Compare and Contrast: Claudio and Benedick Essay

Shakespeare’s comedy, Much Ado About Nothing, is a play that follows a small group of friends from a high-class society in Massina. Two of this group are friends are Claudio and Benedick. In the beginning of the play they are seemingly similar, in that they both are of an upper-class upbringing and do their best to maintain their social reputation. The characters are made as to enhance their differences by the end of the play; they are foils to one another. Both Benedick and Claudio find themselves fooled by other characters in the play and have to decide what they are willing to believe is true and what is false, furthermore both characters find love by the end of the play, but which means they use to get there differ. In the beginning of the play Claudio is introduced as an accomplished young military man who has just come back from a successful battle. He claims to be â€Å"in love† with a woman named Hero. Before confronting her about the feelings he has for her, Cl audio asks his friend Benedick to tell him what he personally thinks about Hero. In the hopes that he will confirm that she is in fact as fair and lovely as Claudio thinks she is. â€Å"I pray thee tell me truly how thou lik’st her.† (Much Ado About Nothing 1.1.171-172) The â€Å"love† Claudio feels for Hero is based on the approval of his friends. Claudio goes on to ask, yet another associate, Prince Don Pedro, how he to feels about Hero. Claudio is clearly a shallow minded individual with a limited capacity to think of only a few thoughts occupy his mind at one time. Claudio even makes not of it himself when talking to Benedick about when he first came to love Hero. I look’d upon her with a soldier’s eye, That liked, but had a rougher task in hand Than to drive liking to the name of love: But now I am return’d and that war-thoughts Have left their places vacant, in their rooms Come thronging soft and delicate desires, All prompting me how fair young Hero is, Saying, I liked her ere I went to wars. (Much Ado About Nothing 1.1.289-295) Foil to Claudio is Benedick, an arrogant young man who, also like Claudio, took part in the war and was brought up in a high class society. Benedick is also concerned is his public image. He considers himself a ladies’ man of sorts and does not want to be tied down by any woman and would rather die than be wed because he does not trust women. That a woman conceived me, I thank her; that she brought me up, I likewise give her most humble thanks. But that I will have a recheat winded in my forehead, or hang my bugle in an invisible baldrick, all women shall pardon me. Because I will not do them the wrong to mistrust any, I will do myself the right to trust none; and the fine is, for the which I may go the finer, I will live a bachelor. (Much Ado About Nothing 1.1.229-237) As if that did not make his point, Benedick goes on to say that he would prefer then to be bound by holy matrimony. He tells his friends that if he ever does anything so ridiculous as to fall in love that as his friends they should shoot him for his follies. â€Å"If I do, hang me in a bottle like a cat and shoot at me; and he that hits me, let him be clapped on the shoulder, and called Adam.† (Much Ado About Nothing 1.1.248-250) Because at this time Benedick truly believes that love is the worst fait for any man. Read Also:  Compare and Contrast Essay Definition In his attempts to find public acceptance, Claudio proves to be easily fooled into believing anything he is told despite obvious lack of proof of what he is being deceived into thinking is true. When approached by Don John the bastard, the brother to Don Pedro and the least trusted person in Messina. Claudio falls for the lie that his friend, Don Pedro, who offered to help Claudio woo Hero has actually planed to woo her for himself, Claudio as gullible as he is believes Don John’s lies. â€Å"Claudio permits the masked Don Pedro, prince of Arragon, to woo Hero in his place but then is misled into believing that the prince has betrayed him and courted Hero for himself.† (Shakespeare’s Comedies 104) Once the treason is proven false Claudio goes right back to being his pleasant self and accepts Hero with no questions asked. â€Å"Lady, as you are mine, I am yours: I give away myself for you and dote upon the exchange.† (Much Ado About Nothing 2.1.304-306) Ben edick is so back and forth with his feelings for Hero it makes his love appear to be very uncertain. After being bombarded by all the recent talk of love from all of his friends, including Claudio, a military man he would have thought would never have let himself be attached to any lady. Benedick begins to wonder if he too might fall for someone, because if a solder like Claudio can be swayed to fall in love, surely Benedick himself could also. He then decides what sort of woman would be able to win his heart. Benedick’s standers are high and very specific. One woman is fair, yet I am well; another is wise, yet I am well; another virtuous, yet I am well; but till all graces be in one woman, one woman shall not come in my grace. Rich she shall be, that’s certain; wise, or I’ll none; virtuous, or I’ll never cheapen her; fair, or I’ll never look on her; mild, or come not near me; noble, or not I for an angel; of good discourse, an excellent musician, and her hair shall be of what colour it please God. (Much Ado About Nothing 2.3.26-35) With the prospect of love already in his mind Benedick becomes a victim of his cohorts plan to fool him into that believing that Beatrice, an equally idealistic character with a witty personality, who Benedick’s friends think would be perfect for him, is in love with him. After hearing how much she loves him, Benedick changes his views entirely. â€Å"a bachelor in words more than sentiment, so that, during his monologue in 2.3, we watched with sympathy and knowing as he persuaded himself, easily, into love.† (Much Ado about Nothing (review) Shakespeare Bulletin 25.3 (2007) 119-122) Skeptical at first, Benedick has a moment of realization as he looks in himself. Through this introspection Benedick leads himself to the conclusions that Beatrice is indeed the perfect match for him and fits his criteria for the only woman that could make him fall in love. â€Å"-’tis so, I cannot reprove it; and wise, but for loving me; by my troth, it is no addition to her wit, nor no great argument of her folly, for I will be horribly in love with her. I may chance have some odd quirks and remnants of wit broken on me, because I have railed so long against marriage† ( Much Ado About Nothing 2.3.228-234) Though his own insight, Benedick changes his whole view about love all together. In conclusion both Claudio and Benedick are deceived at one point or another in believing something that they are told with no real proof, and both find love by the end of the play, but the means by which they find their way to love differs. Benedick’s path is much more liner and though introspection on how he feels about Beatrice. Were Claudio’s path is sways back and forth due to his insecurities and follies. Work Cited Shakespeare, William. Much Ado About Nothing. New York: Signet Classic, 1998. Print. Vaughn, Jack A. Shakespeare’s Comedies. New York: Fredrick Ungar, 1980. Print. Finlayson, Caitlin. Much Ado about Nothing (review). Shakespeare Bulletin 25.3 (2007). Web. Oct 18, 2011.

A Whole New Beginning

The entrance to the school gate was bursting with pupils, teachers and parents, creaking with the strain of opening and shutting as wave after wave of people came through it. The temperature was 5 degrees Celsius and the grass was still wet and appeared bedraggled from the rain that had fallen last night. The air was so cold that even when you breathed your breath was hot enough to create puffs of steam, and after stepping out of your house because of the cold your face feels like it is freezing up and it starts to get numb. Even though it was this cold there were still groups of people standing outside the gates of a high school. There were groups of children scattered around everywhere, some were new pupils and some were old but they were all in different groups; there were the athletes talking non-stop about the latest football match, the nerds all huddled up talking about if they had done all of their homework over the holidays and comparing answers. The grungers just standing silently listening to their music that would probably want to make any normal person want to kill themselves; the Asian minority groups standing around talking about things that no one can understand because it is being spoken in there native tongue. Some of the older girls were wearing the latest fashion and had put on tons of makeup, and the boys were trying to impress them with their aftershave, and sleek haircuts and a swagger in their walk which they thought made them look cool. Looking around one could see the Year Nines looking excited at being in their second year of high school; they were no longer the new kids and they can now look down on the Year Eights. However, they also appeared apprehensive as they would be choosing their GCSEs for next year. You could also see the year tens pretending to mature even though it is a cover for their feelings of worry because they must start their GCSEs this year, and they know that if they fail then they will have failed life. On the opposite side there were the new pupils, some talking with their friends from their old school about what they did in the holidays and others just hanging about walking back and forth like wound up toys, looking nervous and wondering what their first day of high school would be like, with the few who were hanging about with their parents, hoping that they would not get embarrassed and wanting their parents to leave. In the middle of this all there was a small group of teachers talking amongst them selves and the older teachers welcoming the newer ones into the school. There were some of the new teachers looking around at all of the children trying to figure out which ones were the polite students and which one were the dreadful students(the ones that were any teachers worst nightmares). Suddenly, the school bell rings with a deafening volume and all you can see is all of the children and parents staring as the teachers are first to enter the school. Shortly after the teachers entered the building all of the newer students rush towards the gate hoping to get to their classroom in time so that they are not late. All of the upper school pupils are still standing there and talking, like the school bell has not affected them because they know that there is no point in rushing to get to class because every one will make it; unlike normal school in this school it isn't the students that are late it is the teachers.

Economics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words - 5

Economics - Essay Example According to an academic understanding, term aggregate is recognised on the basis of demand and supply which include Aggregate Demand (AD) and Aggregate Supply (AS) (Gwartney & et. al., 2012). In this essay, the discussion highly focuses on the concept of Aggregate Supply (AS). The discussion also incorporates an analysis of three key factors that might cause the AS curve to shift using appropriate graphical illustrations. Additionally, the discussion includes the example of the UK in terms of analysing the major influencing factors on the country’s aggregate supply portfolios. The concept of Aggregate Supply (AS) in economics principally represents the existing relationship among the price and the quantity level with the total amount of goods or services supplied. In general, the concept of AS refers to the overall supply of commodities and services produced within a particular nation (Mankiw, 2014). The changes in the AS curve are generally influenced by a number of factors of a particular nation. However, the change in the AS curve shift is primarily influenced by three key factors that include economic growth, change in input price and substitution effect of goods/services of that particular country. The positive growth rate in an economy is resulted by the increase in productive resources including labour and capital of a country. The availability of abundant labour and/or capital resources helps to produce extensive numbers of final goods and/or services as well as provide support to increase the annual GDP growth rates. In this regard, a positive growth rate of economy of a country is represented by a shift towards the right of the AS curve. On the other hand, the lower growth rate of economy represents shift towards the left side of the AS curve (Mankiw, 2014). In relation to the current economic performance of the UK, the country has been witnessing unabated fluctuation

