IT Governance in a Malaysian Public Institute of Higher Learning and Intelligent Decision Making Support System Solution

Abstract

IT governance in public universities is yet to be fully appreciated. This is because IT governance is just evolving as a new paradigm to take care of the stakeholders' expectations in leveraging IT with business goals. This study explores issues of IT governance and the use of IDMSS in a public university in Malaysia. The interviews and documents were analysed to generate themes. The findings show the need for effective IT governance in the university. This will enable optimal usage of IT resources, which are expected to have an impact on the university's performance. Moreover, COBIT framework is presented to provide the benchmark of international standards and practices that the university can adopt in the future. Finally, two IDMSS methods are presented for application in this study. This empirical study on IT governance in the context of a public Institute of Higher learning in Malaysia attempts to document the role of IT and the evolution of its practices in the context of a university.

The Role of Information Technology Human Capability in the Implementation of Information Technology Governance (ITG): A Systematic Literature Review on Malaysian Organizations

“…Organizations will find it difficult to refer to the personnel in-charge as no one will assume the responsibility for related issues without a structure in place [18]. Similar issues were reported as there was a lack of a platform for management to discuss IT-related issues [21].…”

“…Miscommunication and improper guidelines led to a lack of coordination between departments and facilities regarding the utilization of IT resources. Guidelines and practices together with a reliable ITG structure prevent information disparity between the expectations of the CIO and implementation on the ground [21]. A study on Malaysia's public sector revealed that 76.19% of organizations had a low ITG maturity level.…”

“…It was found that top management perceives that there is no need for ITG as there is a lack of awareness and knowledge [2]. There were no efforts by the top management to create awareness about ITG adoption [21]. Instead, all the issues were thought to be an IT-only responsibility, which further leads to a disoriented alignment between strategic business and IT planning.…”

“…As most personnel lack ITG knowledge and experience, top management plays a major role in ensuring the continuity and sustainability of ITG. Presence of the CIO was insignificant because the responsibilities were not up to a respectable standard [21]. There was no effort to create awareness and liaison between business and IT.…”

“…When forming the ITG structure, organizations should assess whether there are qualified personnel available and accountable for ITG implementation. It is undeniable that collaboration issues [21,26] have consistently emerged during ITG implementation. In the selection of qualified personnel for ITG, there is no doubt that at least certain levels of business and behavioural capability should be considered as ITG often requires collaborative efforts for strategic alignment purposes.…”