Information Technology Governance Implementation and Its Determinants in the Egyptian Market

Authors: Nariman O. Kandil, Ehab K. Abou-Elkheir, Amr M. Kotb

Abstract:

Effective IT governance guarantees the strategic alignment of IT and business goals, risk mitigation control, and better IT and business performance. This study seeks to examine empirically the extent of IT governance implementation within the firms listed on the Egyptian Stock Exchange (EGX30) and its determinants. Accordingly, 18 semi-structured interviews, face to face, phone, and video-conferencing, using various tools (e.g., WebEx, Zoom, and Microsoft Teams) were undertaken at the interviewees’ offices in Egypt between the end of November 2019 and the end of August 2020. Results suggest that there are variances in the extent of IT Governance (ITG) implementation within the firms listed on the EGX30, mainly caused by the industry type and internal and external triggers. The results also suggest that the organization size, the type of auditor, the criticality of the industry, the effective processes & key performance indicators (KPIs), and the information intensity expertise of the chief information officers (CIOs) have a significant impact on ITG implementation within the firms.

Keywords: Effective IT governance, Egyptian Market, information security, risk controls.

References:

[1] De Haes, S., & Van Grembergen, W. (2009). An exploratory study into IT governance implementations and its impact on business/IT alignment. Information Systems Management, 26(2), 123-137.
[2] Rubino, M., & Vitolla, F. (2014, April). IT governance, risk management and internal control system: the role of the COBIT framework. In International OFEL Conference on Governance, Management and Entrepreneurship (p. 174). Centar za istrazivanje i razvoj upravljanja doo
[3] De Haes, S., & Van Grembergen, W. (2005, January). IT governance structures, processes and relational mechanisms: Achieving IT/business alignment in a major Belgian financial group. In Proceedings of the 38th Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (pp. 237b-237b). IEEE
[4] Spremić, M., & Spremić, H. (2011, April). Measuring it governance maturity: evidences from using regulation framework in the Republic Croatia. In Proceedings of the 5th European conference on European computing conference (pp. 98-104).
[5] Selig, G. J. (2008). Implementing IT Governance-A Practical Guide to Global Best Practices in IT Management. Van Haren Publishing.
[6] Debreceny, R. S., & Gray, G. L. (2013). IT governance and process maturity: A multinational field study. Journal of Information Systems, 27(1), 157-188.
[7] Posthumus, S., Von Solms, R., & King, M. (2010). The board and IT governance: The what, who and how. South African Journal of Business Management, 41(3), 23-32.
[8] Otto, B. (2010). IT Governance and Organizational Transformation: From an Action Research Study.
[9] Bartens, Y., De Haes, S., Lamoen, Y., Schulte, F., & Voss, S. (2015, January). On the way to a minimum baseline in IT governance: Using expert views for selective implementation of COBIT 5. In 48th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (pp. 4554-4563). IEEE.
[10] Sidorova, A., Evangelopoulos, N., Valacich, J. S., & Ramakrishnan, T. (2008). Uncovering the intellectual core of the information systems discipline. MIS quarterly, 467-482.
[11] Caelli, K., Ray, L., & Mill, J. (2003). ‘Clear as mud’: toward greater clarity in generic qualitative research. International journal of qualitative methods, 2(2), 1-13.
[12] Etikan, I., & Bala, K. (2017). Sampling and sampling methods. Biometrics & Biostatistics International Journal, 5(6), 00149.
[13] Bashir, M., Afzal, M. T., & Azeem, M. (2008). Reliability and validity of qualitative and operational research paradigm. Pakistan journal of statistics and operation research, 35-45.
[14] Leung, L. (2015). Validity, reliability, and generalizability in qualitative research. Journal of family medicine and primary care, 4(3), 324.
