Practitioner Factors in Information Technology Governance

The purpose of this paper is to explore the importance of Information Technology (IT) Governance models for public organizations and presenting an IT Governance model that can be adopted by both practitioners and researchers. A review of the literature in IT Governance has been initiated to shape the intended theoretical background of this study. The systematic literature review formalizes a richer context for the IT Governance concept. An empirical survey, using a questionnaire based on COBIT 4.1 maturity model used to investigate IT Governance practice in multiple case studies from Kingdom of Bahrain. This method enabled the researcher to gain insights to evaluate IT Governance practices. The results of this research will enable public sector organizations to adopt an IT Governance model in a simple and dynamic manner. The model provides a basic structure of a concept; for instance, this allows organizations to gain a better perspective on IT Governance processes and provides a clear focus for decision-making attention. IT Governance model also forms as a basis for further research in IT Governance adoption models and bridges the gap between conceptual frameworks, real life and functioning governance.

This study provides additional evidence on information technology (IT) governance and its relationship to firm performance in emerging markets. It aims primarily to determine the level of IT governance in Saudi Arabian companies; it also aims at examining the impact of IT governance on the firm performance. The study target sample is 131 companies taken from 20 sectors of the Saudi financial market; during the year 2017. The researchers have used the IT-related backgrounds of the members of the board of directors as an indicator of IT governance. The researchers have also used another group of corporate governance indicators in addition to a set of control variables. The performance of the companies has been referred to as the operational performance which is represented as Return on Assets (ROA) and the financial performance as the Return on Equity (ROE). The descriptive results have been shocking. The study has shown a sharp decline in IT governance in Saudi companies; only 15% of companies have members of the board of directors with IT-related backgrounds, and the IT governance is not adopted or used in many important sectors. However, the regression analysis shows that there is a positive impact on IT governance only on the operational performance of Saudi companies. The results of this study provide a significant indicator of IT governance in Saudi companies. These results can be also used to develop the corporate governance code to focus more on IT governance.

Purpose This paper aims to reveal the potential challenges and opportunities for information technology (IT) governance in higher education institutions (HEIs). Furthermore, the authors extend what the identified determinants mean for Saudi universities. Design/methodology/approach This study pursued a systematic literature review applying the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses strategy protocol. Findings IT governance is both beneficial and challenging to integrate into the higher education setting. This is because most IT Governance frameworks are created and implemented in a traditional organizational setting, which differs from the overall culture of HEIs. As for the context of Saudi Arabia, findings depict a hopeful picture for the future of IT Governance, as HEI stakeholders are primarily aware of IT Governance policies, but Saudi HEIs are yet to work toward this goal systematically. Research limitations/implications Apart from extending the current literature on IT governance, this paper adds the educational perspective and the Saudi context, which is found to be limited in the existing literature. The findings could be used to benchmark the IT Governance scenario in other countries, wherein this study could support the roadmap of effective IT governance adoption in HEIs in various nations. Originality/value This study could support improving the institutional operational performance of HEIs in Saudi Arabia, particularly in terms of electronic monitoring systems, effective monitoring of processing systems, prevention of fraud and reducing the manipulation and wasting of funds. The insights from this study could be beneficial to government policymakers, higher education managers, researchers and academics.

Information Technology (IT) governance plays a crucial role in ensuring that IT resources align with organizational goals, optimize performance, and minimize risks. This study evaluates IT governance maturity in the Marketing department of Universitas Sari Mulia (UNISM) using the COBIT 5 framework, focusing on two process domains: EDM04 (Ensure Resource Optimization) and APO08 (Manage Relationships). The research methodology includes surveys and direct interviews to assess the current maturity level and identify gaps between existing and expected conditions. The evaluation results indicate that EDM04 has an average maturity level of 2.33 (Managed), while APO08 is at 3.2 (Established). The gap analysis shows that both domains require further improvements, with EDM04 having a gap of 2.67 and APO08 a gap of 1.8. These findings highlight the need for enhanced IT governance practices to optimize resource management and stakeholder relationships. The study provides recommendations for improving IT governance maturity in UNISM Marketing department, ensuring a more structured and efficient IT management process.

