IT Governance Mechanisms in Public Sector Organisations

Abstract

Information technology plays a significant role enabling organisations to achieve their objectives. Accordingly, the governance mechanisms over the organisation’s IT resources must be in place and operating effectively if the organization is to achieve its objectives. The concern with IT governance is not only evident in the private sector but also in the public sector. This study attempts to examine empirically the individual IT governance mechanisms that influence the overall effectiveness of IT governance in Australian public sector organisations. Using sample data from auditors who currently work in Australian public sector organisations, this study examined the influence of four proposed individual IT governance mechanisms on the overall effectiveness of IT governance. This study found significant positive relationships between the existence of an IT strategy committee and corporate (organisational) communication systems, and the overall level of effective IT governance within Australian public sector organisations.

Effective information technology (IT) governance mechanisms: An IT outsourcing perspective

“…Commitment is indicated by the provision of sufficient resources for meeting IT strategic objectives (Gottschalk 1999;Premkumar and King 1994), providing direction to management related to IT strategy and its approval (IT Governance Institute 2003b). A recent study by Ali & Green (2007) in publicsector organizations in Australia revealed that an IT strategy committee has a positive significant correlation with the level of effectiveness of overall IT governance. These arguments lead to the hypothesis: H1: The existence of an IT strategy committee will positively influence the perceived level of effective IT governance.…”

“…Finally, Vaswani's (2003) study used a relatively small sample size and it only involved one ISACA Chapter (Queensland Chapter), thus limiting the external validity of the study's results. Ali and Green (2007) investigated individual governance mechanisms in public sector organizations. They found that an effective IT strategy committee and a communication system that effectively disseminated policies and procedures both had a significant positive influence on the perceived overall level of effective IT governance.…”

“…The first two items were originally developed and validated based on a study conducted by Jarvenpaa and Ives (1991) while the last item was developed and validated by Vaswani (2003). -Corporate performance measurement system (CORPSYS) was measured using three items that were validated by Ali and Green (2007). All three items were originally developed and validated based on a study conducted by Chan and Ho (2000).…”

“…-Perceived overall level of effective IT governance (EFFECT) was measured using two items that were validated by Ali and Green (2007). The two items were originally developed and validated in Goodhue and Thompson (1995).…”

“…-IT Steering Committee (STEERCOM) was measured using three items that were validated by Ali and Green (2007). All three items were originally developed and validated based on a study conducted by Karimi et al (2000).…”