DEFINITION OF IT GOVERNANCE. Although there are a lot of definitions of IT governance, the definition of the IT Governance Institute (2003) will be used as reference definition in this study: ‘IT Governance is the responsibility of the Board of Directors and executive management. It is an integral part of enterprise governance and consists of the leadership and organisational structures and processes that ensure that the organisation’s IT sustains and extends the organisation’s strategy and objectives’ (Xxxxx & Bart, 2014; Xxx Xxxxxxxxxx, 2004). IT governance on board level is defined as ‘the board’s actions to ensure that the organisation’s IT sustains and extends the organization’s strategies and objectives’ (Xxxxx & Xxxx, 2014). IT governance differs from IT management in that IT management focusses on the internal management of IT services and products and that IT governance in turn is responsible for managing IT in order to meet present and future demands of the internal business as well as the business’ customers, which is the external environment (Xxx Xxxxxxxxxx, 2004). Corporate governance and IT governance are mutually dependent on each other. Good IT governance relies on standard corporate governance principles to use IT in order to maximise firm performance. On the other hand, IT is able to influence strategic opportunities and business objectives, defined by the company. IT can be perceived as a driver for corporate governance. In order to establish a competitive advantage of IT, IT should be completely aligned with the firm’s strategy (Xxx Xxxxxxxxxx, 2004; Xxxxx, 2004).
