Quasi-experimentation - design and analysis issues for field settings - cook,td, campbell,dt

Everybody knows that digital technology has revolutionized our economy and our lifestyles. But how many of us really understand the drivers behind the technology – the significance of going digital; the miniaturization of electronic devices; the role of venture capital in financing the revolution; the importance of research and development? How many of us understand what it takes to make money from innovative technologies? Should we worry about manufacturing going offshore? What is the role of India and China in the digital economy? Drawing on a lifetime’s experience in the industry, as an engineer, a senior manager, and as a partner in a global venture capital firm, Henry Kressel offers an expert personalized answer to all these questions. He explains how the technology works, why it matters, how it is financed, and what the key lessons are for public policy.

Competing for the Future

Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences

Organizational Behaviour - I

IT governance is one of these concepts that suddenly emerged and became an important issue in the information technology area. Many organisations started with the implementation of IT governance to achieve a better alignment between business and IT. This paper carries interpretations regarding important existing theories, models, and practices in the IT governance domain and presents research questions derived from it. Next, multiple research strategies are triangulated in order to explore how organisations are implementing IT governance and to analyse the relationship between these implementations and business/IT alignment. The major finding is that business/IT alignment maturity is higher when organisations are applying a mix of mature IT governance practices.

An Exploratory Study into IT Governance Implementations and its Impact on Business/IT Alignment

In many organisations, Information Technology (IT) has become crucial in the support, the sustainability and the growth of the business. This pervasive use of technology has created a critical dependency on IT that calls for a specific focus on IT Governance. IT Governance consists of the leadership and organisational structures and processes that ensure that the organisation’s IT sustains and extends the organisation’s strategy and objectives. This introductory chapter records and interprets some important existing theories, models and practises in the IT Governance domain and aims to contribute to the understanding of IT Governance and its structures, processes and relational mechanisms. This chapter appears in the book, Strategies for Information Technology Governance, edited by Wim Van Grembergen. Copyright © 2004, Idea Group Inc. Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written permission of Idea Group Inc. is prohibited. 701 E. Chocolate Avenue, Suite 200, Hershey PA 17033-1240, USA Tel: 717/533-8845; Fax 717/533-8661; URL-http://www.idea-group.com IDEA GROUP PUBLISHING 2 Van Grembergen, De Haes & Guldentops Copyright © 2004, Idea Group Inc. Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written permission of Idea Group Inc. is prohibited. INTRODUCTION Information Technology (IT) has become pervasive in current dynamic and often turbulent business environments. While in the past, business executives could delegate, ignore or avoid IT decisions, this is now impossible in most sectors and industries (Peterson, 2003; Duffy, 2002; Van Der Zee & De Jong, 1999). To emphasise this pervasiveness, Broadbent and Weill (1998) refer to three layers of the ‘new infrastructure’: local IT for business processes, firm IT infrastructure and public IT infrastructures (Figure 1). The Public Infrastructure (Figure 1) is the foundation of the New Infrastructure, which is in turn linked to external industry infrastructures such as Internet, EDI networks, etc. This enables the business to communicate and do business with customers, suppliers, partners, etc. Together with the Firm Information Technology Infrastructure, such as e-mail, customer databases, etc., these infrastructures make up the New Infrastructure. The New Infrastructure, plus the local IT needed to perform business processes, can be defined as the Firm Information Technology Portfolio. The Information Technology Portfolio not only has the potential to support existing business strategies, but also to shape new strategies (Henderson, Venkatraman, & Oldach, 1993; Henderson & Venkatraman, 1993; Guldentops, 2003). In this mindset, IT becomes not only a success factor for survival and prosperity, but also an opportunity to differentiate and to achieve competitive advantage. IT also offers a means for increasing productivity. Leveraging IT successfully to transform the enterprise and create products and services with added value has become a universal business competency (Guldentops, 2003). In this viewpoint, the IT department moves from a commodity service provider to a strategic partner, as illustrated by Venkatraman (1999) (Table 1). Broadbent, M. & Weill, P. (1998). Leveraging the New Infrastructure – How Market Leaders Capitalize on Information Technology. Harvard Business School Press. Figure 1. The New Infrastructure Public infrastructure (e.g. internet, vendors, industry networks) Firm Information Technology Infrastructure (e.g. home page, customer database, e-mail) Local IT for Business Processes Local IT for Business Processes Local IT for Business Processes 34 more pages are available in the full version of this document, which may be purchased using the "Add to Cart" button on the publisher's webpage: www.igi-global.com/chapter/structures-processes-relationalmechanisms-governance/29897

