing 466 papers. We find that established research streams, e.g., ‘Evolving role of the CIO’ and ‘CIO hierarchical position and relationships’ as well as recently emerging research streams, e.g., ‘CIO as business enabler’ and ‘CIOs and IT security,’ draw growing attention. Based on our findings, we develop promising further avenues for research in the CIO field.