Abstract
The objective of this study is to explore the criteria of effective information technology governance processes employed in universities and their impact on the diffusion of appropriate technology to the base level users. From this analysis, we hope to develop a set of best practice guidelines for IT governance and related processes in respect of universities. This will realize significant benefits by providing a reference model or benchmark based on the key characteristics of IT governance that are most effective in achieving high levels of IT and business goal alignment, effective use of IT resources, and IT risk management.
A large Australian university that is currently undergoing a major restructure of its IT governance process was selected to be the subject of this case study involving interviews and a survey of internal stakeholders. The results indicate there are still some problematic issues, but overall there is a perception of significant improvement in key areas of IT governance. Additionally the recognition by the university that IT governance is an ongoing process seems indicative of an IT governance structure that is rapidly improving in all accepted measures of effectiveness. A healthy sign of a good governance structure in this case is the IT governance-aware attitude of key members of the executive management.
The survey results illustrate the effect IT governance constructs may have on the diffusion of technology in larger organizations where key business func tions, such as research, rest substantially at the individual level. In this case a lack of lower-level consultation is perceived by staff as an impediment to the diffusion of technology appropriate to meeting user IT needs.
Chapter PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bergmann, G., Croft, B.: Good Governance for All. Black 75(1), 54 (2005)
Bhattacharjya, J., Chang, V.: Adoption and Implementation of IT Governance: Cases from Australian Higher Education. In: Proceedings of the 17th Australasian Conference on Information Systems, Adelaide, Australia, December 6-8 (2006)
Blumenberg, S., Hinz, D.: Enhancing the Prognostic Power of IT Balanced Scorecards with Bayesian Belief Networks. In: Proceedings of the 39th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences. IEEE Computer Society, Los Alamitos (2006)
Broadbent, M., Kitzis, E.: The New CIO Leader. Harvard Business School Press, Boston (2005)
Budd, M., Malcolm, C.: An Effective Metrics Program Can Ensure IT Performance Success. Healthcare Financial Management 55(11), 84–86, 88 (2001)
Chang, J., King, W.: The Development of Measures to Assess the Performance of the Information Systems Function: A Multiple Constituency Approach. In: Orlikowski, W., Ang, S., Weill, P., Krcmar, H.C., DeGross, J.I. (eds.) Proceedings of the 21st International Conference on Information Systems, Brisbane, Australia, December 10-13, pp. 640–646 (2000)
Clark, A.: IT Governance: Determining Who Decides. Research Bulletin (2005:24), EDUCAUSE Center for Applied Research (2005), http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ERB0524.pdf
Clinton, B.: Remarks by the President at the United States Naval Academy Commencement, May 22 (1998), http://www.britannica.com/bps/additionalcontent/18/8868129/Remarks-by-the-President-at-the-United-States-Naval-Academy-Commencement/fulltext
Council, C.: Implications for the Future of COBIT Systems in Higher Education: Putting Critical Research and Theory into Practice. Information Systems Control Journal (1) (2007)
Devos, J., Van Landeghem, H., Deschoolmeester, D.: IT Governance in SMEs: Trust or Control? In: Dhillon, G., Stahl, B.C., Baskerville, R. (eds.) Information Systems—Creativity and Innovation in Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises, pp. 149–153. Springer, New York (2009)
Denscombe, M.: The Good Research Guide for Small Scale Social Research Projects. Open University Press, Philadelphia (1998)
Huang, R., Zmud, R., Price, R.: IT Governance in Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises: Recommendations from an Empirical Study. In: Dhillon, G., Stahl, B.C., Baskerville, R. (eds.) Information Systems—Creativity and Innovation in Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises, pp. 158–179. Springer, New York (2009)
Hardy, G., Guldentops, E.: COBIT 4.0: The New Face of COBIT. Information Systems Control Journal (6) (2005)
