Previous studies have been made on various aspects of IT governance in public government organizations in developing countries and revealed several major issues. However, due to limited knowledge, it is unclear what IT Governance (ITG) practice is in place in public organizations. The purpose of this study is therefore to investigate the adopted IT management practices and their influence on the effectiveness of IT management in the Tanzanian public government organization. A qualitative study was done using the holistic multiple case study strategy. Data was collected using the semi-structured interview method with heads of IT in three Tanzanian public government organizations. The analysis of this study showed that senior managers involvement in IT projects, Office of CIO and the IT leadership are key ITG practices adopted in the three Tanzanian public government organizations. Senior management involvement in IT projects was found to influence knowledge sharing through collaboration between IT and business units. Furthermore, the CIO office was found to influence the organization's decision-making through direct representation to the decision-making body by a person who monitors and issues IT directives. Furthermore, IT management was found to have an influence on simplifying knowledge sharing between IT and business units, as well as monitoring IT issues and issuing IT directives in the organization. Given these findings, our study contributes knowledge into the literature on IT governance with special emphasis on governmental organizations in developing countries.

Diss. Univ. Zürich. / Im Buchh.: Zürich : Schulthess. Literaturverz.

Research report presented to the SBL, Unisa, Midrand. / This report proposes to make a contribution in the area of governance by critically analyzing the governance structure of SNV (The Netherlands Development Organization) in implementing projects. This study is motivated by the scarcity of published documentation on corporate and project governance practices specific to the African and particularly Kenyan context which organisations interested in pursuing good governance and managerial practices can use as a reference point.

Having dominated policy agenda in developed economies for well over three decades, corporate governance is now getting to the top of the policy agenda in developing countries (Abor and Adjasi, 2007). However, the issues of corporate governance have focused on the major shareholders and institutional shareholders of the organization while little or no attention has been paid to public sector and the private enterprises in developing countries. This has been ignored by the literature. This study investigates the ethical dimensions of corporate governance practice in Ghanaian public sector and private enterprises. It aims to understand the phenomena of governance practices in this context and examine its implications for good corporate governance systems in Ghana. Using grounded theory methodology, data was collected from 28 semi structured interviews with board of directors and senior officials, and group discussion of 9 participants, mainly directors and officials involved with Ghanaian corporate governance system. The interviews were informed by the survey of governance practice. Through the constant comparative method of open coding of interviews, categories emerged which were subsumed into main categories during the axial coding. The paradigm model was used to establish the relationship among the categories. This formed the basis for the selective coding which identified the core category and its relationships with the sub-categories, verified to develop the substantive theory of corporate governance systems. The study explored the relationship between culture relativism and universalism and the formal theory in terms of stakeholder theory and shareholder theory. The substantive theory identifies that corporate governance practice in the public sector and private enterprises is influenced by traditional cultural values which has implications for ethical business environment. This study is the first attempt to combine corporate governance, grounded theory and national level culture in public sector and business enterprises, and to offer relevant recommendations for policy-makers. The substantive theory demonstrate that corporate governance systems are socially constructed and as such understanding the behaviour of board of directors is vital for understanding how corporate governance is practiced. The study contributes to better understanding of governance practice in the public sector organisations and the informal sector

Service-oriented architecture (SOA) governance has been identified as the most important factor affecting the outcome of SOA within organisations. However, authors have failed to explain how organisations should govern specific aspects of its SOA, leaving a gap in the literature. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate established SOA governance mechanisms in order to explain implications of governance in a SOA context. The research question of the study was to identify which SOA governance mechanisms do or do not provide support for different constituents of SOA. The study also contained three sub-questions; (i) Is there a difference between how SOA governance mechanisms support technical vs. non technical constituents of SOA? (ii) Is there any SOA governance mechanism that is more important than others? (iii) Is there a relation between the SOA governance mechanisms?   The study was conducted using theories related to SOA and SOA governance. We identified the most academically accepted SOA governance mechanisms to test their support for different constituents of SOA. To get an holistic view of SOA, we used a SOA maturity framework to identify what the constituents of SOA really are. The support of the SOA governance mechanisms were then studied in relation to the different constituents of SOA, through interviews and observations, during a ten week internship at Scania.   The results showed that as good as every SOA governance mechanism supports the constituents of SOA, although the level of support varied. In general, we found patterns separating the support for technological and non-technological constituents of SOA. The technological constituents of SOA were to a great extent provided the same support from SOA governance mechanisms, which also was true for the non-technological constituents of SOA. Interestingly, except for one SOA governance mechanism, the technological constituents of SOA and the non-technological obtained different levels of support from governance. The most important SOA governance mechanisms are the creation of standards and policies, having processes to create and enforce policies, processes for education, and establishing SOA skills and training. We can also conclude that there is a relationship between many of the SOA governance mechanisms, and that academics and practitioners therefore have to view SOA governance holistically, rather than independent governance mechanisms.

