Stories by: Thomas Hoffman

Five years ago, Jean Ritala was dating a businessman who started to demonstrate Jekyll and Hyde-like behavior. Well-spoken, charismatic and successful, he could also be manipulative and bullying, telling her that it was "his way or the highway."

When Jeff Steinhorn joined global energy firm Hess Corp. as CIO of its marketing and refining division in 2006, he discovered within the first two months of his tenure that the IT organization had historically taken a short-term approach to project planning.

Merrill spoke to us before he announcing his move from the search giant.

When Jeff Steinhorn joined Hess Corporation as CIO of its marketing and refining division in the summer of 2006, he discovered within the first two months of his tenure that the IT organization had historically taken a short-term approach to project planning.

In an interview last month, Douglas Merrill, Google's CIO until he was hired Thursday as president of EMI's digital business division, talked about how the Internet search pioneer's IT organization is configured (not structured), how CIOs need to evolve and the most exasperating question that people ask him at cocktail parties.

When CompuCredit began feeling the sting of the subprime mortgage mess and resulting credit crunch toward the end of last year, CIO Guido Sacchi's IT organization was forced to absorb a 20 per cent year-over-year hit to its annual IT budget.

For nearly 30 years, John Hagel has advised corporate executives on how to use IT to push business strategies or create new business models. So when the renowned author and management consultant was recently approached by officials at Deloitte & Touche USA to help launch a research center for technology and business strategy in Silicon Valley, he leaped at the chance. But Hagel isn't taking the plunge alone. He will share the role of co-chairman of the as-yet-unnamed research center with his long-time cohort and co-author John Seely Brown. The center was started in San Jose a few weeks ago and will eventually move to Palo Alto, California.

Although many corporate board members believe that IT strategy is important, most directors admit that they don't pay adequate attention to technology issues, according to a study released by Deloitte Consulting LLP.

The former CIO at Burlington Northern Santa Fe and Delta Air Lines sees a bright 2007, where CIOs and CXOs fuse together to create 21st-century companies.

The era of the single leader is over, says Warren Bennis, one of the world's foremost authorities on organizational development, leadership and change. And if that's a surprise, it shouldn't be.

The co-inventor of Ethernet says the biggest IT story of the year won't be Vista, but rather, video.