Young Goodman Brown Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Young Goodman Brown - Essay Example 1. Analysis of Allegory and Symbolism Allegory and symbolism in the naming of characters The forest and the Devil 2. Faust myth, Puritanism and the American culture Christian symbolism Salvation and fulfillment of temptation 3. The role of the unconscious mind as a key aspect of the narrative 4. The meaning behind Goodman Brown’s journey into the forest The spiritual state of mankind Conflict between church and state The battle between evil and good 5. The allegorical representation of Faith Faith as a fictional character Pink ribbons 6. Conclusion The tale that has been narrated in Young Goodman Brown is a representation of a plethora of emotions, understandings and feelings that individuals confront in their quest of life. However, this characteristic of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s narrative is only observable from a broader perspective because the centre of the story focuses on a notion that dictates the actions of the characters and especially those of the protagonist, Go odman Brown. As stated by Ellis Nathaniel Hawthorne’s work â€Å"is the classic American short story of a guilty conscience† (2). ... Indeed, the naming of Goodman Brown’s better half as Faith is not a coincidence or happenstance; in fact this decision of Hawthorne’s is one of the many evidences which point towards the writer’s desire to lace his narrative with Christian symbolism. Zhu identifies the naming of characters as an example of the use of allegorical devices, a comprehension of which can aid readers in comprehending the narrative and what the writer intends to project through the journey of his protagonist into the forest (58). The purpose of this paper is to examine the presence of Christian symbolism, allegory, imagery and representations of faith in Young Goodman Brown by exploring and addressing a range of questions to enhance the scope of the discussion. Furthermore, other aspects of the narrative that are analyzed in the paper involve an interpretation of dialogues to develop a conceptual understanding of their meaning and their critical role in the development of the story. Acc ording to Zhu, the first vivid representation of the use of allegorical devices is evident in the naming of the characters, for the writer the protagonist’s name appears to represent a striking contrast where â€Å"Young† is essentially indicative of the character’s innocence and inexperience while, â€Å"Brown† defines his attraction to the somber and ominous forest which is the key setting of Hawthorne’s short story (58). As stated previously, it is the name of the protagonist’s wife which comes across as striking and intriguing when used within the context of the story and what it fundamentally represents. Zhu comments on Goodman Brown’s exclamation of the words â€Å"My Faith is gone!†when he

Business Plan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Business Plan - Essay Example 5. Increase charity from 0.5 of total profits to 5% in 4 years. SWOT Analysis: Strengths 1. Company attends to its corporate social responsibility by doing charity work. 2. PPQ is in par with the industry’s average profit margin for the last 3 years. Weaknesses 1. High employee turnover rate. 2. The market share of 5% is just fair. Opportunities 1. Japan’s increasing need for auto parts industry companies after the tragedy last March 2011. 2. More females are using SUV cars and market share of SUV type is increasing. 3. One of Japan’s road to recovery is to boost employment. Threats 1. There are low cost countries such as India, China, and even Korea that are already competing in this industry that could possibly be one of the leading players in SUV cars in the future. 2. Costs for new facilities that will be built when entering a new location. Alternative Courses of Action/Analysis of PROs and CONs 1. Build new facility in Japan and continue with its operations in US. Advantages: The latest tsunami tragedy that happened in Japan made other existing companies close out and this is an opportunity for PPQ to lead the industry in Japan. Since PPQ attends to its corporate social responsibility, opening a facility in Japan would be an opportunity to provide jobs to families there. PPQ will be able to gain revenue while also helping people have jobs. Japanese employees are most likely to be more cohesive as compared to their existing employees since they are recovering from their recent tragedy encounter. Disadvantages: The industry in Japan is starting up again and so competing globally may somehow be difficult. Continuous operations in US would mean that PPQ has to work on building their loyalty from their employees so as to increase employee turnover. 2. Build new facility in one of the following countries: India, China or Korea where industry is already growing and continue its operations in US. Advantages: There are more buyers in the said c ountries especially that the SUV industry is heating up in China. Disadvantages: PPQ has to cope up with the existing companies established in any of the said countries. The SUV industry which is growing could also mean that there are several competitors already. Continuous operations in US would mean that PPQ has to work on building their loyalty from their employees so as to increase employee turnover. 3. Focus on opening new facilities in different locations and close its US location since there is very high employee turnover rate already. Advantages: PPQ would no longer need to invest on time, effort and costs on winning their employee loyalty in US region if they will be giving up the said location. Disadvantages: Possible risk will be encountered since PPQ will be investing in a very new location which it has not made operations yet. It will not have another location as a backup or to exchange parts with just in case there is a shortage in the new location. Recommendation It i s recommended that PPQ take ACA#1 which is to invest in Japan to pursue on entering the SUV industry of the said country and work on making it grow there. It should also continue with its current location in US right now and decrease its employee turnover rate. The US location has always been PPQ’s home headquarters and so the company knows the business in the region, the market share and average revenue of PPQ in US is

Challenges posed by the aging population (be specific) Research Paper

Challenges posed by the aging population (be specific) - Research Paper Example The difference in opinion is as a result of new findings of health care resources usage by the elderly and also from the recognition of the responses of elder patient in the past. Conversely, these changes bring some opportunities since people have longer and healthy lives. This essay is to present the challenges posed by an aging population and how the government, society and the businesses have responded to the whole issue. First, it is important to see the reason as to why the population is aging by looking at the population trends in the past half century (Neumark, 2009). Aging people are in most countries of the world. There are some factors behind this trend. For instance, longevity has increased in most parts of the world compared to the previous years. Globally, the life expectancy has increased from the age of 48 years in the 50s to 68 years presently. For the past 50 years, community division project aims to make the expectancy reach 76 years. In addition, the fertility rate of the world fell from five kids per woman in the 1950s to approximately 2.5 presently. Fertility is further projected to decline to about 2.2 in the next 50 years. Similarly, aging of a large number of children born after the World War II coupled by an equal boom elsewhere in the world are leading to a generation of an older people. UN estimates that the global number of old people will increase from 800 million currently to more than 2 billion by 2050 (equivalent to 22 percent of the entire population) (Shapner, 2006) Aging of a community presents many challenges and raises concerns on the pace of the future economic progress, financial integrity of pension systems and health care services and operation, and the health of the elderly (Shapner, 2006). Economic prosperity of any given economy depends crucially on the quality and size of the labor force to be productive and maximize on the available resources. From

Personal Development Portfolio Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Personal Development Portfolio - Essay Example Under the broad topic of organizational change, a presentation was assigned to each group. The presentation discussed the issues of internal and external changes and their influence on organizational change. Our group firstly distributed the work among them and started at an early phase in order to ensure work quality (Anglia Ruskin University, 2013). The major task during the entire preparation of presentation was a collection of the appropriate literature review. In general, the presentation was based on a collection of past evidence in numerous industries, which resulted in organizational change. The first analysis was made on the packaging industry across South East Asia. The market of an aluminum can is extremely competitive and hence, firms operating in this industry, such as Westcan Aluminium, have to keep their prices low as the threat is from both branded and unbranded local firms (Ridgman, 1996). During initial stages of the literature review process, various difficulties arise. A major difficulty was in term of sourcing statistical data for the required industries. PET (Polyethylene Terephthalate) is a small fragment of the packaging industry. Consequently, it was difficult to find appropriate information on its usage, share among different firms as well as a total number of unidentified or local companies selling the material (Cameron and Mitchell, 1993). The next problem occurred in terms of group management. I realized that some of the team members were less participative compared to others. As such, issues and conflicts began to arise between group members. However, I was able to clear the misunderstandings by assigning each member with the particular task with a fixed deadline. As I took on the most difficult task, I was applauded and immediately positioned as the leader of the group. The next issue that occurred was that of assigning parts during the presentation speec h. Conflicts of interest occurred as two or more members wanted to present on similar topics (Ghaye, 2000).

Confession Room at a Catholic Church Personal Statement

Confession Room at a Catholic Church - Personal Statement Example The confession room inside the Catholic Church where me and my family attend mass every Sunday is nothing extraordinary. The room is barely two by two meter square very small in comparison to the huge chapel which can accommodate hundreds of people. The small space can be justified by the intimacy that it brings between the priest and the one confessing his sins. The four walls are painted pure white, the whitest white that I can remember. One of this carries the picture of Jesus Christ after He has risen up from death, smiling, and wide open arms. I don't know but this picture always gives me the assurance that whatever I am to confess will be understood by the Lord and that He in open-arms, He will forgive me and lovingly accept me amidst all my imperfections. The confession room is one of the simplest places I have ever been into. There is a single furnishing which is a wooden chair which serves as a seat for the one coming to confess. The sanctity of the confession is indicated by the single chair which accommodates only one person at a time. The wooden chair is remained without cushion yet I barely feel any discomfort when using it.

Animal Cruelty Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Animal Cruelty - Research Paper Example The given work will discuss the main forms of animal cruelty and provide the recommendations on how to struggle with the problem. Animal entertainment is one of the many forms of animal cruelty that often goes unnoticed. Animals are used in zoos, circus, bull riding and bull fights. Most of these animals are taken from their homes and forced to live in much small replicas of their natural habitats. These animals do not like being confined, which often results in aggressive behaviors, they are usually accused of. Many animals are killed, because they are considered dangerous for people. Nobody thinks about the real causes of this aggression. Animal experimentation is also a form of animal cruelty. In 1938, the food, drug and cosmetics act was passed requiring animal testing of certain drugs and chemicals to make sure they were safe for humans. Millions of mice, rats, cats, dogs, monkeys and many other animals are waiting to be experimented on right now. 90% of them are rats and mice (Mice and Rats in Laboratories). It is well-know that mice and rats are very similar to humans psychologically, they can have different feelings like humans, but it is not taken into account when choosing animals for experiments. It is well-know that mice and rats are very similar to humans psychologically, they can have different feelings like humans, but it is not taken into account when choosing animals for experiments. â€Å"Mice and rats are mammals with nervous systems similar to our own. It’s no secret that they feel pain, fear, loneliness, and joy just as we do. These highly social animals communicate with each other using hi gh-frequency sounds that are inaudible to the human ear† (Mice and Rats in Laboratories). Most of these animals used for experimentation live in cold, barren cages before the initial experiment takes place. More than one millions animals are used in labs per year in the U.S. Most animals are poisoned,

Healthcare mangement - Delivery and service - team work Essay

Healthcare mangement - Delivery and service - team work - Essay Example A better knowledge and development of skills of every individual is improved by their participation. The welfare of the team and the set goal gains a upper hand than the personal development and motives of an individual within the team (Growing a team, 2011). In a healthcare setting the members of a team work together to provide care for patients. For instance a physician and physiotherapist may work together to provide care for a patient (Clements, Dault & Alicia, n.d). In many cases the team leader can include several members within the team which can result in an unbalance and incase the team includes only people with a particular expertise only a specific area is focused and developed while gaps are left in the other areas. Many individuals within a team may have a feeling that their talents are underutilized within the team. In case the leader is unable to motivate the members, the work output often is not satisfactory and is left incomplete. In case of such differences, all the team members do not get their fill which is also reflected in the final result (Growing a team, 2011). In healthcare team work constitutes an important aspect for providing patient care. The collaborative efforts of both the physician and other paramedics would help to provide optimum care and treatment for the patients as the specific skills of everyone in the team results in improved outcomes for the patient.

