Using the Viable System Model to Study IT Governance Dynamics: Evidence from a Single Case Study

This paper presents a single descriptive case study in which the viable system model (VSM) is used as a theoretical lens to model an organization’s contemporary IT governance system. The case presented herein was selected specifically for being a digitized company of which we knew that a lot of effort was put recently in their IT governance system. We find that the case company’s IT governance system maps well to the structure and underlying logic of the VSM. This paper contributes to the literature by providing an empirical justification exemplar on the applicability of systemic thinking in general, and the VSM in specific, for modelling enterprise governance and management of IT

Board Engagement in IT Governance: Opening Up the Black Box of IT Oversight Committees at Board Level

Researchers and practitioners seem to agree on the importance of boards of directors engaging in IT governance. Yet, only a minority of boards around the globe are taking up accountability for governing IT, pointing towards a knowing-doing gap. Efforts have been made to close this gap by creating implementation guidelines for this type of engagement. One of the most frequently mentioned guidelines is the implementation of an IT oversight or similar committee at board level. However, research shows that few boards have established such a committee, which might be caused by the lack of detailed guidance on the workings and role of such committees. This paper discusses the case of the University of Antwerp that has established two IT oversight committees at board level. We demonstrate how IT oversight committees can be established and how they fit into the role of the board with regard to IT governance

An Exploratory Study into the Design of an IT Governance Minimum Baseline through Delphi Research

In many organisations, information technology (IT) has become crucial in the support, sustainability, and growth of the business. This pervasive use of technology has created a critical dependency on IT that calls for a specific focus on IT governance. IT governance consists of the leadership and organisational structures and processes that enable the required alignment between business and IT. This practice-oriented research concentrates on the IT governance practices that organisations can leverage to implement IT governance in reality. Based on literature research, pilot case research and Delphi research, this paper provides insights regarding the effectiveness and ease of implementation of IT governance practices and provides a minimum baseline of practices that organisations at least should have. Via this research, we want to contribute to new theory building and assist practitioners by providing more guidance on how IT governance can be effectively implemented

Using a Business Case Throughout an Investment: An Exploratory Case Study on a Business Case Process

A discretionary information technology (IT) enabled business investment is often associated with an enterprise-wide transformation (e.g. Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) investment). Although it may deliver operational excellence and a competitive advantage, it is a risky endeavour with high failure rates. One of the critical factors to achieve a successful outcome is to develop a sound business case. In response to a lack of business case knowledge, Ward, Daniel, and Peppard (2008) designed a business case development process. The process ends on investment approval while others scholars call for a continuous business case process used throughout the entire investment life cycle. The present paper responds to this call with an exploratory case study and identifies multiple business case tasks which complement the process of Ward et al. (2008) resulting in an initial business case process

THE IDENTIFICATION AND DEFINITION OF VALUE MANAGEMENT PRACTICES USED TO DEPLOY IS INVESTMENTS

While many authors focus on the outcome of information systems (IS) investments, this paper explores management practices that support the deployment of IS investments so they can ultimately create value to the organisation. Such practices are defined as value management practices that facilitate the identification, creation and capture of value in the deployment of IS investments. Very limited academic research has been oriented towards the identification of such value management practices. Moreover, the limited results are fragmented as many scholars investigate one single practice in isolation. Practitioner frameworks emerged in an attempt to integrate multiple value management practices, yet organisations still struggle with getting such practices and frameworks implemented and embedded into their organisations. In an attempt to contribute to the scarce literature, this research has executed a literature review and exploratory case study to identify and clearly define multiple individual value management practices. These findings are structured within the context of a conceptual framework that previously has been employed by IS scholars. As a result, the practices are categorised into structures, processes and relational mechanisms and together constitute a new value management framework. In addition, this framework portrays the organisational level on which each value management practice can be operational, i.e. at individual IS investment level, portfolio level or enterprise level. By doing so, the value management framework creates a clear vision on the coherence and interrelationship of value management practices which might help organisations in the deployment and value creation of IS investments

The Role of Compliance Requirements in IT Governance Implementation: An Empirical Study Based on COBIT 2019

Rooted in the conformance perspective of IT governance, this paper sets out to research the role of compliance requirements in IT governance implementation, and to shed light on what aspects (i.e., processes) of IT governance are important under different levels of compliance requirements. Based on a large and diverse sample of organizations (N=2566), our results indicate that IT governance implementation level (over five different process domains) consistently goes up with increasing compliance requirements, and that these jumps in IT governance implementation levels are always statistically significant. Moreover, we identify the IT governance processes that are of primary importance for each level of compliance requirements

Answering Key Global IT Management Concerns Through IT Governance and Management Processes: A COBIT 5 View

Drawing on the COBIT 5 framework, this research presents the results of an analysis into which governance and management of IT processes are leveraged in practice for answering two key global IT management concerns: alignment and security. For practice, this research specifically sheds light on which governance and management of IT processes appear to be most important for explaining the achievement of alignment and security. Practitioners can therefore use these results as a benchmark to answer these concerns