Dimensions of information technology governance: A study of theory and practice

The emergence of corporate governance is the response to recent high profile collapses of organisations such as Enron and WorldCom. Because of the ubiquitous nature of Information Technology (IT) and its influence on organisational activities, IT governance is increasingly seen as an integral part of corporate governance. However, existing literature shows the lack of a common understanding of IT governance due to various perspectives held amongst academics and practitioners. For example, schools of thought group IT governance according to structure with an emphasis on control and co-ordination or process with an emphasis on capability and continuity. The purpose of this research was to identify the key dimensions of IT governance from existing best practice frameworks and academic literature and to examine how they are reflected in the IT governance practices of organisations. Various legislations (e.g. Sarbanse-Oxley Act, 2002), best practice frameworks (e.g. Val IT, COBIT) and the writings of academic researchers (e.g. Van Grembergen, Weill & Ross) were reviewed which resulted in the synthesis of the following four key IT governance dimensions: Structures, People, Processes and IT Decision Domains, which were further divided into a set of sub-dimensions. Among the domains of IT governance, risk management and value delivery are regarded as core and, as such, provided the focus for the empirical part of the research. Four major universities located in Perth, Western Australia, chosen as case studies, constituted two equal groups based on their relative emphasis of IT governance, viz. risk management or value delivery. The case study methodology was justified on the basis of the relative newness of the research domain and enabling how , what and why questions to be explored. Semi-structured interviews with the IT Directors I CIOs of the four case organisations were conducted in which their IT governance (risk management/value delivery) practices were mapped against the identified theoretical dimensions. Data triangulation enhanced validity and reliability by using multiple data sources such as data from organisations\u27 websites. Interviews were transcribed and computer-based qualitative data analysis software (NVivo) was used to build the case study database and to analyse data against the theoretical IT governance dimensions. First, a within case analysis provided what and how insights followed by cross case analysis in which why aspects are discussed. This study found that IT governance is shaped by a number of sub dimensions, particularly organisational culture and leadership. They drive how IT governance is implemented and accepted within the participating organisations and influence whether or not an IT governance culture will be ingrained into the organisation. In addition, a strategy balancing formal, such as committee meetings, and informal communications, such as dialogues and networks, seemed to influence IT governance. lt was notable that performance tracking was a weak and immature dimension and further attention is required from the participants to clarify what and how to measure the progress of IT governance. Finally, it was generally accepted that IT governance should be viewed from a holistic perspective to be able to oversee, coordinate and integrate all the constituents including processes, tools, structures and resources. The study findings enabled recommendations to be formulated to provide practical advice to other, similar organisations. The thesis recognises a number of limitations which provide opportunities for further research. Among them are the nature of IT governance dimensions developed for this study and the research design which limits the potential for generalisation. By using this study as a reference point, future research can be expanded into different directions, such as examining IT governance in a wider context (e.g. different domains and sectors), establishing the influences of the characteristics of IT managers I CIOs (e.g. management traits) and developing progress towards IT governance maturity (i.e. a longitudinal study)

Active citizenship and neighborhood governance; North-Western literature and Global South realities

The research leading to this review is sponsored by a PhD scholarship from the Egyptian Ministry of Higher Education under the name of “Missions call for 2015-2016”.Active citizenship related to neighborhood governance is dependent on the political and governance structures of its context, and is therefore different in the Global North and the Global South. Local active citizenship is often presented from a North-western perspective, with its own active culture of engagement. In contrast, it is often shaped by an unfamiliar culture of engagement in parts of the Global South. This difference questions the applicability of the leading literature in understanding Global South realities. The paper aims to answer this question by reviewing the literature on local activism in both contexts. This review elaborates on the commonality of "context"; while highlighting the variation of "right-based vs. need-based" and "state-citizen collaboration vs. selective state-citizen collaboration" as central dimensions of local activism in both worlds. In result, we conclude that the leading literature on active citizenship in the context of neighborhood governance is limited in its explanation of local activism found in parts of the Global South. Finally, this review paper contributes to inform future empirical research on how to better understand neighborhood activism in contexts of the Global South. In this regard, the deduced commonalities and variations offer a starting point to scholars and offer dimensions which could be investigated to improve our understanding of active resident groups, and eventually contribute to more effective local activism.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Ethical Dimensions of Corporate Governance Practice in Ghana: Building a Theoretical Perspective

