Chief Digital Officer (CDO): Literaturanalyse und Handlungsempfehlungen für die Praxis

In order to remain competitive in the age of digitalization, and to facilitate digital transformation in organizations, companies are increasingly creating the position of the Chief Digital Officer (CDO). To support companies in making decisions about the establishment and alignment of the CDO position, we have systematically analyzed the academic literature within the following areas: (1) reasons to hire a CDO, (2) CDO tasks, (3) CDO requirements, and (4) the CDO position vs. the Chief Information Officer (CIO) position. In the academic literature, the strategic management of changes is cited most frequently as the reason for hiring a CDO. In line with this, the digitalization and the implementation of digital transformation was the most frequently mentioned CDO task, and strategic and business-oriented thinking was the most frequently mentioned CDO requirement. Further, the CDO is predominantly seen as a strategist and the CIO primarily as the person responsible for the IT infrastructure. Based on the results of the literature analysis, we give recommendations for decision-makers in practice who want to get an overview of the possible establishment and alignment of the CDO position.