This paper aims to examine the impact of both information technology governance (ITG) and data governance on information technology (IT) performance in the telecommunication industry. A questionnaire of 308 managers was collected from all telecommunication companies that are working in Egypt. Data were analyzed using smart partial least squares (PLS). The results showed that all the hypotheses of the study had been accepted. IT and data governance have a significant impact on both financial and non-financial performance. However, each of them has a different effect on the IT performance dimensions. The financial performance of IT department had been affected by IT governance more than data governance. Also, innovation and flexibility were the most affected by IT governance. On the other hand, data governance affected business processes and ethical compliance more than IT governance. The current study filled the gap on the literature in two ways. First, studying both IT governance and data governance as a critical factors affects financial and non-financial performance. Second, studying IT governance and data governance has become more important, especially in the telecommunication industry as it is a big challenge now to secure the data of the companies.

The study seeks to examine the impact of Information technology (IT) governance structure, process and relational mechanisms on firm performance. Using an event study, we collected a sample of 70 announcements of IT governance adoption investments. We found that most firms adopt all three types of IT governance mechanisms. IT governance structural mechanisms have a positive impact on firm’s profitability. In contrast, IT governance process and relational mechanisms have a negative association with firm performance. More interestingly, the findings provide insight for organizations that they should realize the potentially negative impact of the controls requirements of Sarbanes-Oxley Act Section 404 and IT leadership on firm performance.

This research examines the effect of Information Technology (IT) governance through audit clients on external auditing efficiency. To analyze the auditing efficiency of these contracts and to test the hypotheses that the Authors have set for this study, The study seeks to cover the research gap that the current literature has not adequately addressed regarding the impact of IT governance on the efficiency of external audits, concerning audit clients and giving priority to companies that can conduct audits quickly and cost-effectively, the Authors conducted a study of 30 audit contracts that were carried out by two auditing firms operating in Syria as an experiment and considered Syria adopts the IT governance framework in the Mediterranean basin and used data envelopment analysis to measure the auditing efficiency of these contracts. Furthermore, survey questionnaires were given to the audited companies to determine the extent of their compliance with IT governance, based on some of the principles of the Qubit 5 model. The data was analyzed, and the hypotheses were tested using regression analysis by employing SPSS software. The study establishes a positive correlation between the use of IT governance by audit clients and external audit efficiency based on two efficiency measures, CRS and VRS.

This research aims to analyze Information Technology (IT) governance implemented in the Semarang Regency Population and Civil Registry Service (Disdukcapil) with the aim of improving service performance. The research method used is a case study using the COBIT 2019 Framework as an analysis guide. Data was collected through in-depth interviews, observation and documentation studies. The research results show that the adoption of the 2019 COBIT Framework in the IT governance of the Semarang Regency Dukcapil Disdukcapil is still not optimal. Several weaknesses in the IT management process were identified that hampered service performance. The implication of this research is the need to increase the understanding and application of COBIT 2019 in the IT governance of the Semarang Regency Dukcapil Disdukcapil in order to improve the IT management process and overall improve the quality of services provided to the community.

It is widely acknowledged that Information Technology (IT) Governance is extremely complex and at the same time equally critical when organisations endeavour to maximize their IT investments. IT Governance provides the means for decision making required to ensure that IT enables the organization to excel in its mission. IT systems are often viewed as monetary drains rather than seen as fundamental bases underpinning the strategic direction of organizations. IT implementations often do not meet requirements, fail, are over budget and the media is littered with headlines that corroborate these perceptions. IT projects are now so big, and they touch so many aspects of an organization, that they pose a singular new risk as according to Harvard Business Review Magazine that a $5 million project leads to an almost $200 million loss (Flyvbjerg and Budzier, 2011). Every organisation will have experienced complications of an IT implementation and this is why IT Governance is becoming a crucial factor to business survival no matter how large or small an organisation is. This interpretive study of IT Governance provides an opportunity to from both theoretical and practice-based perspectives using multiple case studies from public sector organisations based in the Kingdom of Bahrain.

