Towards an inclusive reconceptualization of IT governance: espoused theory and theories-in-use

IT governance is a highly researched field with a majority of the literature focusing on structural (form) and processual (contingency) mechanisms. The theoretical foundations of agency theory, which has a strong focus on control, predominantly underpin the current IT governance practices. The field is lacking in research contributions on relational mechanisms of IT governance and how they influence governance outcomes. Despite the amount of prescriptive models and “best practice frameworks” available in the field, achieving key IT governance outcomes remains amongst the highest ranked management concerns. This paper seeks to explicate the disharmony between current practices and espoused theory through a case study within an organization in the pursuit to understand multi-stakeholder perspectives as to their impression of governance, its purpose and relevance in the organization; for the purpose of attaining a systemic, multi -perspective view on governance as a practice within organizations, as opposed to those prescribed in mainstream theory. A key objective of this research is to provide more insight on the existing gap between the various stakeholders' perspectives on IT governance in the multiple echelons of an organization, with particular emphasis on the alignment of mental models and the process of sense making; revealing a deeper understanding of current governance practices from the social/relational, structural and processual mechanisms within an organization and highlighting the as-lived perceptions on IT governance purpose, objectives, important IT mechanisms for effective IT governance and perspectives on current IT governance effectiveness within their context. The culmination of the findings from this research reveal in a need for organizations to engage in a sense-making process that enables the inclusive conceptualization of IT governance within their context. At the core, it is about IT governance vision- purpose- practice alignment, and as a (important) consequence, about business and IT alignment.

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

Graduate School of Business

Year dc:date.issued

2014

Author dc:creator

• Masuku , Siphamandla

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Sewchurran, Kosheek

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/11427/13301

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/13301