Pharmacy Service Essay Example for Free

Pharmacy Service Essay At each hour, tech took scripts from that hour’s slot and entered all required data into pharmacy info system (so no one looked at script until 1 hour before pickup) Info logged in: Patient contact info Doctor contact info Third party payor info – insurance companies, employers Drug name Dosage Number of doses Number of refills System performed an automated Drug Utilization Review: Automated check of script against all other prescriptions in CVS database for patient; looking for harmful drug interactions and appropriateness of drug for patient given age, weight, gender, etc. Hard Stop = fulfillment process cannot proceed until DUR reviewed by pharmacist if automated review reveals any potential problems Hard Stop Good for patient safety Hard Stop Bad for slowing down process, lowering efficiency Insurance check was done after DUR. Checking to make sure insurance still valid, script matches drugs on formulary, customer not trying to refill too soon, etc. In most cases, script would still be filled even if there was a problem with insurance customer would simply be told to pay full amount at pickup. Potential Data Entry Problems: Tech couldn’t read handwriting on script, No refills allowed on script (6%), DUR hard stop (20%), Insurance problems (17%) Production Scripts were filled by pharmacy technicians Potential Production Problem: Insufficient inventory – patient wouldn’t find out until pick-up that drug wasn’t available Quality Assurance Pharmacist reviewed each script to make sure it was filled correctly. First priority is customer safety! Potential Quality Assurance Problem : None identified Pickup Bags stored in pickup area in alphabetical order until customer came for pickup. Potential Pickup Problems: Many, including staff couldn’t find script, unauthorized refill, script not covered by insurance – customer asked to pay full price, script not ready (waiting for doctor or insurance call-back or queue backed-up). Worst between 5-7 p. m. – long lines of angry customers – hard to get staff to work that shift. 6. How can IT help with streamlining the process at CVS pharmacies? Get Teams to come up with a solution to problems in fulfillment process keeping 3 goals in mind: 1) Doesn’t degrade safety at all 2) Decreases waiting time 3) Improves customer satisfaction What CVS did to improve fulfillment process: Drop off, data entry, insurance check – all done while customer is present. Data entry completed at drop-off while customer was still there – made it easier to verify customer insurance information. Insurance check is now done with customer present. Used to be they’d just make sure your name, address, and birth date were on prescription and let you go. At local CVS, there is a â€Å"new† drop-off window away from cash register where pick-ups are done. Clerks enter data into computer while you are still there. CVS was missing the opportunity to identify and resolve problems early in the process, when the customer is still present. Under old system, no one would look at script until 1 hour before pick-up – not enough time to resolve any problems. Clerk asks for best number to reach customer in case of a problem, which is a change from the past. Staff can also inform customer about insufficient inventory at drop off instead of customer finding out when they come back for pick-up. Automated â€Å"instock† check. Also, box that held prescriptions was replaced by an online â€Å"virtual queue,† which can be displayed on all workstations in the pharmacy. Virtual queue tells techs and pharmacist what prescriptions to work on filling next. 2) Production – prescription is filled by tech. No change here – techs have always been the ones to fill the prescriptions. 3) DUR and QA – done by pharmacist in single step. DUR process was folded into Quality Assurance step – DUR no longer part of Data Entry. Both DUR and QA are done after prescription is filled. DUR should not be done when customer is present; don’t want customer to get the impression that the drug could be harmful because they might be less likely to take it. Also, DUR is done at pharmacist’s station during QA – more efficient use of pharmacist’s time to check filled prescription for accuracy and deal with any problems revealed during automated DUR. However, pharmacists could argue that it makes no sense, and is in fact dangerous to fill prescription before DUR is completed. PSI team had to â€Å"sell† the new process using communication efforts that were persuasive and effective. Also, changes were mandatory, not optional, so team used both hard sell and soft sell techniques to win pharmacists over. There were a total of 7 elements in the PSI program that all CVS pharmacies had to adopt – they couldn’t pick and choose among the 7. 4) Pickup When there is a problem discovered with a script, an Action Note is filled out so that staff manning Pickup can adequately explain the problem to the customer, based on what the Action Note says. Case highlights IT’s principle capabilities: Design Standardization Monitoring Case also points out concerns that changes in process will be resisted by pharmacists, even though the new process changes no responsibilities or rights of pharmacists. This was a top-down change that was necessary to improve customer service.

Relationship between Employees, Employer and Representatives

Relationship between Employees, Employer and Representatives Introduction What is meant exactly by employee relations? What has changed since the Industrial Revolution? Salaman (2000) defines employee relations as a reflection of the development of more diverse employment patterns, the growth of high tech and commercial sectors, reduced levels of unionisation and use of management strategies aimed at individualising the employment relationship, in other terms it is the new management of all the variables which influence the work namely the management style, the level of employees motivation, the work environment, job satisfaction, the objectives of the company etc. We can differentiate three phases in the evolution of employee relations since the end of the Second World War, the third one being the partnership approach. Until 1979 (date of the election of the Conservative Party), work relations were based on collective bargaining and collective agreement aiming to determine and regulate, in varying degrees, the terms on which individuals will be employed (Flanders, 1968), with a strong voluntarism encouraged massively and informally. The trade unions (basically, it is an association of wage earners, totally independent of employers pressure, who struggle to improve work conditions) had a lot of power and everything was negotiated through deals. In fact, a Trade Union, through collective bargaining can force employers to deal with labour as a collective identity, rather than isolated individuals, and so, secure better the terms and condition of employment (Webb Webb, 1920). However, when the conservative party was elected in 1979, everything changed. The new government introduced a lot measures to limit the role of trade unions. In addition, it introduced an enterprise culture in which individuals and organisations, rather than government, were to be held responsible for economic performance. Thus, as well as rejecting the maintenance of full employment as a major policy objective, they in effect abandoned the commitment of their predecessors to voluntary collective bargaining as the most effective method of determining pay and conditions. Then, there was a total break with the old work patterns but an explanation of this will be the economical context. In fact, after the war, there was a period of reconstruction that engendered a lot of work; manufacturing was the backbone of the economy, it was a period of full employment. After that, there was a wave of privatisation, many companies became multinationals, and there was an internationalisation of business. The aim of the study will be to analyse and evaluate the new approach to the management of employee relations. Firstly, the author will define and explore what the partnership approach is. Then, the study will continue by examining the advantages and the disadvantages of this approach to each stakeholder (employees, employers and Trade Unions). Finally, an evaluation of the prospects for success of the partnership approach and an expression of a critical comparison with the previous ones will be highlighted. The Employment Relation (ER) Employment relationship is an economical exchange of labour capacity in return for the production of goods and services. It is very important to understand the implications of all the aspects of employment relations. High levels of collaboration between the workforce and management are likely to be consistent with greater reliability of production and quality of output, which in turn would bolster the organizations market position. Thus, employment relation is one of the most significant areas that need to be invested (Rollinson, 1993). Salaman (2000) defines employment relations as a reflection of the development of more diverse employment patterns, the growth of high tech and commercial sectors, reduced levels of unionisation and use of management strategies aimed at individualising the employment relationship, in other terms it is the new management of all the variables which influence the work namely the management style, the level of employees motivation, the work environment, job satisfaction, the objectives of the company etc. The state (all levels of government) plays a crucial role in employment relations, both directly and indirectly. The roles undertaken by governments may be categorised into five components including maintaining protective standards; establishing rules for the interaction between the parties; ensuring that the results of such interaction were consistent with the apparent needs of economy; providing services for labour and management such as advice, conciliation, arbitration and training; and as a major employer. The management of the ER system in Britain Britain is a country of Western Europe comprising England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. Until July 2003, the British population is 60,094,648. At the height of its power in the 19th century it ruled an empire that spanned the globe (Stewart, 2005: 23-25). It is the dominant industrial and maritime power of the 19th century, played a leading role in developing parliamentary democracy and in advancing literature and science. The first half of the 20th century saw the Britains strength seriously depleted in two World Wars. The second half witnessed the dismantling of the Empire and the Britain rebuilding itself into a modern and prosperous European nation. It is also a leading trading power and financial centre, is one of the quartets of trillion dollar economies of Western Europe. The British industrial relations system has a long history and has undergone much change in recent years. There are three phases in the evolution of employee relations since the end of the World War II, the third one being the partnership approach. Until 1979 (date of the election of the Conservative Party), work relations were based on collective bargaining and collective agreement aiming to determine and regulate, in varying degrees, the terms on which individuals will be employed (Flanders, 1968), with a strong voluntarism encouraged massively and informally. The partnership approach What is it? The use of this term is a relatively recent political phenomenon. Some people affirm that it is just a term used by the Government to attract popular support because nobody can be against Partnership (Knell, 1999). Some others, more optimistic, see in this term a new pluralist approach to industrial relations. This concept comes from the idea that enterprises should recognise the interests of each stakeholder, namely employees, employers and their representatives, in order to satisfy each party. The aim of this approach is to find a common interest