[15] Bergin, M. (2011). NVivo 8 and consistency in data analysis: Reflecting on the use of a qualitative data analysis program. Nurse researcher, 18(3).
[16] Gillham, B. (2000). The research interview. London: Continuum International Publishing Group.
[17] Ali, S., & Green, P. (2012). Effective information technology (IT) governance mechanisms: An IT outsourcing perspective. Information Systems Frontiers, 14(2), 179-193
[18] De Haes, S., & Van Grembergen, W. (2015). Enterprise governance of IT. In Enterprise Governance of Information Technology (pp. 11-43). Springer, Cham
[19] Kankanhalli, A., Teo, H. H., Tan, B. C., & Wei, K. K. (2003). An integrative study of information systems security effectiveness. International journal of information management, 23(2), 139-154.
[20] Sohal, A. S. & Fitzpatrick, P. (2002). IT governance and management in large Australian organizations. International Journal of Production Economics, 75(1-2), 97.
[21] Spremić, M., Žmirak, Z., & Kraljević, K. (2008). Evolving IT governance model–research study on Croatian large companies. WSEAS Transactions on Business and Economics, 5, 244-253.
[22] Joshi, A., Bollen, L., Hassink, H., De Haes, S., & Van Grembergen, W. (2018). Explaining IT governance disclosure through the constructs of IT governance maturity and IT strategic role. Information & Management, 55(3), 368-380.
[23] Chan, Y. E., Sabherwal, R., & Thatcher, J. B. (2006). Antecedents and outcomes of strategic IS alignment: an empirical investigation. IEEE Transactions on engineering management, 53(1), 27- 47
[24] Carvalho, M. M., & Laurindo, F. J. B. (2007). Estratégia competitiva: Dos conceitos à implementa¸cão (2a ed.). São Paulo: Atlas.
[25] Sohal, A. S. & Fitzpatrick, P. (2002). IT governance and management in large Australian organizations. International Journal of Production Economics, 75(1-2), 97.
[26] Spremić, M., Žmirak, Z., & Kraljević, K. (2008). Evolving IT governance model–research study on Croatian large companies. WSEAS Transactions on Business and Economics, 5, 244-253.
[27] Gómez, B., Bermejo, B., & Juiz, C. (2017). IT Governance and Its Implementation Based on a Detailed Framework of IT Governance (dFogIT) in Public Enterprises. In Information Technology Governance in Public Organizations (pp. 133-155). Springer, Cham.
[28] Al Qassimi, N., & Rusu, L. (2015). IT governance in a public organization in a developing country: A case study of a governmental organization. Procedia Computer Science, 64, 450-456.
[29] Ayat, M., Masrom, M., Sahibuddin, S., & Sharifi, M. (2011, January). Issues in implementing it governance in small and medium enterprises. In 2011 Second International Conference Intelligent Systems, Modelling and Simulation (pp. 197-201). IEEE
[30] Devos, J., & Van de Ginste, K. (2015). Towards a theoretical foundation of IT governance: the COBIT 5 case. In ECIME, 18, (2), pp. 95-103. Academic Publishing Limited.
[31] Huang, R., R. Zmud, and R. Price (2010). Influencing the effectiveness of IT governance practices through steering committees and communication policies. European Journal of Information Systems, 19 (3): 288–302.
[32] Liu, X.P. & Wang, Z.M. (2013). Perceived risk and organizational commitment: The moderating role of organizational trust. The Journal of Social Behavior and Personality, 41(2), 229–240.
[33] De Haes, S., & Van Grembergen, W. (2009). An exploratory study into IT governance implementations and its impact on business/IT alignment. Information Systems Management, 26(2), 123-137.
[34] Gupta, Y. P., Karimi, J., & Somers, T. M. (2000). A study on the usage of computer and communication technologies for telecommuting. IEEE Transactions on engineering Management, 47(1), 26-39.
[35] Peterson R. (2004). Information Strategies and Tactics for Information Technology Governance, in Strategies for Information Technology Governance, book ed. by Van Grembergen, Idea Group Publishing.