An Empirical Assessment of IT Governance Transparency: Evidence from Commercial Banking

Abstract

We have developed an IT governance disclosure framework to examine how firms communicate their IT governance activities. Using this framework for a sample of 200 commercial banking firms, our empirical assessment indicates that differences in the level of disclosure are systematically related to differences in institutional settings. We also find that firms with relatively good corporate governance practices consider IT performance measurement matters to be highly important when informing and communicating with shareholders.

Keywords:

• IT governance
• transparency
• corporate governance
• disclosure framework
• content analysis

Notes

1. Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) is a comprehensive documentation of best practices for IT Service Management, whereas Control Objectives for Information and related Technology (COBIT) enables clear policy development and best practices for IT control throughout organizations. http://www.isaca.org (consulted on November 11, 2011). http://www.itil-officialsite.com/AboutITIL/WhatisITIL.asp (consulted on September 21, 2009).