of management and labour, through trust and mutual involvement, instilling a sense of belonging and involvement. The Involvement and Participation Association (IPA, 1992) identifies six key principles: A shared commitment to the success of enterprise, including support for flexibility and the replacement of adversarial relations. A recognition that interests of the partners may legitimately differ. Employment security, including measures to improve the employability of staff as well as limit the use of compulsory redundancy. A focus on the quality of working life. A commitment to transparency, including a real sharing of hard, unvarnished information, an openness to discussing plans for the future, genuine consultation and preparedness to listen to the business case for alternative strategies. Adding value the hallmark of an effective partnership is that it taps into sources of commitment and / or resources that were not accessed by previous arrangement. For the New Labour government, partnership at work becomes an important objective. B. Its dimensions 1. Who are the partners? The partnership is between individual employer and individual employee and their representatives but the latter partner is weak in the new work relation. The partnership approach is more focused on individual relationships than a collective one, like in the past. Indeed, New Labour insists on individual choice. For them, it is not an obligation to integrate a working union. It emphasises that individuals are the best judges of their own individual interests. That is to say that the individual has the choice of whether or not to join a trade union and whether or not to take part in the coverage by collective agreement. It might mean the new government is not really in favour of the trade unions. In fact, some people think that a trade union would be an enemy of the partnership approach in the sense that trade unions defend the workers interests and they always have a confrontational relationship with the employers. Then, how can a partnership be formed if one of the partners does not make an effort to find a common agreement? In this way, the trade unions role has to be redefined. They have to play a co-operative role with employers in order to find some common interests which satisfy both the employees and the employers. The psychological contract The psychological contract is the basis of a partnership approach. It is the link between employers and employees. It establishes the expectations, aspirations and understandings which they have of each other (Herriot, 1998). The author has noticed that the psychological contract has changed since the last few years because of the changes of the work environment (change in workforce structure, re-engineering, downsizing.). The old psychological contract was based on security and predictability, now it is more situational and short term and assumes that each party is much less dependent on the other for survival and growth. According to Hiltrop (1995), the new contract can be defined as follows: There is no job security, the employee will be employed as long as he/she adds value to the organisation, and is personally responsible for finding new ways to add value. In return, the employee has the right to demand interesting and important work, has the freedom and resources to perform it well, receives, pay that reflects his or her contributions and get experience and training needed to be employable here or elsewhere. The psychological contract has to be strong and truthful to allow a partnership relation The voluntary aspect of the partnership New Labour insists on the voluntary aspect of the new work relation. The partnership should be introduced through cultural changes which will lead to more positive relationships between employers and employees than the letter of the law can ever achieve. That is to say that the law itself can not resolve the problem of employee relations, some cultural changes have to emerge first. Employers and employees have to make some effort to improve the work relationship. The advantages and the disadvantages of the partnership approach: A. For the employees 1. Advantages With the partnership approach, employees benefit from a Family atmosphere with friendly policies. For example, they benefit from new working arrangements which allow a greater flexibility. There is a harmonisation of working conditions, policies and procedures for all employees under training. The partnership approach introduces a new pay structure: pay is monthly through credit transfer, and the traditional annual pay is replaced by an objective formula. Moreover, a reduction of the working week for manual and craft employees can be observed. 2. Disadvantages However, the partnership approach introduces the notion of the individual worker. In this way, trade unions are less useful in the employer/employee relationship and lose their power. Then, the employee is in a weaker position than his/her employer (a caution has to be noticed because, trade unions have a right to accompany their members during the disciplinary or grievance interview). B. For the employers 1. Advantages Firstly, the partnership gives a good reputation to the enterprise which applies it. Moreover, it allows a greater stability of employment because employer talks to employee and establishes some rights and some obligations that each party has to respect (limit the turnover, strikes and so on). The relationship between both is more respectful and equal. Furthermore, the partnership allows a greater openness over the enterprise. Through it, the employers know what is wrong with the employees and try to find how they can fix it. The work atmosphere is more friendly and truthful. The partnership approach is, as well, a need for a change in approach to the trade unions. To date, the relation between employers and trade unions is based on confrontation. This new approach gives a secondary role to the trade unions and privileges the individual employer/employee relations, which is easier to manage. Moreover, employers try to improve work conditions, in return they profit from a greater activity because workers feel good in the company. In addition they can have greater performance appraisal and a new understanding of performance management through control and feed back. 2. Disadvantages This approach demands a lot of administration and is quite constraining for a company. To fire an employee who has a poor performance for example, the employer has to give a first warning and propose a disciplinary interview in order to detect what is wrong with this employee. If nothing has changed, the employee can receive another warning, the last one, before the dismissal (or other sanctions). Sometimes, procedures take too much time and engender an economical loss. Moreover, the enterprise can lose some power in relation to its employees. Previously, employers had the economic power over employees, now this power is more shared between both because their relationship is more interdependent. C. For the trade unions 1. Advantages There is a new stake in their role as representatives. They have to prove the value of the employers to the employees and the value of the employees to the employers. Moreover, the trade unions can profit from a partnership fund in order that employers and employee representatives work together to support innovative projects to develop the partnership approach in the workplace (Lord McIntosh Lord Hansard, May 1999). 2. Disadvantages The partnership approach has more disadvantages than advantages for the trade unions. Through it, trade unions lose some power. Firstly, their recognition is limited. According to the government, the trade union has a secondary role in the employer/employee relationship. Then, their role has to be redefined in a more consultative sense; it has to focus on the information, the communication, the representation and the partnership. Their contribution to the partnership is potentially useful but far from being essential. Thus, trade unions are worried about their traditional role which is to defend the workers interests. They think that in this new approach, employee representatives will become part of the management. Moreover, according to the IPA, the partnership needs a different channel than the union one, because this model is not adequate anymore. In fact, the union presence is weak or non-existent in the majority of companies in Britain, therefore, the partnership needs a new representative structure. Evaluation and criticism of the prospects for success of the partnership approach The employment relation through the partnership approach becomes fairer. For example, union co-operation in more flexible work patterns, teamworking, the introduction of annualised hours and the harmonisation of terms and conditions of employment are all greater assets of the partnership approach. Concerning job security, the partnership approach remains limited: The job security guarantees have been identified as the hallmark of partnership approach by many of its advocates, although, they have no featured in all such agreements. In most cases, they amount to relatively limited management commitments to avoid the use of compulsory redundancy as a means of labour shedding- a fairly familiar practice in organisations that can attract sufficient candidates for early retirement and voluntary redundancy with enhanced severance payments. Moreover in some partnership agreement, trade unions and employees are required to co-operate with measures with make the avoidance of compulsory redundancy easier, including the acceptance of the companys use of subcontracted, temporary or short-term contract staff ( Taibly Winchester, 2000 and Bach Sisson,2000). Moreover, the fundamental need for a successful approach requires some cultural changes; we have to break with the old practice (industrial/adversarial ones) because we cannot access a new form of management without this. Furthermore, the partnership approach appeared in a particular political context. In fact, it was the end of the Conservative government (characterised by a policy of deregulation) and the beginning of the Labour party which developed the important idea of commitment to the partnership in the workplace. But, its aim has to be analysed very carefully because we can notice that the government refused to take part in some social policy proposals developed by the European commission. This reaction is contrary to the apparent willingness of the government to introduce fairness in work and at work. However, some surveys show that employees feel better with the partnership agreement. We can notice that job satisfaction level is greater than before (Bach Sisson, 2000) but this result has to be taken with caution if we refer to the recent strike of the Post Offices which occurred last month. Then, the question is whether the partnership approach is successful? In the historical, political and economical context, the author thinks that partnership and the willingness of each stakeholder are present. The difficulty is just trying to apply it in the best way. Britain has made a lot of effort to improve work conditions. Compared to the past, this approach is the compromise between the two previous ones. Indeed, the first one (~1945-1979) was too dominated by the trade unions. The following one was too adversarial; the employees lost all their rights. Thus, this new approach tries to satisfy both parties. Conclusion The work is not finished. If the partnership approach succeeds in satisfying the stakeholders, it needs to be improved again. Britain needs to work on other more social law proposals and take part in the European ones. However, the employment relations are governed by the variation of the market as well; hence, it is very difficult to satisfy everybody. But, the important thing is to try to do the best. Moreover, there will always be some disagreements and unfairness in work and at work; we have to be patient because it takes time to change the mind of each person.

