Corporate Strategy and IT Governance Assignment for University

This assignment solution delves into the core concepts of Corporate Strategy and IT Governance, providing a comprehensive analysis of key areas. The solution addresses questions related to IT recruitment strategies, the differences between internal and external SLAs, and the essential tasks for a new CIO. It also explores performance indicators for IT departments, the importance of IT strategic planning, and measures for effective IT governance. Furthermore, the assignment examines the value of an IT portfolio and challenges in assessing the value of existing IT infrastructure, offering practical insights and recommendations for effective IT management and strategic alignment. This assignment provides valuable information and solutions for students studying corporate strategy and IT governance.

CORPORATE STRATEGY AND IT GOVERNANCE
Corporate Strategy and IT Governance
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1CORPORATE STRATEGY AND IT GOVERNANCE
Table of Contents
Question 1 [15 marks]................................................................................................................2
Part (a) [3 marks]...................................................................................................................2
Part (b) [3 marks]...................................................................................................................2
Part (c) [3 marks]...................................................................................................................2
Part (d) [3 marks]...................................................................................................................2
Question 2 [15 marks]................................................................................................................3
Part (a) [8 marks]...................................................................................................................3
Part (b) [7 marks]...................................................................................................................3
Question 3 [10 marks]................................................................................................................4
Part (a) [4 marks]...................................................................................................................4
Part (b) [6 marks]...................................................................................................................4

2CORPORATE STRATEGY AND IT GOVERNANCE
Question 1 [15 marks]
Part (a) [3 marks]
It has been noted that there are skills shortages impacting on the recruitment of IT related
staff. Outline three key tactics an IS manager could adopt to ensure this issue doesn’t present
too many risks to their organisation.
 The three tactics by which the efficiency of the recruitment policy will be maintained
in an IT company are the applicant tracking system, video interviewing and taking the
advantage of the extensive use of social media.
Part (b) [3 marks]
Identify two areas where an internal Service Level Agreement (SLA) might be different from
an external SLA (where these SLAs relate to the provision of IT based services).
Note that internal SLAs operate between one or more parts of the organisation and an internal
service provider such as the IT department, whereas external SLAs operate between one or
more parts of the organisation and an external service provider, such as a firm providing
outsourced IT services.
Internal SLA External SLA
 Management of expectations and
boosting productivity is achieved with
the help of internal SLA.
 External business processes such
as the vendor can be managed with the
help of external SLA.
 Employee morale can be
significantly improved with the help of
internal SLA.
 Restrictions are source of
concern for the employees of an IT
organisation.
Table 1: Difference between internal and external SLA
(Source: Created by the author)

3CORPORATE STRATEGY AND IT GOVERNANCE
Part (c) [3 marks]
List three things that would be useful for a new CIO to do when arriving in their job. For
each of these things, give a reason as to why it might be useful for the CIO.
 Checking the mission and vision of the strategic goals of the organisation.
 Checking the available resources used for different projects.
 Monitoring the activities of the CSOs (Allen et al. 2015).
Part (d) [3 marks]
Identify two performance indicators that could be used for the regular reporting of the
performance of the IT Department to the CEO and the executive committee. Why would
each of these indicators that you have chosen be useful for the executive management to
know about?
The two performance indicators can be forwarded to CEO and executive Committee are as
followings:
 KPI: Key performance indicators
 Cash Flow forecasting tool
Part (e) [3 marks]
Another question similar to the tutorial questions discussed during the semester.
The applications of this tools are described below:
KPI: The measurement of the performance can be achieved with the help of KPI.
Cash Flow forecasting tool: The parameters of the employee performance can also be
quantified with the help of this tool.

