Critical success factors for IS executive careers

This article qualitatively analyzes the Critical Success Factors (CSFs) for Information Systems (IS) executive careers based on evidence gathered from five case studies carried out in 1997. Typical IS executive career paths are presented within a time series style and the CSFs are interpreted within a descriptive framework by synthesising the case data based on Social Cognitive Theory. The descriptive framework suggests that successful IS executive careers would most likely be achieved by well educated and experienced IS employees who have the right attitude towards both their career and work, together with good performance. They would also exhibit an ability for self-learning and to anticipate future IT uses, as well as having proficient IS management knowledge and skills while working with an appropriate organizational environment. Moreover, the framework systematically indicates the interactions between the coupling factors in the typical career development processes. This provides a benchmark for employees that are aiming at a senior IS executive career against which they can compare their own achievements and aspirations. It also raises propositions for further research on theory building.

Building a strategy toolkit:lessons from business : executive briefings

In an increasingly competitive business environment, the ability to spot and seize new opportunities, to plot a path of successful growth for an organisation, and to use resources effectively and efficiently, becomes paramount. Managers have a number of management tools at their disposal to help meet the challenges that they face. By consulting with both business academics and alumni on their knowledge and use of strategy tools, this report contains a number of strategy tools that managers would benefit from being familiar and using in their work, particularly as their experience and seniority increases.

The impact of general intellectual ability and white matter volume on the functional outcome of patients with bipolar disorder and their relatives

Background: There is substantial evidence that cognitive deficits and brain structural abnormalities are present in patients with Bipolar Disorder (BD) and in their first-degree relatives. Previous studies have demonstrated associations between cognition and functional outcome in BD patients but have not examined the role of brain morphological changes. Similarly, the functional impact of either cognition or brain morphology in relatives remains unknown. Therefore we focused on delineating the relationship between psychosocial functioning, cognition and brain structure, in relation to disease expression and genetic risk for BD. Methods: Clinical, cognitive and brain structural measures were obtained from 41 euthymic BD patients and 50 of their unaffected first-degree relatives. Psychosocial function was evaluated using the General Assessment of Functioning (GAF) scale. We examined the relationship between level of functioning and general intellectual ability (IQ), memory, attention, executive functioning, symptomatology, illness course and total gray matter, white matter and cerebrospinal fluid volumes. Limitations: Cross-sectional design. Results: Multiple regression analyses revealed that IQ, total white matter volume and a predominantly depressive illness course were independently associated with functional outcome in BD patients, but not in their relatives, and accounted for a substantial proportion (53%) of the variance in patients' GAF scores. There were no significant domain-specific associations between cognition and outcome after consideration of IQ. Conclusions: Our results emphasise the role of IQ and white matter integrity in relation to outcome in BD and carry significant implications for treatment interventions. © 2010 Elsevier B.V.