The Emergence of IT Governance in Greece

The Emergence of IT Governance in Greece Introduction The emergence of IT Governance The cases of Enron, Worldcom and other corporate and financial scandals in the early years of the century have raised the significance of corporate governance and control. Regulatory environments have been formed with quite distinctive characteristics, depending on the needs of each country, and the needs of specific industries. The implementation of the controls required by regulations such as Sarbanes Oxley for the publicly listed organisations in the U.S. and Basel II for European banks relies heavily on IT. That dependency, combined to the required controls on IT itself, have forced top-level executives to have a look towards the proper management and governance of the information and communication technologies that power their organisations. At the same time, the high percentage of failed IT projects, ranging between 60% and 90% depending on the definition of failure, has alarmed many executives who see their resources to be wasted on failed projects, to be followed by more failed projects. Clear decision processes and proper project management aiming at efficiency and effectiveness, are the obvious answers to the problem; both of which point directly to IT Governance. The high cost of IT investments, which is more than half of the annual CAPEX for most organisations, calls for control, accountability and risk management, not to mention cost reduction. Information security, industrial espionage, regulations for the confidentiality of the data and the privacy of employees and customers, are all gracefully handled by a proper IT Governance structure. These are only some of the reasons that have led quite a few organisations worldwide to add IT Governance in their board agenda. The status in Greece Greece has control regulations for specific industries only, such as telecommunications, an industry largely affected by the Hellenic authority for communication security and privacy. Other industries are affected by pan-European control regulations, such as banking industry that needs to comply with MIFID and Basel-II alongside the directives issued by the Bank of Greece. Finally, just a few companies are listed in foreign stock exchanges such as NYSE listed PTT, subsequently affected by the SOX act. Nevertheless, although the environment in Greece is complex, and the IT infrastructure is no simpler than any other countrys, there is no published empirical academic research on the status of IT Governance in Greece. Even surveys that are conducted in wider geographical areas and not to a specific country do not usually include Greece; probably because it is a small market. The only data that has been found are some papers mentioning the benefits of IT Governance, as taken from the international practice; the data though is not adapted to local needs and circumstances. Research Objectives This research, titled IT Governance in Greece: Status, Drivers and Barriers aims to evaluate and present the IT Governance related practices in Greece. What percentage of Greek companies are using IT Governance frameworks and best practices, which is the preferred framework between the two prevalent (ITIL and CobIT), and which is the decision model selected by the companies that employ IT Governance. An attempt will be made to find any relationships between these results, and the size of the organisation or the size of the IT department. The reasons for which Greek organisations select to implement or not an IT Governance framework will also be linked to that data and outsourcing strategies which are known to require careful governance will be evaluated. For the organisations that choose to not implement a formal governance framework, the barriers to implementation will be analysed, as well as the potential good practices which do not constitute a framework, nevertheless help to the prudent governance of an organisations IT assets and resources. The research questions that are expected to shed some light to the main areas of the status of IT Governance in Greece are formulated as follows: The penetration of ITIL and CobIT in Greece as IT Governance frameworks Which are the most common factors that prevent or delay the acceptance and deployment of an IT Governance framework (barriers)? Which are the most common reasons that led organisations to deploy, or plan the future deployment of an IT Governance framework (drivers)? Which (if any) are the management methods used if a full IT Governance framework is not deployed? Personal Interest The author has followed a career path in Information Technology for the last 15 years, acquiring positions of raising responsibilities. In alignment to that career path, the MBA was considered a good choice, providing a broader view on all areas of management such as organisational behaviour and culture, human relationships, finance and marketing, strategy and implementation. The subject of this dissertation combines the two worlds, that of management and of information technology, giving a more thorough and business oriented view to the authors subject of work. Beyond the obvious curiosity that is created by the lack of data in the Greek market in which the author lives and works, there has always been an interest in IT Governance, IT management and risk management, and this dissertation comes to cover at least some of these areas. Structure of the dissertation The rest of the dissertation has a typical structure the introduction that was just provided constitutes the chapter one. Chapter two provides a review of the existing literature and previous studies on IT Governance; that should form the basis for the research that was necessary for this dissertation. Chapter three analyses and justifies the methodology that was used for the sampling, the data collection and data analysis methods that were selected. This chapter also presents and analyses some limitations related to the methodology, and presents the ways in which these limitations may affect the data analysis and the conclusions. Chapter four is the data analysis, in which all data that were collected are analysed and presented, relations are drawn and comparisons to findings from previous research are performed in order to fully answer the research questions set in this dissertation. Chapter five draws on the conclusions of the previous chapter. It summarizes the research objectives, the findings and the implications of the results. Generalization issues and data validity is further discussed. This chapter provides also recommendations for future studies, identifying details that were not included in this survey and questions that have emerged from the results of the current dissertation. Finally, this chapter reflects on the dissertation, assessing the weaknesses of the work performed and the obstacles faced; it also identifies the areas in which the author has gained knowledge and experience. Literature Review Introduction A literature review is vital to any research project, in order to collect, present and critically analyse, what is already known in the subject under research. The evaluation of previous research leads to a better understanding of the subject, of the areas of consensus between academics and practitioners, and the points of conflict and potential gaps. Towards the answer of the status of IT Governance in Greece, an attempt will be made to explain the term IT Governance and clarify any misconceptions regarding IT Governance and IT Management. The different types of IT Governance models that have been developed in the past, along with the key roles in IT Governance, will be identified, presented and compared. The necessity for IT Governance as suggested in the literature will be evaluated, and the most commonly mentioned benefits and implementation barriers will be presented, in order to serve as potential answers to the questionnaire of the research. Previous reports on management methods that may be used instead of a full framework implementation will also be evaluated for the same reasons. The definition of IT Governance IT Governance is a subject that has gained significant focus during the last years. As a term, IT Governance, has too many definitions in the literature (Buckby, Best and Stewart, 2009; Lee and Lee, 2009; Lee, Lee and Lee, 2009). Simonsson and Ekstedt (2006) tried to find a common definition on 60 different relative articles; and came up with yet another definition, which includes many of the previous ones. The definitions used by researchers, depend on their view on what IT Governance can offer to an organisation. IT Governance is sometimes perceived as a framework or a process for auditing the use of the IT infrastructure and operations. Some other times sometimes it is perceived as an IT decision making tool which allocates the decision rights in order to encourage a predictable behaviour in the use of IT, while for others IT Governance is a branch of corporate governance focusing on the control and the strategic view of IT (Musson, 2009). Not few have used definitions that mix and match more than one of these views, such as Peterson (2004), Higgins and Sinclair (2008) and Simonsson and Johnson (2007). A definition that is, in the authors opinion, quite clear and inclusive, is the following: IT Governance is a framework for the leadership, organizational structures and business processes, standards and compliance to these standards, which ensures that the organizations IT supports and enables the achievement of its strategies and objectives. (Calder, 2007) Lee and Lee (2009) make the link of IT Governance with Corporate Governance. They suggest that IT Governance is a mix of Corporate Governance and IT Management; meaning that IT Governance addresses the transparency and control that corporate governance focuses upon, and the efficiency and effectiveness that IT management aims at. IT Governance as part of the corporate governance is also suggested by Peterson (2004), Bhatttacharjya and Chang (2009), ODonohue, Pye and Warren (2009). Several researchers have pointed out that IT Governance is not the same as IT Management. The former refers to the definition of who has the rights for major decision making, while the later refers to the actual making of the decisions and the implementation itself (Broadbend, cited in Buckby et al., 2009; Calder, 2009; Sambamurthy and Zmud, 1999; Toomey, 2009; Van Grembergen and De Haes, 2009). Regarding the subject and scope of IT Governance, the IT Governance Institute suggests five distinct but interacting domains: The Strategic Alignment, Value Delivery, Risk Management, Resource Management and Performance Management. The need for IT Governance The need for IT Governance has not been extensively debated; almost everybody agree that the proper governance of IT is necessary. The reasons though provided to support this argument vary, and the organisations do not seem to have been persuaded by that position. A quite common reason provided to support the necessity of IT Governance, is the increased complexity of the IT infrastructure that is caused by the amount of data that an organisation holds, and the role of this information (Laplante and Costello, 2006). IT is not only complex, but it also has its own fast changing and unique conditions, as such the need to apply sound management disciplines and controls is even greater (NCC, 2005). Risk management is one more reason for IT Governance. Risk is caused by the growing dependency of organisations on IT resources which should not be neglected; the percentage of companies that are vitally dependent on IT for their continuing operation, was over 75% in 2004 (KPMG, cited at Musson, 2009). That dependency makes the potential unavailability of IT based services a significant problem for organisations such as banks and hospitals. The lack of availability is not the only danger caused by that dependency; cyber crime, fraud, information inaccuracy are just a few more issues that need proper identification and management (Van Grembergen and De Haes 2009). Instead of implementing IT solutions, the focus now has shifted to changing the business processes, to be enabled by IT. The solutions implemented are generally more complex due to this shift, and subsequently there is a greater risk with the implementation of IT-enabled business processes (Higgins and Sinclair, 2008). From the management perspective, that dependency means that management needs to be more aware of the critical IT risks, and to be assured that they are adequately managed (NCC, 2005). High organisational performance is another reason found in the literature, although that one is debatable. Liew believes that IT Governance can ensure proper measurement and preservation of an achieved performance (cited at Bhattacharjya and Chang, 2009), nevertheless Young has pointed out through a literature review that there is no convincing evidence that superior business performance is a result of any of IT Governance guidelines (Young, 2006). Typically, IT investments are significantly high. They account for over 50% of the average organisations annual total capital investment (Baschab and Piot, 2007; Carr, 2003; Weill and Woodham, 2002), as such their management in a responsive, effective and efficient way is usually a requirement that should be set by the management board. On the monetary field, cost optimisation of the IT projects and service delivery, are also considered important issues by several researchers (Bhattacharjya and Chang, 2009; Fairchild et al, 2009; Menken, 2009; Peterson, 2004). The amount of money spent is important, but the need that the enterprises investment in IT is in harmony with its objectives is usually considered more significant (Buckby et al, 2009). This is called Business IT Alignment, which is a quite old issue; several studies from mid-80s have focused on the alignment of the IT operations with the business objectives (Brown and Magill, 1994). Some researchers do not agree with the need for the Business IT alignment at all (Sillince and Frost, 1995). Koh and Maguire (2009) also suggest that Business IT alignment maybe the wrong strategy for smaller businesses, which may be agile enough to change course quickly following the new ICT arrivals in the business. They also mention that Venkatraman questions the logic behind alignment; nevertheless, this is a false interpretation of Venkatramans study, who clearly states that IT needs to support the business logic. Carr (2003) has written one of the most controversial articles on the issue, statin g that IT is not able to provide the competitive advantage that organisations need. Laplante and Costello (2006) make clear that they do not agree with that view, while Harris, Herron and Iwanicki (2008) get the opportunity to provide metrics on the value that IT can provide, instead of just dismissing Carrs argument. According to a different should of thought, Business IT alignment has been identified as a significant management concern (Brown and Magill, 1994; Cameron, 2007; Kashanchi and Toland, 2006; Silvius, 2007) and effort is put in order to identify the potential benefits of Business IT alignment. In fact, a recent study by Nash (2009) proves a positive correlation between firm level sales and the so-called Strategic Alignment Maturity; i.e. the maturity level of the business IT alignment. By considering Business IT alignment as something that organisations want to achieve, it is yet another reason to exercise governance of the IT. The relationship between IT governance and Business IT alignment has been proven (BMC Software, 2007; Musson and Jordan, 2006). Additionally, IT governance is strongly suggested by researchers as the best option for the maintenance