Board-level IT governance and organizational performance

Research on the strategic management of Information Technology (IT) resources has mostly focused on the oversight provided by the management team as a means to increase organizational performance. In recent years, boards of directors have also increased their involvement in IT matters, and various theoretical lenses suggest that this oversight too has the potential to influence organizational performance. Hence, this study synthesizes the resource-based and contingency views of MIS with corporate governance theories, and examines key antecedents and consequences of board-level IT governance (ITG) using a multi-method approach. Structural Equation Modelling analysis applied to organization-level data collected from 171 board members suggested that the level of ITG exercised by boards was contingent upon the organization's ‘IT use mode’, along the two dimensions of need for (a) fast and reliable IT, and (b) new innovative IT. But, the findings further suggested that the contingency approach may be suboptimal because it can cause new ways of leveraging IT to be ignored. High levels of board-level ITG, regardless of existing IT needs, increased organizational performance. This phenomenon was illuminated with applicability checks. Moreover, content analysis and structured interviews with board members further enriched these insights.     

It governance in the public sector: a conceptual model

Information technology governance (ITG) has been identified as an organizational ability of great importance for IT strategic alignment and the delivery of business though IT. However, the results and contribution of ITG are poorly understood. This work presents an explanatory model of the effects of IT governance mechanisms on IT and organizational performance of public organizations. To test the model, data was collected from a survey conducted in 146 Brazilian public organizations. Partial least squares analysis was applied to test the proposed model. The results indicate that (i) IT performance is positively correlated with organizational performance, (ii) relational mechanisms between IT and a business are determinant factors for the performance of IT, and also positively correlated with organizational performance, and (iii), decision structure and process maturity are not significantly correlated with IT performance.     

Crafting Information Technology Governance

Information Technology (IT) governance has emerged as a fundamental business imperative, and rightfully so, because it is key to realizing IT business value. IT governance describes the distribution of IT decision-making rights and responsibilities among different stakeholders in the enterprise, and defines the procedures and mechanisms for making and monitoring strategic IT decisions. This article presents a holistic view of IT governance, in which structural, process, and relational capabilities are an integral part of an effective IT governance architecture. the article concludes with an IT Governance Assessment Process (ITGAP) model, with which business and IT executives can assess the effectiveness of their company's current IT governance architecture.     

How to manage IS requirements in complex public sector structures: toward an action design research approach

Information systems (IS) are a key enabler to improve effectiveness and efficiency in the public sector. The realization of large IS projects, however, still remains a challenge in public administrations. One reason is that the complex task of IT governance in federal structures requires contributions from a large number of stakeholders. To address this challenge, we conducted Action Design Research in cooperation with different institutions of the German labor market and developed a requirements engineering process with a corresponding IT governance in the public sector that takes complex federal structures into account. The process was successfully implemented at the German Federal Employment Agency and proved valuable to deal with 146 municipal requirements regarding an IS in the context of unemployment benefits. Moreover, we derived four general success factors with a special attention on the interleaving of requirements engineering process and IT governance.     

Theory of Reasoned Action application for Green Information Technology acceptance

The increase in the use of Information Technology (IT) in recent decades has contributed to additional power consumption as well as a potential overuse of scarce resources. Also, IT is quickly surpassing air transportation in terms of its carbon footprint. For these reasons, increased environmental awareness has increased interest in Green Information Technology (GIT) among IT practitioners. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to investigate behavior for the adoption of GIT applying the conceptual model, referred to as the ‘Theory of Reasoned Action’ (TRA). For this purpose, a survey was conducted among IT professionals from major public and private sector establishments. Findings indicated that behavioral intention influences actual behavior positively. IT professionals with positive intentions towards GIT issues are actually practicing GIT in their work. Results also indicated that external factors such as person related beliefs, sector of respondents’ establishment, and level of awareness have significant impact on attitude towards adoption of GIT.     