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Structures, Processes and Relational Mechanisms for IT Governance

COBIT, currently in its fifth edition, is a good-practice framework for the enterprise governance of IT. There is limited academic research that either analyzes COBIT or leverages COBIT as an instrument in executing research programs. Through linking core elements and principles of COBIT to insights from IT-related and general management literature, this paper explores the use of COBIT in future research activities. This paper positions COBIT as a framework for enterprise governance of IT. The major directions and core principles of the framework are described. Connections are made of these directions and principles to the relevant literature. Research questions for future research around enterprise governance of IT and COBIT 5 are proposed and discussed.

COBIT 5 and Enterprise Governance of Information Technology: Building Blocks and Research Opportunities

Enterprise governance of information technology is a relatively new concept that is gaining traction in both the academic and practitioner worlds. Going well beyond the implementation of a superior IT infrastructure, Enterprise Governance of Information Technology is about defining and embedding processes and structures throughout the organizations that enable both business and IT people to execute their responsibilities, while maximizing the value created from their IT-enabled investments. At the forefront of the field, the authors draw from years of research and advising corporate clients to present the first comprehensive resource on the topic. Featuring numerous case examples from companies around the world, the book integrates theoretical advances and empirical data with practical application, including in-depth discussion of such frameworks as COBIT and VALIT, which are used to measure and audit the value of IT investments and ensuring regulatory compliance. A variety of elements, including executive summaries and sidebars, extensive references, and questions and activities (with additional materials available on-line) ensure that the book will be an essential resource for professionals, researchers, and students alike.

Enterprise Governance of Information Technology: Achieving Strategic Alignment and Value

In many organisations, information technology (IT) has become crucial in the support, sustainability and growth of the business. This pervasive use of technology has created a critical dependency on IT that calls for a specific focus on IT governance. IT governance consists of the leadership and organisational structures and processes that enable the required alignment between business and IT. This practice-oriented research concentrates on the IT governance practices that organisations can leverage to implement IT governance in reality. Based on literature research, pilot case research and delphi research, this paper provides insights regarding the effectiveness and ease of implementation of IT governance practices and provides a minimum baseline of practices that organisations at least should have. Via this research, we want to contribute to new theory building and assist practitioners by providing more guidance on how IT governance can be effectively implemented.

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An Exploratory Study into the Design of an IT Governance Minimum Baseline through Delphi Research

IT governance is one of these concepts that suddenly emerged and became an important issue in the information technology area. Some organisations started with the implementation of IT governance in order to achieve a better alignment between business and IT. This paper interprets important existing theories, models and practices in the IT governance domain and derives research questions from it. Next, multiple research strategies are triangulated in order to understand how organisations are implementing IT governance in practice and to analyse the relationship between these implementations and business/IT alignment. Major finding is that organisations with more mature IT governance practices likely obtain a higher degree of business/IT alignment maturity.

Steven De Haes

Papers

Structures, Processes and Relational Mechanisms for IT Governance

COBIT 5 and Enterprise Governance of Information Technology: Building Blocks and Research Opportunities

Enterprise Governance of Information Technology: Achieving Strategic Alignment and Value

An Exploratory Study into the Design of an IT Governance Minimum Baseline through Delphi Research

Analysing the Relationship between IT Governance and Business/IT Alignment Maturity