of the alignment of IT to the continuously evolving organisational needs (Cameron, 2007; Harris et al, 2008; Pultorak, 2006; Sambamurthy and Zmud, 1999). Although Business IT Alignment is a common issue, it puts IT in a passive role; it makes it a follower. Proper governance can transform IT from a follower to a leader; IT is able to set the business agenda and partially affect the organisations strategic objectives (Addy, 2007; Baschab and Piot, 2007; Weill and Woodham, 2002). A research by NCC (2005) has identified a potentially widening gap between what IT departments think the business requires, and what the business thinks the IT department is able to deliver. This can be addressed by IT Governance, through which an organisation wide view of IT may be generated and promoted (Laplante and Costello, 2006; Weill and Woodham, 2002). That means that IT should have a thorough understanding and a participation in the improvement of business processes and their interdependencies. The other way round is also important, i.e. organisations need to obtain a better understanding of the value delivered by IT, both internally and from external suppliers. Measures are required in business (the customers) terms to achieve this. Key elements for that understanding include the enterprise wide view of IT budget (Addy, 2007; Weill and Woodham, 2002). One more reason found in the literature to promote IT Governance, is the compliance to regulatory requirements. Specific legislation and regulatory requirements, such as Sarbanes Oxley Act (SOX) almost dictate the use of an IT governance framework (Buckby et al., 2009; Higgins and Sinclair, 2008). Others, such as HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) and Basel-II do not dictate, but certainly describe an IT Governance framework through their requirements for accountability on investments, information security and assurance, risk management and decision processes (Harris et al, 2008; Higgins and Sinclair, 2008; Pultorak, 2006; Network Frontiers, 2008; NCC, 2005; van Grembergen and De Haes, 2009). Yet another commonly stated key benefit of proper IT Governance is clear and transparent decision making regarding IT resources (Baschab and Piot, 2007; Brown and Grand, 2005; Lee and Lee, 2009; Tshinu, Botha and Herselman, 2008). The lack of clarity and transparency for the decision making process, can lead to reluctance to take risks, and subsequently failure to seize technology opportunities (NCC, 2005) Separate decision processes followed by the IT and business, may mean that there is not enough shared ownership and clarity of resources, which also means that there may be a lack of accountability. IT Governance models Although IT Governance sets the decision making process, it does not define who decides. IT Governance decision authorities may be structured in different models, depending on the organisation. The three prevailing ones are the centralized, decentralized and federal (hybrid) according to their modes of distributing authorities and responsibilities for decision-making (Brown and Magill, 1994; Fairchild et al, 2009; Peterson, 2004; Sambamurthy and Zmud, 1999), while the pair of centralized / decentralized may also be found as the only choices (Laplante and Costello, 2006; Robb and Parent, 2009). Ross and Weill (2002) and Cameron (2007) expressed their quite strong preference on centralized IT Governance model, i.e. decisions being made centrally, but Ross and Weill revisited that view in 2004; they suggested that there are six (6) archetypes / models of IT Governance, on 5 different IT domains. From more centralised to less centralised, they identified Business monarchy, IT monarchy, Federal, IT Duopoly, Feudal and Anarchy. The two monarchies are quite clear, meaning that Business or IT respectively has the major responsibility for decisions. Anarchy is quite clear as well, meaning that there is no standardization. Federal and IT duopoly involve business executives and IT executives in the decision making process, with federal to give more power to the business than IT duopoly. Finally, feudal archetype brings the decision level down to business units or processes. The IT domains on which decisions need to be made, are IT principles such as funding and role of the IT in the business, IT Architecture which refers to the identification and development of the core business processes of the enterprise and relative information, IT infrastructure, business application needs such as the owner of the outcome of each project and IT investment and prioritization. That model classification from Ross and Weill is unique; as stated earlier, most other researchers have selected a simpler classification scheme. Ein-Dor and Segev (cited at Tavakolian, 1989) found that the revenue of the organisation is positively related to centralized IT Governance but there is no relation between the governance model and the size of the organisation. There is empirical proof that a link between the IT structure with the organisational competitive strategy exists; conservative organisations are more centralised than aggressive ones (Tavakolian, 1989). These results are supported by more recent research with consistent findings; Weill and Woodham (2002) and Weill and Ross (2004) found that top performing firms on profit were mostly centralized, while top performers on growth were mostly decentralized. A link between the organisations industry type and level of de-centralization of IT Governance has not been found (Ahituv et al, cited at Brown and Grant, 2005). It has to be noted that the model of IT Governance in an organisation may also be dictated by external factors, such as SOX which promotes a centralized IT Governance model, while Australian governance frameworks (mainly, AS 8015) drive the organisations towards a de-centralized IT Governance model (Robb and Parent, 2009). IT Governance Frameworks Information Technology Infrastructure Library The Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) is a framework of best practices for IT Service Management. It is comprised of five books which focus on five different aspects of IT Service Management and Service Lifecycle: Service Strategy Service Design Service Transition Service Operation Continual Service Improvement Each one of the books, defines a set of processes such as IT Financial Management, Supplier Management, Change Management, Incident Management and Service Measurement and Reporting; a total of 23 processes are defined with a set of actions and roles required for each process. The definition of several of the processes and the subsequent roles is consistent with the IT Governance definition we used earlier; nevertheless a big amount of the defined processes such as event management and validation and testing, are much more focused on the management part than to that of the governance. ITIL is considered to be the framework that is closer to service management than control, from the other two frameworks, CobIT and ISO/IEC 38500:2008 and has a more narrow scope than CobIT (Van Grembergen and De Haes, 2009; Simonsson and Ekstedt, 2006; Simonsson, Johnson and Wijkstrà ¶m, 2007; Sallà ©, 2004; McBride, 2009). That focus of ITIL to service delivery and management was more obvious in version 2, which did not address issues such as Risk Management, Performance Monitoring and IT Governance (generic strategic direction and alignment) at all. As such it was mostly perceived as a framework for service desk management. Although the effectiveness of ITIL version 2 to the alignment of IT with business objectives has been repeatedly pointed out (BMC Software, 2007; Harris et al, 2008; Pultorak, 2006) and even experimentally proven (Kashanchi and Toland, 2006), it was never the primary driver for ITIL adaptation. A survey conducted by Bruton Consultancy for the Helpdesk Institute Europe (now renamed as Service Desk Institute) for the value that ITIL has brought in companies that have implemented it, indicated that the contribution of ITIL to the business strategy was not even considered as an issue by the majority of the correspondents (70%). The same holds for the perception of the participants on t he competitive advantage that may be provided by proper IT management through ITIL. More than half (66%) responded that this was not considered in the decision for ITIL implementation (Bruton, 2005). With version 3, ITIL gained a broader scope than version 2 and added significant emphasis on business strategy. That change, led some IT management consultants to declare ITIL version 3 as inappropriate for helpdesk and service management processes (Bruton, 2007), not strange since version 2 focused on processes while version 3 focuses on Business Value (Harris et al, 2008). Beyond the not strategic enough type of criticism, ITIL has also been criticised as a flawed and uneven framework. Dean Meyer identifies pitfalls in its implementation; nevertheless, he also states that it is an implementation issue and not a framework issue (Meyer, 2009 web site). ITIL has also been characterized as a too generic framework, which is not able to provide value if used off-the-shelf without significant adaptations (Baschab and Piot, 2007), an unfair criticism as ITIL is promoted as a set of best practices, not as a complete, fits-all framework. This concession should invalidate yet another criticism raised by Simonsson (2008), the lack of a maturity model. Another criticism of ITIL is that the documentation is not free (Bhattacharjya and Chang, 2009). That is a valid point, nevertheless the cost of the books is quite low for companies (less than  £400 for the whole set). Other criticisms include the stifling of the creativity of those who implement it, and that it b ecomes a goal by itself having a heavy administrative burden (Addy, 2007). All these points are valid, but they can be attributed to the extension of ITIL. Control Objectives for Information and related Technology Control Objectives for information and related Technology (CobIT) is a control framework developed by the IT Governance Institute. CobIT defines processes and controls, and uses the grouping of activities in four domains: Plan and Organise Acquire and Implement Deliver and Support Monitor and Evaluate Each domain contains a set of processes, 34 at total, and each process defines specific controls, which sum up to 210 for all processes. CobIT defines inputs and outputs, as well as a maturity model for each process, making the control of compliance a very easy task. RACI (responsible, accountable, consulted and informed) charts are also provided, drawing a clear guideline on who should be involved in every process step. Goals and metrics, in the form of outcome measures (key goal indicators KGIs) and performance indicators (key performance indicators KPIs) respectively are also provided, mapping business goals to IT goals, which can be achieved by one, or the interaction of several processes. CobIT is generally used where there is a need for auditing functions, in comparison with ITIL, which is better suited to operational process improvement (ODonohue et al, 2009). In contrast to ITIL, CobIT has extensive documentation available free of charge, including the framework itself and several case studies. Several implementation documents though are only available for purchase, such as CobIT Quickstart, while others are available free for ISACA members or for purchase for non-members such as Security Baseline and User Guide for Service Managers. Several consultants and practitioners criticise CobIT that it only states the obvious, that it is very high level, is only a generic framework and does not provide specific and repeatable implementation steps (Culmsee, 2009; Toigo, 2005). This is not a common view, as others find CobIT to be quite prescriptive (Pultorak, 2006; Robb and Parent, 2009). That may be explained by the fact that although CobIT framework itself is indeed high level, a different publication is provided by ISACA, named CobIT Control Practices which is quite prescriptive. Academics criticise CobIT as providing little support for improved decision making, although many metrics are defined (Simonsson and Johnson, 2006). Others state that CobIT is expressed almost entirely in terms of process, focusing on how to govern but not what to govern (Lee et al, 2009). Another criticism states that CobIT is significantly more focused on auditing, largely ignoring other aspects of governance such as software development an d service delivery (NetFrontiers, 2005). CobIT is also characterized as a framework that needs significant knowledge and know how for a successful implementation (Simonsson et al, 2007), and that it takes time to introduce solid IT Governance through it (Rogers, 2009); although the opposite would be strange, given the wide area of processes and functions that CobIT addresses. Finally, while ITIL is known as the framework that guides you on how to get where you want to be, CobIT merely focuses on where you should be; that may be good or bad, depending on ones point of view and needs. ISO / IEC 38500:2008 The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) attempted to solve the confusion between IT Management and IT Governance, and at the same time provide guiding principles on IT Governance, in the recently published ISO/IEC 38500:2008. Because ISO/IEC 38500 establishes principles to guide the behaviour of organisations, it complements frameworks that focus on process, such as ITIL and COBIT. Thus, with the right frameworks or processes, complemented by the right behaviours, organisations are more likely to establish highly effective systems of governance. After all, it has been stated that ITIL and CobIT are not mutually exclusive; they are rather complementary and organisations will probably benefit from a mixed approach, adopting what is more applicable in every case, from the two frameworks (Chickowsky, cited at Bhattacharjya and Chang, 2009). ISO/IEC 38500 can also be combined with these two and ITGI has even issued a specific document demonstrating how and which specific CobIT and ValIT controls support the adoption of the standards principles and implementation approach. Nevertheless, ISO/IEC 38500:2008 is very recent to be evaluated. As of the time of conducting this research, there is not enough information on the implementation, benefits or drawbacks of ISO 38500:2008. Common drivers for IT Governance implementation While the need for IT Governance has well been described, the benefits sought, i.e. the reasons for the implementation of an IT Governance framework vary, sometimes depending on the point of view of the observer. As drivers, we consider the motivator factors, which may lead an organisation to the implementation of an IT Governance framework. For IT Managers, IT Governance is a mechanism for the alignment of the IT with business on the projects that are going to be pursuit. For IT Auditors, it is mainly a control mechanism that can help them achieve compliance with regulations, and to manage the risks that are related to IT projects better. For IT Service management professionals, IT Governance ensures that not only the IT services offered are aligned to the current and future business needs, but they are also managed for efficiency, effectiveness and specific quality objectives (Pultorak, 2006). Recent surveys have indicated that the most important benefits expected from the implementation of an IT Governance framework are proper risk management, the resource management of IT, the performance measurement of IT and the business IT alignment. Along these, cost reduction, productivity improvements and organisation wide view of IT are commonly mentioned. (ITGI, 2008; BMC Software, 2007; Milne and Bowles, 2009; Yanosky and McCredie