Present standards guiding the corporate governance of information technology (IT) provide useful frameworks for organizations’ governing bodies to direct the effective use of information technology (IT) within their organizations. However, existing standards still fail to resolve the dilemma regarding the actual allocation of IT roles and responsibilities between governing bodies and IT management, while such an allocation represents a major challenge in many contemporary organizations. To advance on this issue, we explore IT managers’ interpretation of the allocation of IT roles and responsibilities to either the governing body or managerial levels in nine Ibero-American Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). We used the ISO/IEC 38500 and COBIT standards to define a unique set of 212 management and governance activities and responsibilities. We surveyed 30 IT managers in Higher Education Institutions from nine Ibero-American countries and identified the divergence in the allocation of IT Governance and Management tasks between respondents and expert judgments. Using regression analysis, we show that the degree of such divergence depends on organizational contingency factors such as the formalization of IT procedures, centralization, the complexity of the organization, and the size of IT departments. This is the first study in the literature conducting a thorough analysis of IT task allocation between the governing level and the management level. This study is also the first to identify four organizational factors influencing the divergence between respondents and expert opinion regarding this allocation. The findings and propositions presented in this paper have the potential to extend our understanding of the IT governance dilemma in other professional organizations similar to HEIs.

PurposeRisk management is an under-explored topic in information systems (IS) research that involves complex and interrelated activities. Consequently, the authors explore the importance of interrelated activities by examining how the maturity of one type of information technology risk management (ITRM) practice is influenced by the maturity of other types of ITRM practices. The purpose of this paper is to explore these relationships, the authors develop a model based on organizational strategy implementation theory and the COBIT framework. The model identifies four types of ITRM practices, namely, IT governance (ITG); communications; operations; and monitoring.Design/methodology/approachThe authors use a survey methodology to collect data on senior information technology (IT) executives' perceptions on ITRM practices. The authors use an exploratory factor analysis (EFA) to identify four dimensions of ITR M practices and conduct a structural equation model to observe the associations.FindingsThe survey of senior IT executives' perceptions suggests that the maturity of ITRM practices related to ITG, communications and monitoring positively influence the maturity of operations-related ITRM practices. Further, the maturity of communications-related ITRM practices mediates the relationship between ITG and operations-related ITRM practices. The aggregate results demonstrate the inter-relatedness of ITRM practices and highlight the importance of taking a holistic view of ITRM.Research limitations/implicationsGiven the content and complexity of the study, it is difficult to obtain senior executives’ responses in large firms. Therefore, this study did not use a separate sample to conduct the EFA to obtain the underlying four constructs. Also, the ITRM practices identified are perceptions. Even though the authors consider this to be a limitation, it also communicates the pressing areas that senior IT professionals are expected to focus given various external and internal pressures. This study focuses on large firms, hence, small to midsize firms are not well represented.Practical implicationsGiven the demanding regulatory and financial reporting requirements and the complexity of IT, there is an increasing possibility that the accounting profession will require IT professionals to focus on operations-related ITRM practices, such as security, availability and confidentially of data and IS are closely related to internal controls. However, as this study demonstrates, the maturity of operations-related ITRM practices cannot be achieved by focusing solely on operations-related IT risks. Therefore, IT practitioners can use this study to raise awareness of the complex interrelationships among ITRM practices among managers to improve the overall ITRM practices in a firm.Social implicationsThe study also shows the importance of establishing proper communication channels among various business functions with regard to ITRM. Extant IT research identifies the importance of the firm’s communication structure on various firm performance measures. For example, Krotov (2015) mentions the importance of communication in improving trust between the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer. Firms with established communication channels have the necessary medium to educate and involve other departments with regard to the security of data. Thus, such firms are more likely to have mature risk management practices because of increased awareness of risks and preventive techniques.Originality/valueThe study contributes to ITG and risk management literature by identifying the role of monitoring-related ITRM practices on improving other areas of risk management. The study also extends the existing ITRM literature by providing an organizational strategy perspective to ITRM practices and showing how ITRM practices follow organizational strategy implementation. Further, the authors identify four underlying ITRM categories. Consequently, researchers could choose between two factors (Vincent et al., 2017) or four factors based on the level of detail required for the particular study.

