The Viable Governance Model: A Theoretical Model for the Corporate Governance of IT

Empirical studies into the governance of Information Technology (IT) have advanced our understanding of the mechanisms used to control the management of IT. However, there has been relatively little research into the formulation of a theoretical model of IT governance that explains and organises the growing collection of mechanisms into a coherent whole. To further advance the concept of the corporate governance of IT, the Viable Governance Model (VGM) is proposed. The VGM is a theoretical model of governance based on the laws and principles of cybernetics as embodied in Stafford Beer’s Viable System Model (VSM). The VGM is used to formulate a series of design propositions or principles that may be used to guide the design and implementation of specific IT governance arrangements. The study draws on empirical studies or professional standards to establish how these theoretical design propositions may be satisfied in practice. DOI: 10.4018/978-1-4666-1779-7.ch010