This paper examines the match between chief information officer (CIO) characteristics and the organization's
business strategy and how this match influences the organization's business performance. Based on the
theoretical underpinnings of typologies of business strategy, alignment between IT strategy and business
strategy and upper echelon theory, this study proposes a research model. This study uses survey data from
81 CIOs/IT managers to test the model empirically. The results indicate that a match between business strategy
and CIOs of certain repertoires of competencies, experiences and personalities could lead to better organizational
performance. The business performance in “matched” organizations is significantly better than that in
“mismatched” ones.