Understanding the Implementation of IT Governance Arrangements and IT Infrastructure Using Actor Network Theory

Abstract

The implementation of IT governance (ITG) arrangements and its relationship to IT infrastructure has not received much attention in either the ITG or the information systems (IS) literature. Based on the premise that the foundation on which ITG is implemented lies in the interaction between ITG arrangements of structures, processes and relational mechanisms and IT infrastructure, the authors present a discussion of how actor network theory (ANT) can be used as an overarching theoretical framework of explanation. The authors propose a model of ITG implementation and discuss how ANT, in particular the local/global network approach, can be applied to understand the relationship that exists between ITG arrangements and IT infrastructure.