Is There Consensus between Boards and IT Mgt on the Importance of IT Governance (ITG) Issues in Malaysia?

Abstract

Boards play a critical role in the governance of organisations, yet despite the continued call for improved IT Governance (ITG), there has been little research into how Boards govern IT (Van Grembergen, De Haes & Guldentops, 2004). Current research indicates Boards appear to struggle to understand the state of IT within their companies and/or they lack appropriate IT skills in discussing IT issues. This study attempts to assesses if there is consensus between Boards and IT Management regarding the importance of ITG issues by using a model developed from a literature review of IT governance issues in three domains, namely IT organisations/associations, professional accounting associations and academic research. The model is then tested, using Malaysia as a case study to evaluate the level of consensus between Boards and IT Management regarding the importance of IT Governance (ITG) issues. Malaysia was chosen considering the importance given to corporate governance issues in the 9th Malaysia Plan Report prepared by the Economic Planning Unit (EPU) of the Prime Ministers Department, Malaysia.