The State of IT Governance in Uganda's Higher Institutions of Learning

The State of IT Governance in Uganda's Higher Institutions of Learning

Lillian Ndagire, James Basuta
Copyright: © 2022 |Pages: 15
DOI: 10.4018/IJIDE.311518
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Abstract

Information technology (IT) has become an integral part of development in any organization. Dependence on IT brings concerns in organizations to handle its increasing complexity which necessitates the implementation of IT governance. However, IT governance is lacking in the public sector organizations of developing countries, leading to failure to realize the full potential value of IT. For Uganda's higher institutions of learning (HILs), implementation of IT governance is unexplored. Therefore, in this paper, the authors investigate the state of IT governance among the eight HILs in Uganda. Interviews were used to collect data which was categorized into structures, processes, and relational mechanisms. The results showed that the relational mechanisms like training were fairly implemented, while structures and processes like the IT steering committee and IT performance measurement respectively were poorly implemented.
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Introduction

Many organizations depend on information technology (IT) as a key driver for their business processes (NITA-U, 2019). IT is increasingly applied in the organization's daily activities, bringing concerns about managing its increasing complexity. This is caused, in part, by the ongoing push to adopt e-government (Amaravadi, 2005), as well as the steadily rising demand for services that are more effective and affordable from residents, corporations, and public entities themselves. Furthermore, in the contemporary dynamic and frequently turbulent multiservice provision contexts, where efficient management of IT and its alignment with business goals is vital for success, this has led to pervasiveness and dependence on IT (Nfuka et al., 2009). Management procedures and practices to handle the growing complexity in governance and managing IT are known as IT governance (Amanat, 2018).

IT Governance, which is the organizational capability to plan and control the development and implementation of IT strategy to ensure the merger of business and IT, is required for the prudent administration of such an IT environment (Van Grembergen et al., 2004). IT governance is the management practice of handling the increasing complexity of IT. Whereas, Wiedenhoft et al. (2017) refer to IT governance mechanisms as practices and arrangements in organizations responsible for meeting the goals and principles of IT governance. IT governance mechanisms are largely lacking among public sector organizations of developing nations. Nfuka et al. (2009), in their study on the state of IT governance in public sector organizations in Tanzania, show several IT governance mechanisms that involved structures, processes, and relational mechanisms with processes having key weaknesses. Given these weaknesses, and the complexity of IT governance in public sector organizations (Amanat, 2018), developing countries are confronted with issues of diversity of fragmented IT initiatives, poor IT deployment, low literacy, resources, management, and culture (Bakari, 2007), which necessitate the need to investigate the state of IT governance in such an environment.

IT governance focuses on executing and transmuting IT to meet the current and upcoming demands of the business process and business customers (Ahlan et al., 2014). Grama (2015) notes that IT governance involves structures, processes, and people that control decision-making on technological issues. According to Wu et al. (2015), proper implementation of IT governance positively impacts the organization and improves business/IT alignment. To manage the diversity of technologies, IT governance mechanisms are required to support decisions, actions, and assets that are IT-related and ensure that they are appropriately aligned with the organization's strategies and planned intents (Pereira et al., 2014). It is noticeable that organizations that have implemented proper IT governance mechanisms have enhanced their performance in form of efficiency, cost savings, and profitability (Lunardi et al., 2014). Hence, it is evident that IT governance mechanisms enable organizations to create business value in organizations (I. Bianchi et al., 2017). Institutions need three types of IT governance mechanisms to encourage desirable IT behaviors. These are structures, processes, and relational mechanisms (I. Bianchi et al., 2017).

Structure mechanisms are the organizational units and roles accountable for creating IT decisions (Weill & Ross, 2005). For example, committees, executive teams, and business/IT relationship managers. Processes mechanisms are set recognized processes used to ensure that day-to-day behaviors are consistent with IT policies and contribute to decisions. These include chargebacks, architecture exception processes, strategic information system planning, and IT investment proposal (Van Grembergen & De Haes, 2008). Relational mechanisms complete the IT governance framework and are dominant for achieving and supporting business-IT alignment, although the appropriate structures and processes are available (De Haes & Van Grembergen, 2005).

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