Hunton, J.E., Bryant, S.M., Bragranoff, N.A.: Core Concepts of Information Technology Auditing. John Wiley & Sons Inc., New York (2004)
Institute of Internal Auditors. Putting COSO’s Theory into Practice, Tone at the Top (28) (2005), http://www.theiia.org/download.cfm?file=42122
International Federation of Accountants Education Committee, International Education Guideline 11: Information Technology for Professional Accountants, New York: International Federation of Accountants (2003)
ISACA, COBIT and Related Products. Guidance Materials for IT Governance, Rolling Meadows, IL: IT Governance Institute (2005)
IT Governance Institute. Aligning COBIT, ITIL and ISO 17799 for Business Benefit, Rolling Meadows, IL: IT Governance Institute (2005), http://www.itgovernance.co.uk/files/ITIL-COBiT-ISO17799JointFramework.pdf
Johnson, A.M., Lederer, A.L.: Two Predictors of CEO/ CIO Convergence. In: Proceedings of the 2003 SIGMIS Conference on Computer Personnel Research: Freedom in Philadelphia—Leveraging Differences and Diversity in the IT Workforce, Philadelphia, PA, April 10-12, pp. 162–167. ACM Press, New York (2003)
Jopson, B.: Mutual Respect May Replace Convergence. Financial Times (FT International Accountancy Supplement), 1–2, March 6 (2006)
Lucy, J.: FSR, CLERP 9 and Surveillance Programs: ASIC Priorities Over the Next 12 Months. Presentation to the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia, Queensland 2004 CA Business Forum, March 13 (2004), http://www.asic.gov.au/asic/pdflib.nsf/LookupByFileName/ICAA_speech_130304.pdf/$file/ICAA_speech_130304.pdf
Marginson, S., Considine, M.: The Enterprise University: Power, Governance and Reinvention in Australia. Cambridge University Press, Oakleigh (2000)
Miles, M., Huberman, M.: Qualitative Data Analysis. Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks (1994)
Milton, C.: Human Behavior in Organizations. Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs (1981)
OECD, OECD Principles of Corporate Governance, Paris, France: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (2004)
Penrod, J.: Organizing and Managing Information Resources on Your Campus. In: McClure, P. (ed.) Building an Effective Governance and Decision-Making Structure for Information Technology, pp. 15–28. John Wiley & Sons, New York (2003)
Pirani, J., Salaway, G.: Queensland University of Technology: Three Generations of IT Governance (and Counting). ECAR Case Study 4, EDUCAUSE Center for Applied Research (2008), http://confluence.arizona.edu/confluence/download/attachments/2459667/Case_Study_8.pdf
Robinson, N.: The Many Faces of IT Governance: Crafting an IT Governance Architecture. Information Systems Control Journal 2007(1), 14–16 (2007)
Sheehan, M.: Higher Education IT and Cyberinfrastructure: Integrating Technologies for Scholarship. EDUCAUSE Center for Applied Research 3 (2008), http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ers0803/rs/ERS0803w.pdf
Standards Australia Committee IT-030 IT Governance and Management. 2005. Corporate Governance of Information & Communication Technology, AS 8015-2005
Van Grembergen, W.: ND. The Balanced Scorecard and IT Governance, IT Governance Institute (reprinted from Information Systems Control Journal)
Weill, P., Ross, J.: IT Governance: How Top Performers Manage IT Decision Rights for Superior Results. Harvard Business School Press, Boston (2004a)
Weill, P., Ross, J.: IT Governance on One Page. CISR WP No. 349/Sloan WP No. 4516-09, Center for Information Systems Research, Sloan School of Management, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (2004b), http://web.mit.edu/cisr/working%20papers/cisrwp349.pdf
Yin, R.: Case Study Research: Design and Methods, 2nd edn. Sage Publications Inc., Thousand Oaks (1994)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2010 IFIP
About this paper
Cite this paper
Hicks, M., Pervan, G., Perrin, B. (2010). A Case Study of Improving Information Technology Governance in a University Context. In: Pries-Heje, J., Venable, J., Bunker, D., Russo, N.L., DeGross, J.I. (eds) Human Benefit through the Diffusion of Information Systems Design Science Research. TDIT 2010. IFIP Advances in Information and Communication Technology, vol 318. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-12113-5_6
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-12113-5_6
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-642-12112-8
Online ISBN: 978-3-642-12113-5
eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)