Jimmy Z. Wang, vice president and CIO at Teva Pharmaceuticals-Americas, says all his decisions carry risk -- it's the nature of IT -- but he has strategies to manage it. One way is to rely on others, he says. "I gather with my direct reports to tell me what they think, what challenges or risks they see that I don't."
Wang says he and his staffers also cultivate a culture where they find ways to mitigate risks so they can successfully develop and deliver what's needed to help the company grow.
"Delivery is key for us. We partner with business, understand their challenges and come up with a technology and deliver a solution. That's part of our DNA," says Wang, 49, who has been with the North Wales, Pa.-based company for a decade.
He acknowledges that different divisions and employees have varying requirements, so he and his team spend time understanding those needs so they can develop the right technology to address them.
Wang says he's using this approach to respond to the consumerization of IT, developing policies to offer consumer-like devices such as iPads to workers who need the ease and functionality that they provide. "We could say no, but we came to the conclusion that we need to work with them," he says.
"The one word that everyone would use to describe him is 'partner,' " says Denise Bradley, vice president of corporate communications at Teva. "They know that he's going to do whatever he can to move the business forward."
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