<p>After several scandals in the US, the focus on corporate governance has increased rapidly and led to implementations of “codes of best practice” in many countries. In 2002, the Swedish government appointed a committee with the purpose to develop a Swedish Code of Corporate Governance. The purpose with the code is to help the Swedish industry to regain its confidence in order to attract capital after the scandals that have occurred. The code shall be implemented by Swedish com-panies listed on the A-list on the Stockholm stock exchange and companies on the O-list with a market value above 3 billion SEK and shall be implemented by the 1:st of July 2005.</p><p>The code is based on the principle “comply or explain” which means that companies do not have to comply with the requirements of the code as long as they explain their reasons why they deviate. The purpose of this thesis is thereby to examine to what extent Swedish companies prepare to comply or are already complying with the requirements of the code and the reasons for possible deviations regarding the level of compliance between the companies. In order to answer the purpose stated, the authors have chosen to use both a quantitative and a qualitative method. The authors have sent surveys to all companies obliged to implement the code in order to find out to what extent the Swedish companies prepare to comply or are already complying with the code today. In order to answer the second research question, why companies prepare to comply, or are complying to different degrees, hypotheses were stated and interviews with five companies listed on the Stockholm stock exchange were made.</p><p>The authors found a high compliance rate among Swedish companies, with a mean of 88,49%. The companies on the A-list are complying to a larger extent than the ones on the O-list. Based on the hypotheses, the authors found that companies with higher turnovers are more likely to comply with the code to a larger extent than companies with lower turnovers. Additional reasons to a high degree of compliance rate with the code, are: the need for resources, the impact of media, the culture and personal values within the organization and the fact that the code does not imply any major changes for the organization. Reasons why companies do not prepare to comply or are already complying to a large extent are: the increased devotion of resources that the implementation requires, the high level of details and the complicated requirements of the code. These last-mentioned factors lead to difficulties to interpret the requirements of the code and increased bureaucracy, which thereby lead to a lower level of compliance.</p>

The barrage of negative media reports coupled with reactionary federal legislation have led many Canadians to believe that most First Nation governments are corrupt. Although systematic evidence of widespread corruption has yet to materialize, governance problems in some First Nations communities do exist. With the majority of First Nations operating under the band governance system imposed by the Indian Act, political troubles are often attributed to this law. Despite the fact the Indian Act creates conditions for governance problems to occur, other First Nations have resisted its enticement and operate sound administrations. Nations like these influenced this study. To understand and explain how First Nations achieve and maintain effective governance, conversations took place with First Nations leaders, administrators, Elders and community members in Alberta and BC. The study was conducted using an Indigenous-Qualitative approach where the qualitative aspect involved a grounded theory methodology. Findings show that effective First Nations governance involves an inter-related journey consisting of four phases: motivators of change, visions of effective governance, actions to support effective governance and the maintenance of governance improvements. Every phase in the journey is profoundly shaped by the legacy of colonization. Political problems caused by the legacy motivate change, the journey is guided by visions to recover from the legacy and actions are taken to improve legacy-related governance problems. The power of colonization is particularly evident at the maintenance stage of the journey where legacy-related influences stifle political change and help keep the status quo in place. This observation led to the following hypothesis: First Nations that wish to achieve and maintain effective governance must navigate the legacy of colonization. Colonization creates obstacles that must be carefully navigated if effective First Nations governance is to be achieved. It is amazing that many First Nations leaders have been able to stickhandle their way through these obstacles and achieve some measure of effective governance. These leaders are to be commended for their skills, strength and determination. However, in the absence of decolonization, strong economies, self-government and the restoration of certain traditions, the efforts of these leaders will be lost. / Graduate / terryfox@uvic.ca

The term "governance" encompasses both governmental and nongovernmental participation in collective choice and action. Law dictates the structure, boundaries, rules, and processes within which governmental action takes place, and in doing so becomes one of the focal points for analysis of barriers to adaptation as the effects of climate change are felt. Adaptive governance must therefore contemplate a level of flexibility and evolution in governmental action beyond that currently found in the heavily administrative governments of many democracies. Nevertheless, over time, law itself has proven highly adaptive in western systems of government, evolving to address and even facilitate the emergence of new social norms (such as the rights of women and minorities) or to provide remedies for emerging problems (such as pollution). Thus, there is no question that law can adapt, evolve, and be reformed to make room for adaptive governance. In doing this, not only may barriers be removed, but law may be adjusted to facilitate adaptive governance and to aid in institutionalizing new and emerging approaches to governance. The key is to do so in a way that also enhances legitimacy, accountability, and justice, or else such reforms will never be adopted by democratic societies, or if adopted, will destabilize those societies. By identifying those aspects of the frameworks for adaptive governance reviewed in the introduction to this special feature relevant to the legal system, we present guidelines for evaluating the role of law in environmental governance to identify the ways in which law can be used, adapted, and reformed to facilitate adaptive governance and to do so in a way that enhances the legitimacy of governmental action.

Research report presented to the SBL, Unisa, Midrand. / This report proposes to make a contribution in the area of governance by critically analyzing the governance structure of SNV (The Netherlands Development Organization) in implementing projects. This study is motivated by the scarcity of published documentation on corporate and project governance practices specific to the African and particularly Kenyan context which organisations interested in pursuing good governance and managerial practices can use as a reference point.

The thesis focuses on theoretical and empirical analysis of concepts of competitiveness that are further applied to the case of the European Union and its system of economic governance. Aim of the thesis is to explain the relationship between competitiveness` concept and economic governance of the EU. The matter is whether the European Union, which has belonged to the most successful examples of regional integration, has strong and flexible tool for itself and for its member states to cope with changing conditions of the globalized world economy, demographic and environmental challenges and whether economic governance of the EU takes principles of competitiveness development into consideration and so application of these principles would make the EU economic governance more effective.