Development of a user-centred IT strategy: a case study

This case study documents a twelve month programme of work commissioned by a major British telecommunications and broadcasting company. The brief was to develop a corporate strategy for the effective exploitation of Information Technology (IT) which took due account of human and organizational requirements of IT. The paper explains how human factors principles were applied within this organizational context to develop a user-centred IT strategy. The approach involved the application of a simultaneous 'top down' and 'bottom up' approach. The 'top down' analyses established the corporate goals of the company to be supported by IT. The 'bottom up' data collection process revealed the realities and limitations of IT use in the company. The gap between the desired future requirements of IT in the company and the present experience of IT 'on the ground' was thus made explicit and clear. Specifying the required infrastructure, the policies, procedures, processes and mechanisms necessary to close this gap provided the agenda for the IT strategy development process. It was considered crucial that the eventual strategy should be 'owned' by key stakeholders (i.e. influential IT providers and senior managers of user departments) as well as by end-users. Involvement of end-users was promoted by assigning to them the task of collecting interview data on user experience of IT in the company. This user experience data informed (as one of several inputs) the deliberations of the key stakeholders given the task of agreeing the key components of a corporate IT strategy. In a workshop setting, the stakeholders discussed and eventually agreed a draft strategy document to recommend to the Board of Directors who had commissioned the exercise. In due course the IT strategy document was accepted by the Board and implementation set in motion. The IT strategy development process described in this paper indicates that the systematic application of HF principles to corporate strategy formulation can be viable and effective. However it is evident that such an exercise can only succeed where there is whole-hearted commitment to a user-centred process by key individuals in an organization.     

Outsourcing in the private and public sectors: an unpredictable IT strategy

IT outsourcing has grown considerably in the private sector, with IT software and service suppliers reporting increased revenues. Similarly in the public sector, the introduction of market testing and compulsory competitive tendering (CCT) will inevitably lead to the contracting-out of significant levels of IT work. This may lead to the demise of some public sector IT departments where external bids are favoured over those offered by the in-house team. This paper is divided into two sections. First, it considers some of the relevant literature on IT outsourcing in both private and public sector British and American organizations. It draws together important themes which explain the attraction of IT outsourcing to senior executives. Second, it introduces the results from a questionnaire survey of nearly 200 UK private and public sector organizations on IT outsourcing. In particular it looks at the proportion of organizations that claims to use outsourcing, how contracts are negotiated and the type of IT solutions preferred by IT managers. The central argument is that IT outsourcing poses significant challenges to both private and public sector organizations and is not simply a quick-fix panacea. Moreover, public sector IT managers would do well to analyse some of the less favourable reports from private sector outsourcing as they gear themselves up for CCT in the months ahead.     

Determinants of relationship quality for IS/IT outsourcing success in public sector

Relationship has become an influential aspect for the success of IS/IT outsourcing projects. Although some studies have explored the issues of IS/IT outsourcing relationship in the past, these studies are limited to the private sectors. Whereas, studies implicate that the issues related to private and public sectors should be addressed differently. Therefore the main purpose of this study is to examine the IS/IT outsourcing relationship in the public sector by determining relationship quality factors. Based on the social exchange and the relational exchange theories a relationship model is proposed and hypotheses are tested. Ninety three IS/IT outsourcing projects in the public sector of Korea are examined and the results indicate that the outsourcing success is greatly determined by relationship quality. This study will serve as useful guidelines in understanding how to develop a successful IS/IT outsourcing relationships for IT practitioners in the public sector and the vendors undertaking those outsourced projects.     

The role of R&D and corporate governance in Korea: IT firms versus non-IT firms

Recent economic development in Korea was mostly driven by companies in the IT sector. Also, it is widely argued that R&D investment has a positive impact on firm value, especially for IT firms. In this paper, we analyze how R&D investment has contributed to the growth of Korea’s economy by examining the effect of R&D investment on firms’ market value, measured as Tobin’s Q, and investigate whether this effect is different between firms in the IT sector and firms in the non-IT sector. We also account for the effect of another major change experienced by Korean firms: changes in corporate governance structure. We find that for firms in the IT industry, higher R&D investment coupled with high foreign ownership results in higher firm valuation.     

