A Framework for Research on Information Technology Governance in SMEs

A Framework for Research on Information Technology Governance in SMEs

François Bergeron (Université du Québec, Canada), Anne-Marie Croteau (Concordia University, Canada), Sylvestre Uwizeyemungu (Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières, Canada) and Louis Raymond (Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières, Canada)
Copyright: © 2017 |Pages: 29
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-5225-0861-8.ch003

Abstract

The need to effectively manage IT resources such that they enhance the business value of firms makes IT Governance (ITG) an important issue for both IS researchers and practitioners. The purpose of this paper is to build a conceptual framework for ITG in small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs). The authors first analyze the main theories applied in ITG research, and confront them with the specificities of SMEs. The authors then highlight the limits of those theories in SMEs context and discuss adaptations needed or alternative theories in such context. The resulting framework is then applied to generate a set of six research propositions on ITG in SMEs.
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2. Theoretical And Empirical Background

In the literature, corporate governance (CG) is generally conceptualized with reference to the rights and responsibilities of different stakeholders in the firm, to the relationships among stakeholders with regards to the decision-making process, resolution of possible conflicts, and control of organizational resources, and to the means for setting corporate objectives and monitoring performance (Turlea et al., 2010). The OECD has proposed the following definition of CG which seems to have gained widespread popularity (Mason & O'Mahony, 2008): “a set of relationships between a company’s management, its board, its shareholders and other stakeholders [that] provides the structure through which the objectives of the company are set, and the means of attaining those objectives and monitoring performance are determined” (p. 32).

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