From sovereign IT governance to liberal IT governmentality? A Foucauldian analogy

ABSTRACT

Changes in the technological and societal environments that surround organisations have disrupted the classic governance frameworks that corporate and information technology (IT) managers have designed to align IT uses with organisational missions, strategy, and values. The formerly “sovereign territory” of IT departments has been invaded, jeopardised by the autonomy of individual users and the changing nature of IT. Thus questions of IT governance in the age of IT consumerisation are highly critical. In response, this theoretical article introduces an alternative approach, relying on the philosophy of Michel Foucault and his concept of governmentality. The proposed liberal model of IT governance provides a sound foundation to address the challenges associated with modern technological and societal environments in which today’s organisations must evolve. The inferences and analytic implications related to this new liberal model of IT governance lead to the development of a set of governance principles and propositions to guide practice and further research.

KEYWORDS:

• Michel Foucault
• governmentality
• reversed adoption logics
• analogical reasoning
• liberal model of IT governance

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.