Abstract
IT Governance may play a vital role in migration to e-business in a turbulent business environment. However, it is not yet clear if attention to IT Governance will be the next ‘new thing’, either for controlling IT and ensuring value is captured or for creating value from ITbased business innovation. Much of the limited academic literature on IT Governance focuses on the structure of the IT function and mechanisms for managing it. This paper builds on the foundation of current thinking about IT governance by distilling essential elements from the literature, identifying managerial motivations and academic rationale for interest in IT governance, and comparing them with the perceptions of CIOs and e-business managers of large organisations migrating to e-business. Emergent themes indicate a disparity of focus between academics and industry consultants as to why IT Governance is of importance. A small field study indicates IT Governance practice varies widely, with organisations often unable to articulate what IT Governance means for them. There is also variation in these organisations’ experiences regarding transparency of decision-making and clarity of accountability around IT. Further research is needed to clarify the ways in which IT Governance is perceived and whether organisations should expend more resources on IT Governance.
Recommended Citation
Keyes-Pearce, Susan V., "Rethinking the Importance of IT Governance in the e-World" (2002). PACIS 2002 Proceedings. 76.
https://aisel.aisnet.org/pacis2002/76