Hibbard (1998) reports that many CKOs have started out as management consultants with some of these people having backgrounds as diverse as library science and competitive intelligence. He notes that people with IT backgrounds often go into knowledge management to get closer to a firm's core business.
Earl and Scott (1998) indicate that CKOs are typically high-level appointments and that the individuals chosen for the position are usually members of senior management. Their profile of 20 CKOs reveals the following characteristics:
• There is no such thing as an average CKO: they come from a wide range of professional backgrounds and organizational expectations of them differ.
• Most CKOs know the businesses and cultures of their corporations from personal experience and all of them are established figures in their organizations.
• All of the CKOs are at least somewhat knowledgeable about, and are fully comfortable with, information systems and technology (though only a few have spent most of their careers in these fields).
• Almost all CKOs are in their 40s, suggesting that significant business experience is required.
• Most CKOs have direct access to the CEO or the chief executive of a major autonomous business unit.