IT Governance As Organizing: Playing the Game

Abstract

This study expands on recent research to investigate how IT governance is accomplished in practice. We present a preliminary case analysis of emerging practices for the governance of IT in a state government. We argue that a distinct perspective- communication-as-constitutive of organization (CCO)-brings theoretical rigor to the analysis of IT governance as an emergent, communicative process of organizing. We base our preliminary analysis of case data on the conceptualization of authority within this perspective and discuss significant case events using CCO constructs such as agency, precedence, identity, and the extension of local interactions in time and space. We conclude this paper with a discussion on the value of insights to be gained for researchers and practitioners from the analysis of IT governance as organizing.