4CORPORATE STRATEGY AND IT GOVERNANCE
Question 2 [15 marks]
The University of Uriarra (UU) is a fictitious organisation similar in size to the University of
Canberra that will be used as a case study for Question 2.
Part (a) [8 marks]
IT strategic planning (ITSP) is one means of planning and coordinating the provision of IT
services to support organisational activities and improve organisational performance. For the
purposes of this exercise, it can be noted that ITSP had been handled poorly at UU, with the
latest plan being over 8 years old and having little impact on recent strategic actions at UU.
Despite this history of poor ITSP efforts, UU has some reasonable IT infrastructure.
Given this scenario, do you think it would be appropriate for an organisation the size of UU
to implement an ITSP based approach to help with the management of the organisation and
its IT infrastructure? Please provide a rationale to support your views in this matter.
 The management of UU must be helped with a new approach of ITSP approach as it
would be having a direct long term impact on the existing IT infrastructure with the
help of new technologies that would boost the overall growth of the organisation.
Identify two areas where ITSP may have improved the outcomes for UU with their IT efforts.
Part (b) [7 marks]
For this exercise, we can assume that part of the cause of the problems in UU was a failure of
governance with little in the way of formal IT governance mechanisms in place. Outline
three key measures (other than the ITSP based measures) that could be taken to implement
effective IT governance. Describe how each of these measures would improve the prospects
of a positive outcome with the implementation and management of the IT systems and
infrastructure.

5CORPORATE STRATEGY AND IT GOVERNANCE
The three different types of methods can be extensively used for the effective implementation
of the IT governance are discussed below:
Outline: The services offered by this organisation to its clients should be outlined for having
a complete area so that the IT governance plans can be implemented (Bailey, Minto-Coy and
Thakur 2017). The total area with will come under the plan will be helping to make the plan.
Plan: Positive outcome can be achieved with the help of the long-term term strategies. The
long term strategies should be checked for the planning.
Goals: The short term goals should be checked and achieved that would be beneficial for the
implementation of the governance plan. The short term goal should be set in such a way so
that it is actually achievable.
Question 3 [10 marks]
Part (a) [4 marks]
During the semester, it was suggested that it was beneficial for the CIO to understand the
value of the IT portfolio. Outline two of the benefits that could be gained from having this
understanding.
 Effective communication is one of the key aspects of the values of the IT portfolio.
 The right metrics can be focussed with the help of the values of the IT portfolio
(Jansen 2017).
Part (b) [6 marks]
There are various ways in which an investment in IT can be valued. At one level, we could
look at the actual cost of the various components of the IT artefact. The sum of these costs,
less any relevant depreciation could then be seen as one measure of value. However, the true
value of our IT investments lies in the benefits they bring to the organisation.

6CORPORATE STRATEGY AND IT GOVERNANCE
Assuming you were a new CIO for an organisation, what might be some issues in
ascertaining the value of your existing IT infrastructure, noting the comments above?
The following issues should be highlighted by me as a CIO in the new IT organisation:
 IoT Security: The anxieties due to the security reasons should be removed to a
significant extent (Laudon and Laudon 2016).
 The issues related to the overload of data into the severs should be solved
purposefully.
 The cyber security polices of the existing organisation should be revised as the
technologies used by the server criminals are getting advanced each day.

7CORPORATE STRATEGY AND IT GOVERNANCE
Reference
Allen, J.H., Crabb, G., Curtis, P.D., Fitzpatrick, B., Mehravari, N. and Tobar, D., 2015.
Structuring the chief information security officer organization (No. CMU/SEI-2015-TN-007).
CARNEGIE-MELLON UNIV PITTSBURGH PA PITTSBURGH United States.
Bailey, A., Minto-Coy, I. and Thakur, D., 2017. IT Governance in E-Government
Implementations in the Caribbean: Key Characteristics and Mechanisms. In Information
Technology Governance in Public Organizations (pp. 201-227). Springer, Cham.
Jansen, W., 2017. New business models for the knowledge economy. Routledge.
Laudon, K.C. and Laudon, J.P., 2016. Management information system. Pearson Education
India.