The Emergence of IT Governance in Greece The Emergence of IT Governance in Greece Introduction The emergence of IT Governance The cases of Enron, Worldcom and other corporate and financial scandals in the early years of the century have raised the significance of corporate governance and control. Regulatory environments have been formed with quite distinctive characteristics, depending on the needs of each country, and the needs of specific industries. The implementation of the controls required by regulations such as Sarbanes Oxley for the publicly listed organisations in the U.S. and Basel II for European banks relies heavily on IT. That dependency, combined to the required controls on IT itself, have forced top-level executives to have a look towards the proper management and governance of the information and communication technologies that power their organisations. At the same time, the high percentage of failed IT projects, ranging between 60% and 90% depending on the definition of failure, has alarmed many executives who see their resources to be wasted on failed projects, to be followed by more failed projects. Clear decision processes and proper project management aiming at efficiency and effectiveness, are the obvious answers to the problem; both of which point directly to IT Governance. The high cost of IT investments, which is more than half of the annual CAPEX for most organisations, calls for control, accountability and risk management, not to mention cost reduction. Information security, industrial espionage, regulations for the confidentiality of the data and the privacy of employees and customers, are all gracefully handled by a proper IT Governance structure. These are only some of the reasons that have led quite a few organisations worldwide to add IT Governance in their board agenda. The status in Greece Greece has control regulations for specific industries only, such as telecommunications, an industry largely affected by the Hellenic authority for communication security and privacy. Other industries are affected by pan-European control regulations, such as banking industry that needs to comply with MIFID and Basel-II alongside the directives issued by the Bank of Greece. Finally, just a few companies are listed in foreign stock exchanges such as NYSE listed PTT, subsequently affected by the SOX act. Nevertheless, although the environment in Greece is complex, and the IT infrastructure is no simpler than any other countrys, there is no published empirical academic research on the status of IT Governance in Greece. Even surveys that are conducted in wider geographical areas and not to a specific country do not usually include Greece; probably because it is a small market. The only data that has been found are some papers mentioning the benefits of IT Governance, as taken from the international practice; the data though is not adapted to local needs and circumstances. Research Objectives This research, titled IT Governance in Greece: Status, Drivers and Barriers aims to evaluate and present the IT Governance related practices in Greece. What percentage of Greek companies are using IT Governance frameworks and best practices, which is the preferred framework between the two prevalent (ITIL and CobIT), and which is the decision model selected by the companies that employ IT Governance. An attempt will be made to find any relationships between these results, and the size of the organisation or the size of the IT department. The reasons for which Greek organisations select to implement or not an IT Governance framework will also be linked to that data and outsourcing strategies which are known to require careful governance will be evaluated. For the organisations that choose to not implement a formal governance framework, the barriers to implementation will be analysed, as well as the potential good practices which do not constitute a framework, nevertheless help to the prudent governance of an organisations IT assets and resources. The research questions that are expected to shed some light to the main areas of the status of IT Governance in Greece are formulated as follows: The penetration of ITIL and CobIT in Greece as IT Governance frameworks Which are the most common factors that prevent or delay the acceptance and deployment of an IT Governance framework (barriers)? Which are the most common reasons that led organisations to deploy, or plan the future deployment of an IT Governance framework (drivers)? Which (if any) are the management methods used if a full IT Governance framework is not deployed? Personal Interest The author has followed a career path in Information Technology for the last 15 years, acquiring positions of raising responsibilities. In alignment to that career path, the MBA was considered a good choice, providing a broader view on all areas of management such as organisational behaviour and culture, human relationships, finance and marketing, strategy and implementation. The subject of this dissertation combines the two worlds, that of management and of information technology, giving a more thorough and business oriented view to the authors subject of work. Beyond the obvious curiosity that is created by the lack of data in the Greek market in which the author lives and works, there has always been an interest in IT Governance, IT management and risk management, and this dissertation comes to cover at least some of these areas. Structure of the dissertation The rest of the dissertation has a typical structure the introduction that was just provided constitutes the chapter one. Chapter two provides a review of the existing literature and previous studies on IT Governance; that should form the basis for the research that was necessary for this dissertation. Chapter three analyses and justifies the methodology that was used for the sampling, the data collection and data analysis methods that were selected. This chapter also presents and analyses some limitations related to the methodology, and presents the ways in which these limitations may affect the data analysis and the conclusions. Chapter four is the data analysis, in which all data that were collected are analysed and presented, relations are drawn and comparisons to findings from previous research are performed in order to fully answer the research questions set in this dissertation. Chapter five draws on the conclusions of the previous chapter. It summarizes the research objectives, the findings and the implications of the results. Generalization issues and data validity is further discussed. This chapter provides also recommendations for future studies, identifying details that were not included in this survey and questions that have emerged from the results of the current dissertation. Finally, this chapter reflects on the dissertation, assessing the weaknesses of the work performed and the obstacles faced; it also identifies the areas in which the author has gained knowledge and experience. Literature Review Introduction A literature review is vital to any research project, in order to collect, present and critically analyse, what is already known in the subject under research. The evaluation of previous research leads to a better understanding of the subject, of the areas of consensus between academics and practitioners, and the points of conflict and potential gaps. Towards the answer of the status of IT Governance in Greece, an attempt will be made to explain the term IT Governance and clarify any misconceptions regarding IT Governance and IT Management. The different types of IT Governance models that have been developed in the past, along with the key roles in IT Governance, will be identified, presented and compared. The necessity for IT Governance as suggested in the literature will be evaluated, and the most commonly mentioned benefits and implementation barriers will be presented, in order to serve as potential answers to the questionnaire of the research. Previous reports on management methods that may be used instead of a full framework implementation will also be evaluated for the same reasons. The definition of IT Governance IT Governance is a subject that has gained significant focus during the last years. As a term, IT Governance, has too many definitions in the literature (Buckby, Best and Stewart, 2009; Lee and Lee, 2009; Lee, Lee and Lee, 2009). Simonsson and Ekstedt (2006) tried to find a common definition on 60 different relative articles; and came up with yet another definition, which includes many of the previous ones. The definitions used by researchers, depend on their view on what IT Governance can offer to an organisation. IT Governance is sometimes perceived as a framework or a process for auditing the use of the IT infrastructure and operations. Some other times sometimes it is perceived as an IT decision making tool which allocates the decision rights in order to encourage a predictable behaviour in the use of IT, while for others IT Governance is a branch of corporate governance focusing on the control and the strategic view of IT (Musson, 2009). Not few have used definitions that mix and match more than one of these views, such as Peterson (2004), Higgins and Sinclair (2008) and Simonsson and Johnson (2007). A definition that is, in the authors opinion, quite clear and inclusive, is the following: IT Governance is a framework for the leadership, organizational structures and business processes, standards and compliance to these standards, which ensures that the organizations IT supports and enables the achievement of its strategies and objectives. (Calder, 2007) Lee and Lee (2009) make the link of IT Governance with Corporate Governance. They suggest that IT Governance is a mix of Corporate Governance and IT Management; meaning that IT Governance addresses the transparency and control that corporate governance focuses upon, and the efficiency and effectiveness that IT management aims at. IT Governance as part of the corporate governance is also suggested by Peterson (2004), Bhatttacharjya and Chang (2009), ODonohue, Pye and Warren (2009). Several researchers have pointed out that IT Governance is not the same as IT Management. The former refers to the definition of who has the rights for major decision making, while the later refers to the actual making of the decisions and the implementation itself (Broadbend, cited in Buckby et al., 2009; Calder, 2009; Sambamurthy and Zmud, 1999; Toomey, 2009; Van Grembergen and De Haes, 2009). Regarding the subject and scope of IT Governance, the IT Governance Institute suggests five distinct but interacting domains: The Strategic Alignment, Value Delivery, Risk Management, Resource Management and Performance Management. The need for IT Governance The need for IT Governance has not been extensively debated; almost everybody agree that the proper governance of IT is necessary. The reasons though provided to support this argument vary, and the organisations do not seem to have been persuaded by that position. A quite common reason provided to support the necessity of IT Governance, is the increased complexity of the IT infrastructure that is caused by the amount of data that an organisation holds, and the role of this information (Laplante and Costello, 2006). IT is not only complex, but it also has its own fast changing and unique conditions, as such the need to apply sound management disciplines and controls is even greater (NCC, 2005). Risk management is one more reason for IT Governance. Risk is caused by the growing dependency of organisations on IT resources which should not be neglected; the percentage of companies that are vitally dependent on IT for their continuing operation, was over 75% in 2004 (KPMG, cited at Musson, 2009). That dependency makes the potential unavailability of IT based services a significant problem for organisations such as banks and hospitals. The lack of availability is not the only danger caused by that dependency; cyber crime, fraud, information inaccuracy are just a few more issues that need proper identification and management (Van Grembergen and De Haes 2009). Instead of implementing IT solutions, the focus now has shifted to changing the business processes, to be enabled by IT. The solutions implemented are generally more complex due to this shift, and subsequently there is a greater risk with the implementation of IT-enabled business processes (Higgins and Sinclair, 2008). From the management perspective, that dependency means that management needs to be more aware of the critical IT risks, and to be assured that they are adequately managed (NCC, 2005). High organisational performance is another reason found in the literature, although that one is debatable. Liew believes that IT Governance can ensure proper measurement and preservation of an achieved performance (cited at Bhattacharjya and Chang, 2009), nevertheless Young has pointed out through a literature review that there is no convincing evidence that superior business performance is a result of any of IT Governance guidelines (Young, 2006). Typically, IT investments are significantly high. They account for over 50% of the average organisations annual total capital investment (Baschab and Piot, 2007; Carr, 2003; Weill and Woodham, 2002), as such their management in a responsive, effective and efficient way is usually a requirement that should be set by the management board. On the monetary field, cost optimisation of the IT projects and service delivery, are also considered important issues by several researchers (Bhattacharjya and Chang, 2009; Fairchild et al, 2009; Menken, 2009; Peterson, 2004). The amount of money spent is important, but the need that the enterprises investment in IT is in harmony with its objectives is usually considered more significant (Buckby et al, 2009). This is called Business IT Alignment, which is a quite old issue; several studies from mid-80s have focused on the alignment of the IT operations with the business objectives (Brown and Magill, 1994). Some researchers do not agree with the need for the Business IT alignment at all (Sillince and Frost, 1995). Koh and Maguire (2009) also suggest that Business IT alignment maybe the wrong strategy for smaller businesses, which may be agile enough to change course quickly following the new ICT arrivals in the business. They also mention that Venkatraman questions the logic behind alignment; nevertheless, this is a false interpretation of Venkatramans study, who clearly states that IT needs to support the business logic. Carr (2003) has written one of the most controversial articles on the issue, statin g that IT is not able to provide the competitive advantage that organisations need. Laplante and Costello (2006) make clear that they do not agree with that view, while Harris, Herron and Iwanicki (2008) get the opportunity to provide metrics on the value that IT can provide, instead of just dismissing Carrs argument. According to a different should of thought, Business IT alignment has been identified as a significant management concern (Brown and Magill, 1994; Cameron, 2007; Kashanchi and Toland, 2006; Silvius, 2007) and effort is put in order to identify the potential benefits of Business IT alignment. In fact, a recent study by Nash (2009) proves a positive correlation between firm level sales and the so-called Strategic Alignment Maturity; i.e. the maturity level of the business IT alignment. By considering Business IT alignment as something that organisations want to achieve, it is yet another reason to exercise governance of the IT. The relationship between IT governance and Business IT alignment has been proven (BMC Software, 2007; Musson and Jordan, 2006). Additionally, IT governance is strongly suggested by researchers as the best option for the maintenance