Information technology (IT) governance is identified as an organizational skill of great importance to the strategic alignment and delivery of value through information technology (IT). Implementing IT governance, however, is a challenge to organizations. This paper aims to demonstrate the application of a method of information technology strategic planning (ITSP) for implementation of IT governance. This method has been developed considering the contributions of ITSP methods and guidelines for implementation of IT governance, both available in existing literature. The proposed method was then applied to twenty Brazilian organizations from different sectors. The application results indicate that IT strategic planning is adequate for implementation of IT governance, creating a structured approach of implementation and emphasizing the IT strategic alignment.

IT Governance is a branch of the corporate governance system focused on information technology (IT) as well as performance and risk management. IT Governance is defined as the processes that ensure the effective and efficient use of IT in enabling an organization to achieve its goal. There are many different frameworks that can be used for managing the delivery of cost-effective IT services. IT managing the delivery of cost-effective IT services does not always give the advantage to the company. There are times when the IT managing the delivery of cost-effective IT services does not provide any benefit, it can cause IT Productivity Paradox. IT Productivity Paradox can be prevented, one is to analyze the processes undertaken with IT. From this analysis we will get the significance of the relationship processes with the IT Goal. The significance will be seen which one significant process and which one are not significant to the IT Goal. If the IT process there are not significant to the IT Goal, the process does not need to be repaired because it has no effect on IT Goal. Existing IT governance frameworks are COBIT, ITIL, ISO 20000, 17799/27001, Six Sigma, etc. The IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL), initially developed in the UK by the Office of Government Commerce (OGC), is gaining traction in the global IT community as a framework for IT governance. ISO 20000-focusing upon IT service management. ISO 17799 / ISO 27001 - focusing upon information. Six Sigma-focusing upon operational performance and defect identification. COBIT - framework for information IT management risks. Control Objectives for Information and related Technology (COBIT) provides good practices across a domain and process framework and presents activities in a manageable and logical structure. COBIT’s good practices represent the consensus of experts. They are strongly focused more on control, less on execution. These practices will help optimise IT-enabled investments, ensure service delivery and provide a measure against which to judge when things do go wrong. This research is intend to find out whether Cobit mapping Business Goal to IT Goal appropriate with case study. The result The results using SEM approach shows that the mapping of COBIT is not significant in the case studies of academic administration.

The practice of information technology (IT) governance entails activities that ensures stakeholder needs are evaluated to determine balanced, agreed upon enterprise objectives to be achieved; setting direction through IT-related prioritisation and decision making, and monitoring performance and compliance against agreed upon direction and objectives. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to analyze the impact of IT governance effectiveness in private sector organizations in a developing country such as Malaysia. Based on extant literature review, a research model was developed for analyzing the relationship between the practices for effective IT governance in this environment and their effect on organizational performance. A survey research method was applied for data collection and sample data from Malaysian private sector organizations (this environment) obtained. Subsequently, structural equation modeling technique, namely partial least squares, was applied to test statistically the correlated effects. The results indicate significant small to strong positive correlated effects on IT governance effectiveness. Finally, a model for effective IT governance in this environment was proposed. The findings imply that decision makers can optimize IT-related plans and use of scarce resources by concentrating on the factors that have a significant effect on organizational performance that could lead to an improvement of service delivery.

The aims of this study is to evaluate information technology (IT) governance implementation using the COBiTs’ maturity model, investigate the perceived Security Threats that face these companies and measures the causality between them. An Empirical Survey using self-administered questionnaire has been carried out to achieve the study objectives. The study results reveal that Jordanian industrial companies did not apply IT governance in its comprehensive methodology despite the implementation of some of its aspects .The study main recommendation for the industrial companies that it should give more attention to IT governance. Industrial companies Professionals should work more to increase the IT governance strength for all of its dimensions especially with the existence of negative causality relation between the IT governance and security threats frequencies.