Toward a unified framework for Cloud Computing governance: An approach for evaluating and integrating IT management and governance models

Cloud Computing is currently one of the major trends in the computer industry. It offers a wide range of both opportunities and challenges. The lack of governance causes a slowdown in the adoption process, especially with an absence of a comprehensive approach supporting the Cloud Computing governance objectives. Regarding this issue, our goal is to develop a new management and governance framework based on endorsed IT models; namely ITIL, COBIT, and ISO/IEC 27001/2. These models have been developed for different purposes and aspects of IT governance. The proposed framework is an attempt to a unified approach by taking into consideration the models’ dissimilarities. Before we go further with the final unification stage, this study's main objective is to develop both the evaluation and the integration approaches with regwards to the IT models. The results, therefore, are to shed light on the relevant outcomes emanate from an elaboration within an entirely unified CC governance framework.     

Harmonisierung divergierender organisationaler Kulturen in ?ffentlich-privaten IT-Partnerschaften

The cooperation of public and private sector organizations is a viable option for decision makers in the public sector for improving information technology (IT) infrastructures, acquiring innovation, and increasing management know-how. Effective partnering in public?Cprivate partnerships (PPP) is difficult though, because the involved stakeholder groups have divergent interests and organizational cultures. Using institutional logics as meta-theoretical lens, this exploratory, interpretive case study analyzes an IT PPP in Germany. The results reveal public- and private-side organizational culture differences and how the partners aligned their cultural differences by the development and legitimization of a partnership norm as well as the necessary partnership practices. The case analysis also illustrates how public sector and private sector organizations succeeded with the transition of public sector and private sector employees into a partnership organization and the management of different organizational cultures.     

Development and application of a model for analysis and design phases of Web-based system development

The major characteristics of Web systems that shall be taken into account can be summarized as follows: First, the implementation of Web systems shall have a beneficial effect. To meet the requirements of Internet business system, the Web systems shall enable businesses to provide customers with something valuable through the Internet and profit from this process in return[1]. Second, the way to express the contents on the Web matters. To express the contents, Web systems shall introduce mu…     

Software processes, assessment and ISO 9000-certification: A user's view

The Austrian Research Centre Seibersdorf and its IT-Department are involved in the development of critical computer systems and in standardization in this field for many years (SAFECOMP '89, '90, '91, '93, IEC SC 65A WG9 and WG10, IEC TC 56, partners in the European initiative ESPITI and the networks ENCRESS and OLOS). The certification process for ISO 9001 started with a pre-audit in December 1993, and the certificate was successfully achieved at the end of June 1994. ISO 9000–3 (somehow more process-related than ISO 9001) and the ESA Software Engineering Standards (lifecycle model, process models) were the key input to the Quality Management (QM) System of the IT-Department. Additionally, the Department of Information Technology has successfully applied for a BOOTSTRAP license early in 1994. Four members of the staff of the IT department are qualified as external BOOTSTRAP assessors at the moment. In preparation for ISO 9000-certification and during BOOTSTRAP-training we learnt much about organizations, process improvement and project management, especially by reviewing our own processes critically as well as reviewing the impact and relevance of the schemes to follow when ISO 9000 certification or BOOTSTRAP licensing is the goal to achieve. Direct as well as indirect business benefits were achieved.     

