The importance and effectiveness of information technology governance practices: a Malaysian private organizations perspective

Abstract

The increased dependence on information technology (lT) and rise of security threats in organizations have led to the growing awareness of the need for adopting formal lT governance practices. However, how organizations perceive lT governance importance and how successful they are in implementing these practices remain unknown at least in the local Malaysian context. Thus, this research seeks to investigate the perception of lT governance importance and the effective implementation in Malaysian private organizations. The unit of analysis of the research is organization. The study was conducted using a cross-sectional survey research targeting highest ranking lT personnel, from various industries as research participants and as the key informant. Mail survey strategy was adopted in this research. The population comprises Malaysian private organizations drawn from four major Malaysian corporate directories. The results from descriptive analysis yield interesting findings. The average level of observed importance and effectiveness of lT governance is 5.28 and 4.91 respectively. Though Malaysian private organizations perceive lT governance as important but implementation of effective lT governance is below the effective level. The paper has also presented the gap for effectiveness and importance which suggests that there is room for improvement that practitioners can identify from the elements of lT governance. The findings from this study provide an insight for practitioners at both top and middle level management, particularly, those who are leading the lT function, a better understanding of lT governance importance and effectiveness. Moreover, practitioners may consider adopting appropriate actions to foster an environment that promotes lT governance effectiveness.