Having dominated policy agenda in developed economies for well over three decades, corporate governance is now getting to the top of the policy agenda in developing countries (Abor and Adjasi, 2007). However, the issues of corporate governance have focused on the major shareholders and institutional shareholders of the organization while little or no attention has been paid to public sector and the private enterprises in developing countries. This has been ignored by the literature. This study investigates the ethical dimensions of corporate governance practice in Ghanaian public sector and private enterprises. It aims to understand the phenomena of governance practices in this context and examine its implications for good corporate governance systems in Ghana. Using grounded theory methodology, data was collected from 28 semi structured interviews with board of directors and senior officials, and group discussion of 9 participants, mainly directors and officials involved with Ghanaian corporate governance system. The interviews were informed by the survey of governance practice. Through the constant comparative method of open coding of interviews, categories emerged which were subsumed into main categories during the axial coding. The paradigm model was used to establish the relationship among the categories. This formed the basis for the selective coding which identified the core category and its relationships with the sub-categories, verified to develop the substantive theory of corporate governance systems. The study explored the relationship between culture relativism and universalism and the formal theory in terms of stakeholder theory and shareholder theory. The substantive theory identifies that corporate governance practice in the public sector and private enterprises is influenced by traditional cultural values which has implications for ethical business environment. This study is the first attempt to combine corporate governance, grounded theory and national level culture in public sector and business enterprises, and to offer relevant recommendations for policy-makers. The substantive theory demonstrate that corporate governance systems are socially constructed and as such understanding the behaviour of board of directors is vital for understanding how corporate governance is practiced.. The study contributes to better understanding of governance practice in the public sector organisations and the informal secto

Investigating the Effects of Corporate Governance of Banks in Nigeria: A Grounded Theory Approach

This thesis investigates the phenomena that underlie corporate governance practices in the Nigerian banking sector (NBS); the purpose is to understand the nature of corporate governance and the factors influencing it. It offers a response to a number of concerns raised about the effectiveness of banks’ corporate governance practices, especially before the consolidation reform and during the 2007-2009 global financial crisis. Culture and leadership are identified as providing the most suitable theoretical framework for this study, and through grounded theory (GT), an empirical study is undertaken to identify the nature of corporate governance practices in banks, the factors that influence such practices and the outcomes of this influence. The GT methodology is used in the following ways: First, a comparative analysis is performed in the open coding stage, based on first and second series of semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions conducted with the executive managers of the 24 quoted banks in Nigeria, officials from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), representatives of the Nigerian Deposit and Insurance Corporation (NDIC), and other stakeholders. The open coding leads to the development of eight open categories, their properties and dimensions based on the responses garnered from the interviews and focus groups. Second, through axial coding, the identified open categories are subsumed into higher categories, and the relationships among these categories are established by means of the paradigm model. The paradigm model provides the basis for the development of a substantive GT. Third, through the selective coding process, based on a third series of semi-structured interviews that identify human action and a lack of leadership as core categories, relationships with other sub-categories are verified, which eventually leads to the presentation of the substantive theory of corporate governance for banks. This theory perceives corporate governance practice in banks to be affected by human actions and a lack of leadership. This substantive theory is then explored in relation to the formal theories of culture and leadership; this offers an understanding of the corporate governance of banks in Nigeria and explains the relevance of the formal theories more clearly. Furthermore, the idea of the social contract in relation to cooperation and trust is presented as a tool with which to address free-rider issues. The use of GT is extended to explore the phenomena underlying corporate governance in the given context, providing a better understanding of the influence of culture and leadership in corporate governance theorising. Finally, this thesis is the first attempt to combine the GT methodology, corporate governance and the theories of culture and leadership, and to offer insight into how to address the identified issues using the social contract strategy through trust and cooperation, making it a useful guide on corporate governance for banks.Self Sponso

Culture Rules: The Foundations of the Rule of Law and Other Norms of Governance

This study presents evidence about relations between national culture and social institutions. We operationalize culture with data on cultural dimensions for over 50 nations adopted from cross-cultural psychology and generate testable hypotheses about three basic social norms of governance: the rule of law, corruption, and accountability. These norms correlate systematically and strongly with national scores on cultural dimensions and also differ across cultural regions of the world. Regressions indicate that quantitative measures of national culture are alone remarkably predictive of governance, that economic inequality and British heritage add to predictive power, but that economic development and other factors add little. The results suggest a framework for understanding the relations between fundamental institutions of social order as well as policy implications for reform programs in transition economies.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/39991/3/wp605.pd

The Effect of Organizational Cultures on Relationships between IT Governance and Individual Behavior

