What Does a Chief Digital Officer Do? Managerial Tasks and Roles of a New C-level Position in the Context of Digital Transformation

Integrating "digital" into the DNA of their business models is an essential part of business success for companies across industries today. The digital transformation has become a critical management issue and requires new ways of managerial thinking. In this context, we address one of the fastest-growing phenomena at top management level: the establishment of Chief Digital Officers (CDOs). We adopt a phenomenon-based research methodology and describe the managerial tasks and roles of CDOs by conducting case studies across different industries. As a result, we present a first conceptualization of the CDO position, suggesting that CDOs primarily focus on the strategic and communicational aspects of the digital transformation and closely collaborate with their CIOs if both positions exist in a company.