of the alignment of IT to the continuously evolving organisational needs (Cameron, 2007; Harris et al, 2008; Pultorak, 2006; Sambamurthy and Zmud, 1999). Although Business IT Alignment is a common issue, it puts IT in a passive role; it makes it a follower. Proper governance can transform IT from a follower to a leader; IT is able to set the business agenda and partially affect the organisations strategic objectives (Addy, 2007; Baschab and Piot, 2007; Weill and Woodham, 2002). A research by NCC (2005) has identified a potentially widening gap between what IT departments think the business requires, and what the business thinks the IT department is able to deliver. This can be addressed by IT Governance, through which an organisation wide view of IT may be generated and promoted (Laplante and Costello, 2006; Weill and Woodham, 2002). That means that IT should have a thorough understanding and a participation in the improvement of business processes and their interdependencies. The other way round is also important, i.e. organisations need to obtain a better understanding of the value delivered by IT, both internally and from external suppliers. Measures are required in business (the customers) terms to achieve this. Key elements for that understanding include the enterprise wide view of IT budget (Addy, 2007; Weill and Woodham, 2002). One more reason found in the literature to promote IT Governance, is the compliance to regulatory requirements. Specific legislation and regulatory requirements, such as Sarbanes Oxley Act (SOX) almost dictate the use of an IT governance framework (Buckby et al., 2009; Higgins and Sinclair, 2008). Others, such as HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) and Basel-II do not dictate, but certainly describe an IT Governance framework through their requirements for accountability on investments, information security and assurance, risk management and decision processes (Harris et al, 2008; Higgins and Sinclair, 2008; Pultorak, 2006; Network Frontiers, 2008; NCC, 2005; van Grembergen and De Haes, 2009). Yet another commonly stated key benefit of proper IT Governance is clear and transparent decision making regarding IT resources (Baschab and Piot, 2007; Brown and Grand, 2005; Lee and Lee, 2009; Tshinu, Botha and Herselman, 2008). The lack of clarity and transparency for the decision making process, can lead to reluctance to take risks, and subsequently failure to seize technology opportunities (NCC, 2005) Separate decision processes followed by the IT and business, may mean that there is not enough shared ownership and clarity of resources, which also means that there may be a lack of accountability. IT Governance models Although IT Governance sets the decision making process, it does not define who decides. IT Governance decision authorities may be structured in different models, depending on the organisation. The three prevailing ones are the centralized, decentralized and federal (hybrid) according to their modes of distributing authorities and responsibilities for decision-making (Brown and Magill, 1994; Fairchild et al, 2009; Peterson, 2004; Sambamurthy and Zmud, 1999), while the pair of centralized / decentralized may also be found as the only choices (Laplante and Costello, 2006; Robb and Parent, 2009). Ross and Weill (2002) and Cameron (2007) expressed their quite strong preference on centralized IT Governance model, i.e. decisions being made centrally, but Ross and Weill revisited that view in 2004; they suggested that there are six (6) archetypes / models of IT Governance, on 5 different IT domains. From more centralised to less centralised, they identified Business monarchy, IT monarchy, Federal, IT Duopoly, Feudal and Anarchy. The two monarchies are quite clear, meaning that Business or IT respectively has the major responsibility for decisions. Anarchy is quite clear as well, meaning that there is no standardization. Federal and IT duopoly involve business executives and IT executives in the decision making process, with federal to give more power to the business than IT duopoly. Finally, feudal archetype brings the decision level down to business units or processes. The IT domains on which decisions need to be made, are IT principles such as funding and role of the IT in the business, IT Architecture which refers to the identification and development of the core business processes of the enterprise and relative information, IT infrastructure, business application needs such as the owner of the outcome of each project and IT investment and prioritization. That model classification from Ross and Weill is unique; as stated earlier, most other researchers have selected a simpler classification scheme. Ein-Dor and Segev (cited at Tavakolian, 1989) found that the revenue of the organisation is positively related to centralized IT Governance but there is no relation between the governance model and the size of the organisation. There is empirical proof that a link between the IT structure with the organisational competitive strategy exists; conservative organisations are more centralised than aggressive ones (Tavakolian, 1989). These results are supported by more recent research with consistent findings; Weill and Woodham (2002) and Weill and Ross (2004) found that top performing firms on profit were mostly centralized, while top performers on growth were mostly decentralized. A link between the organisations industry type and level of de-centralization of IT Governance has not been found (Ahituv et al, cited at Brown and Grant, 2005). It has to be noted that the model of IT Governance in an organisation may also be dictated by external factors, such as SOX which promotes a centralized IT Governance model, while Australian governance frameworks (mainly, AS 8015) drive the organisations towards a de-centralized IT Governance model (Robb and Parent, 2009). IT Governance Frameworks Information Technology Infrastructure Library The Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) is a framework of best practices for IT Service Management. It is comprised of five books which focus on five different aspects of IT Service Management and Service Lifecycle: Service Strategy Service Design Service Transition Service Operation Continual Service Improvement Each one of the books, defines a set of processes such as IT Financial Management, Supplier Management, Change Management, Incident Management and Service Measurement and Reporting; a total of 23 processes are defined with a set of actions and roles required for each process. The definition of several of the processes and the subsequent roles is consistent with the IT Governance definition we used earlier; nevertheless a big amount of the defined processes such as event management and validation and testing, are much more focused on the management part than to that of the governance. ITIL is considered to be the framework that is closer to service management than control, from the other two frameworks, CobIT and ISO/IEC 38500:2008 and has a more narrow scope than CobIT (Van Grembergen and De Haes, 2009; Simonsson and Ekstedt, 2006; Simonsson, Johnson and Wijkstrà ¶m, 2007; Sallà ©, 2004; McBride, 2009). That focus of ITIL to service delivery and management was more obvious in version 2, which did not address issues such as Risk Management, Performance Monitoring and IT Governance (generic strategic direction and alignment) at all. As such it was mostly perceived as a framework for service desk management. Although the effectiveness of ITIL version 2 to the alignment of IT with business objectives has been repeatedly pointed out (BMC Software, 2007; Harris et al, 2008; Pultorak, 2006) and even experimentally proven (Kashanchi and Toland, 2006), it was never the primary driver for ITIL adaptation. A survey conducted by Bruton Consultancy for the Helpdesk Institute Europe (now renamed as Service Desk Institute) for the value that ITIL has brought in companies that have implemented it, indicated that the contribution of ITIL to the business strategy was not even considered as an issue by the majority of the correspondents (70%). The same holds for the perception of the participants on t he competitive advantage that may be provided by proper IT management through ITIL. More than half (66%) responded that this was not considered in the decision for ITIL implementation (Bruton, 2005). With version 3, ITIL gained a broader scope than version 2 and added significant emphasis on business strategy. That change, led some IT management consultants to declare ITIL version 3 as inappropriate for helpdesk and service management processes (Bruton, 2007), not strange since version 2 focused on processes while version 3 focuses on Business Value (Harris et al, 2008). Beyond the not strategic enough type of criticism, ITIL has also been criticised as a flawed and uneven framework. Dean Meyer identifies pitfalls in its implementation; nevertheless, he also states that it is an implementation issue and not a framework issue (Meyer, 2009 web site). ITIL has also been characterized as a too generic framework, which is not able to provide value if used off-the-shelf without significant adaptations (Baschab and Piot, 2007), an unfair criticism as ITIL is promoted as a set of best practices, not as a complete, fits-all framework. This concession should invalidate yet another criticism raised by Simonsson (2008), the lack of a maturity model. Another criticism of ITIL is that the documentation is not free (Bhattacharjya and Chang, 2009). That is a valid point, nevertheless the cost of the books is quite low for companies (less than  £400 for the whole set). Other criticisms include the stifling of the creativity of those who implement it, and that it b ecomes a goal by itself having a heavy administrative burden (Addy, 2007). All these points are valid, but they can be attributed to the extension of ITIL. Control Objectives for Information and related Technology Control Objectives for information and related Technology (CobIT) is a control framework developed by the IT Governance Institute. CobIT defines processes and controls, and uses the grouping of activities in four domains: Plan and Organise Acquire and Implement Deliver and Support Monitor and Evaluate Each domain contains a set of processes, 34 at total, and each process defines specific controls, which sum up to 210 for all processes. CobIT defines inputs and outputs, as well as a maturity model for each process, making the control of compliance a very easy task. RACI (responsible, accountable, consulted and informed) charts are also provided, drawing a clear guideline on who should be involved in every process step. Goals and metrics, in the form of outcome measures (key goal indicators KGIs) and performance indicators (key performance indicators KPIs) respectively are also provided, mapping business goals to IT goals, which can be achieved by one, or the interaction of several processes. CobIT is generally used where there is a need for auditing functions, in comparison with ITIL, which is better suited to operational process improvement (ODonohue et al, 2009). In contrast to ITIL, CobIT has extensive documentation available free of charge, including the framework itself and several case studies. Several implementation documents though are only available for purchase, such as CobIT Quickstart, while others are available free for ISACA members or for purchase for non-members such as Security Baseline and User Guide for Service Managers. Several consultants and practitioners criticise CobIT that it only states the obvious, that it is very high level, is only a generic framework and does not provide specific and repeatable implementation steps (Culmsee, 2009; Toigo, 2005). This is not a common view, as others find CobIT to be quite prescriptive (Pultorak, 2006; Robb and Parent, 2009). That may be explained by the fact that although CobIT framework itself is indeed high level, a different publication is provided by ISACA, named CobIT Control Practices which is quite prescriptive. Academics criticise CobIT as providing little support for improved decision making, although many metrics are defined (Simonsson and Johnson, 2006). Others state that CobIT is expressed almost entirely in terms of process, focusing on how to govern but not what to govern (Lee et al, 2009). Another criticism states that CobIT is significantly more focused on auditing, largely ignoring other aspects of governance such as software development an d service delivery (NetFrontiers, 2005). CobIT is also characterized as a framework that needs significant knowledge and know how for a successful implementation (Simonsson et al, 2007), and that it takes time to introduce solid IT Governance through it (Rogers, 2009); although the opposite would be strange, given the wide area of processes and functions that CobIT addresses. Finally, while ITIL is known as the framework that guides you on how to get where you want to be, CobIT merely focuses on where you should be; that may be good or bad, depending on ones point of view and needs. ISO / IEC 38500:2008 The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) attempted to solve the confusion between IT Management and IT Governance, and at the same time provide guiding principles on IT Governance, in the recently published ISO/IEC 38500:2008. Because ISO/IEC 38500 establishes principles to guide the behaviour of organisations, it complements frameworks that focus on process, such as ITIL and COBIT. Thus, with the right frameworks or processes, complemented by the right behaviours, organisations are more likely to establish highly effective systems of governance. After all, it has been stated that ITIL and CobIT are not mutually exclusive; they are rather complementary and organisations will probably benefit from a mixed approach, adopting what is more applicable in every case, from the two frameworks (Chickowsky, cited at Bhattacharjya and Chang, 2009). ISO/IEC 38500 can also be combined with these two and ITGI has even issued a specific document demonstrating how and which specific CobIT and ValIT controls support the adoption of the standards principles and implementation approach. Nevertheless, ISO/IEC 38500:2008 is very recent to be evaluated. As of the time of conducting this research, there is not enough information on the implementation, benefits or drawbacks of ISO 38500:2008. Common drivers for IT Governance implementation While the need for IT Governance has well been described, the benefits sought, i.e. the reasons for the implementation of an IT Governance framework vary, sometimes depending on the point of view of the observer. As drivers, we consider the motivator factors, which may lead an organisation to the implementation of an IT Governance framework. For IT Managers, IT Governance is a mechanism for the alignment of the IT with business on the projects that are going to be pursuit. For IT Auditors, it is mainly a control mechanism that can help them achieve compliance with regulations, and to manage the risks that are related to IT projects better. For IT Service management professionals, IT Governance ensures that not only the IT services offered are aligned to the current and future business needs, but they are also managed for efficiency, effectiveness and specific quality objectives (Pultorak, 2006). Recent surveys have indicated that the most important benefits expected from the implementation of an IT Governance framework are proper risk management, the resource management of IT, the performance measurement of IT and the business IT alignment. Along these, cost reduction, productivity improvements and organisation wide view of IT are commonly mentioned. (ITGI, 2008; BMC Software, 2007; Milne and Bowles, 2009; Yanosky and McCredie