Question

Why can an IT governance archetype be good for one type of IS decision but not for another? Give Examples

Answer 1

There are different types of governance archetype which include business monarchy, IT monarchy, federal, IT duopoly, feudal and anarchy. The IT governance archetype is dependent upon the corporate structure and focus. The most visible IT governance mechanisms are the organizational committees and roles that allocate decision making responsibilities according to indented archetypes. The different archetypes rely on different structures i.e. anarchy require no decision making structure, feudal requires local decision making, monarchy duopoly and federal arrangements will require representation in order to make decisions. Br Information Systems Steering Committees are broken up so that IT priorities are decided at the highest business level, not solely by IT. This allows each division to individualize decisions based on productivity, costs, and managerial needs. IS does not perform core business functions like selling, manufacturing or accounting so it does not set business strategies. Good IT governance provides a structure that guides decision-making.