Background: Organizations allocate substantial resources to Information Technology (IT) to ensure its long-term success. Hence, effective IT Governance (ITG) is crucial for business/IT alignment. However, factors like employee behavior and Organizational Culture (OC) play vital roles in applying ITG but remain underexplored. Objectives: This study aims to bridge this gap by examining the relationship between ITG and Organizational Citizenship Behavior (OCB). Additionally, it investigates the moderating effect of different cultures in the Organizational Culture Assessment Instrument (OCAI) on the ITG-OCB relationship. Methods/Analysis: A survey was conducted involving 513 employees from over 150 companies worldwide. The data were analyzed using partial least-squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). Findings: This study confirms that institutionalizing ITG enhances OCB. Furthermore, a moderating effect was observed in most relationships, highlighting the influence of different OC types. Market and hierarchy cultures exhibited the most significant moderating effect. Novelty: This research contributes to the understanding of ITG's impact on employee behavior, extending the investigation to new dimensions of OCB and confirming the moderating role of OC. The practical implications of this study enable organizations to foster a culture that promotes ITG and cultivates employees' OCB, leading to improved business-IT alignment, enhanced IT-enabled value, and, ultimately, enhanced organizational effectiveness. Doi: 10.28991/ESJ-2023-07-05-010 Full Text: PD

Developing E-Government Maturity Framework Based on COBIT 5 and Implementing in City Level: Case Study Depok City and South Tangerang City

The use of E-Government in achieving good governance has been done by government to serve citizen nowadays. However, not all local government were able to implement it. PeGI that has been used as a benchmark to check government’s readiness rate in implementing E-Government can’t describe all process that need to be assessed in developing local E-Government. Moreover, the emergence of social problems, such as organizational culture and human resource management which inhibits maturation of local E-Government. Therefore, it needs one general maturity framework which capable to guide local government to develop their own E- Government and able to address social problems that arise. This study  is the incorporation of previous research results using meta-synthesis method combine with best practice, primary in COBIT 5 that has been adjusted to address a factor of social problems. The design framework begins with identifying  the business principle of local government, stakeholders, concerns, requirements, and obstacles; thus, produced a model of maturity framework that has six types stages, eight types dimensions, four types main categories and 69 types sub-category of assessment processes. In the end, after the framework was tested and evaluated, we can conclude this framework already comply with PeGI’s result. From local government who had the best PeGI’s result, they had main problem in social issues and in documenting process. For local government with very low PeGI’s result, they had common constraints related to IT (low understanding of IT governance and IT management, lack of infrastructure, human resources, and understanding how to use IT Master Plan)

Governance and Culture – a New Approach to Understanding Structures of Collaboration

The paper aims to contribute to a better understanding of structures of collaboration and their underlying logic by combining theories on Governance and (Planning) Culture. By the introduction of an integrative approach, called the ‘The Culture-Based Governance Analysis’, aspects of both discourses are combined. Factors from the Governance discourse, providing analysis on the frameworks of collaboration, were integrated with factors from the Culture discourse, providing analysis of the underlying reasons for people collaborating or not. This novel approach provides a way to analyze and understand how existing collaborations have developed and the basis on which they operate. As a further step, it enables planners to use this knowledge for the establishment of future collaborations between already active as well as not yet involved actors, for example, in urban redevelopment processes

Organisational culture in airworthiness management programs: Developing a measurement model

All civil and private aircraft are required to comply with the airworthiness standards set by their national airworthiness authority and throughout their operational life must be in a condition of safe operation. Aviation accident data shows that over twenty percent of all fatal accidents in aviation are due to airworthiness issues, specifically aircraft mechanical failures. Ultimately it is the responsibility of each registered operator to ensure that their aircraft remain in a condition of safe operation, and this is done through both effective management of airworthiness activities and the effective program governance of safety outcomes. Typically, the projects within these airworthiness management programs are focused on acquiring, modifying and maintaining the aircraft as a capability supporting the business. Program governance provides the structure through which the goals and objectives of airworthiness programs are set along with the means of attaining them. Whilst the principal causes of failures in many programs can be traced to inadequate program governance, many of the failures in large scale projects can have their root causes in the organisational culture and more specifically in the organisational processes related to decision-making. This paper examines the primary theme of project and program based enterprises, and introduces a model for measuring organisational culture in airworthiness management programs using measures drawn from 211 respondents in Australian airline programs. The paper describes the theoretical perspectives applied to modifying an original model to specifically focus it on measuring the organisational culture of programs for managing airworthiness; identifying the most important factors needed to explain the relationship between the measures collected, and providing a description of the nature of these factors. The paper concludes by identifying a model that best describes the organisational culture data collected from seven airworthiness management programs