How common is this scenario?:  The CIO needs to improve the quality and credibility of the firm's IT implementations, but since he lacks the money and resources he believes would be needed, he's looking for a less expensive way to boost IT's performance.

If he asked you, what would you recommend?  Beats me as well, but Michael Schrage, co-director of MIT's Media Lab and a monthly columnist for CIO magazine, has a snappy comeback:  Fire the right person. 

And don't kid yourself that you don't know who that is:  It's the person who's the consistent obstacle to bringing projects in on time, who's the prima donna, who may be a brilliant coder but who views his peers as jerks. 

Are there reasons to keep that person?  There always are.  Firing someone is, we hasten to add, a drastic measure not to be undertaken without contemplating the potential fallout to morale, not to mention the pain inflicted on the fire-ee. 

But a "strategic" firing can deliver a powerful message, and for sheer thriftiness among competing tactics it can't be beat.  Give it some thought.