浅谈IT服务的可用性设计方法

2011年新版ISO／IEC20000的发布,为IT服务管理的实施提供了参照标准。本文根据ISO／IEC 20000：2011版中的IT服务可用性要求,提出面向客户服务级别需求设计和实现IT服务的可用性,并指出可用性设计是实现高质量IT服务的有效途径。     

Standardization in Information Technology Security

The author overviews the international standards developed by SC 27 “IT Security techniques” of the ISO/IEC Joint Technical Committee “Information technologies.” The standards include cryptographic mechanisms, evaluation and testing of products and information systems, countermeasures, and security services. Both published standards and those under development are considered.     

Risk mitigation in IT outsourcing strategy revisited: longitudinal case research at LISA

The origins and history of a single case study of large-scale Information Technology (IT) outsourcing in the 1994–99 period is investigated in the United Kingdom Defence sector. Such deals are high risk and the paper describes types of risk and how the client organization sought to mitigate these. These risks and mitigation approaches are then analysed against a distinctive risk framework formulated for IT outsourcing. Risks emerging in terms of type and scope of outsourcing, vendor selection criteria and process, the role of the contract, retained capabilities and management processes, and partnering and relationship dimensions are then assessed against prior research findings. Two additional distinctive risks are identified from the case history arising from the public sector context and supplier long-term market strategy. A contribution of the paper is the revised risk framework for analysing IT outsourcing that is then presented. Finally, the implications of these findings for future research and practice are highlighted.     

Formulating strategies for stakeholder management: a case-based reasoning approach

The management of competing stakeholders has emerged as an important weapon for strategic management. Typically, reactive, defensive, accommodative, or proactive (RDAP) strategies have been employed for getting into the world of stakeholders. This paper proposes a methodology for formulating strategies for stakeholder management by the use of these RDAP strategies. Our methodology consists of four phases: stakeholder analysis, strategy retrieval, strategy revision, and strategy implementation. Strategies are derived on the basis of similar cases stored in case bases. A system called the stakeholder management strategy support system (SMSS) is implemented to put our methodology to work. In order to demonstrate the practical usefulness of this system, Korean Healthcare IT (Information Technology) industry is illustrated. This illustration implies that our methodology is useful, especially in view of dynamic nature of business and its stakeholders. Our methodology will be able to help any business leader create value while navigating a multi-stakeholder environment.     

Board IT Governance in Context: Considering Governance Style and Environmental Dynamism Contingencies

ABSTRACT

We theorize that IT governance (ITG) by the board of directors is most effective when there is a fit between the dynamics of the business environment and the governance style through which board ITG is delivered. Survey findings from 110 board members largely supported these assertions. Findings show that authoritative governance style and environmental dynamism represent important boundary conditions for the efficacy of board ITG to achieve performance gains. Research and practical implications are discussed.     

Managing e-transformation in the public sector: an e-government study of the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS)

Continuous organizational transformation is becoming a common phenomenon as public agencies rapidly embrace new information technologies (IT) to streamline and re-invent their obsolete operations. However, due to the overwhelming extent of the necessary changes as well as the sheer diversity of stakeholders involved in transforming corporate functions, practitioners are finding it difficult to manage the level of dynamism required in the effort. In an attempt to shed some light on the phenomenon of managing e-transformation, this paper examines in-depth an e-government initiative. Through the study of how one organization in the public sector adapts to the dynamic customer relations brought about by e-transformation, the case serves to identify the governing factors for successful organization–stakeholder relations, and how these may have a bearing on the development of effective e-transformation strategies. An important contribution of this study is the proposal of a development model of relationships in organizations for an understanding into how organization–stakeholder relationships can be efficiently managed to bring about an effective overhaul of business processes.     

Evaluating Adoption of Emerging IT for Corporate IT Strategy: Developing a Model Using a Qualitative Method

The acquisition and evaluation of new technologies is critical to the development of a timely IT strategy. We report the findings of a four round Delphi study designed to elicit a cohesive set of issues that affect an IT executive's decision to adopt an emerging IT into corporate IT strategy. Based on the results, we present the Emerging Information Technology Evaluation Model, which IT executives and academicians can use to support a strategic adoption decision.