An Exploration of the Impact of an Open Governance Approach on Strategic Decision Making, Collaboration, Organizational Change, and Sustainability

Total quality management based governance models tend to focus on incremental improvements within the boundaries of a single organization. This may limit the benefits of information technology because they are not complex enough to address business or performance problems that extend beyond the boundaries of a single organization. The research problem this study addressed was how the use of an alternative governance approach could help to overcome this complexity limitation. The study was important because of the performance and financial implications to upper level managers. The purpose was to improve the benefits of information technology in a complex environment by analyzing a governance model that crosses organizational boundaries. The main research question involved understanding how open system governance can help maximize the benefits of information technology and was investigated through inquiries regarding the relationship between governance and strategic decision making, collaboration, organizational change, and sustainability. A qualitative content analysis methodology was used after interviewing 18 respondents involved in a public sector information technology effort that used an open system governance approach. During the analysis, emergent themes from the interview data were triangulated with literature themes, including trust building, innovation, relationships, ethics, and addressing public sector issues. The study found that use of an enterprise framework, having a vested interest, having adequate funding, involving the right people, and creating an open environment helped maximize the use of technology. Implications for social change included achieving complex performance goals such as statewide outcomes, higher portfolio success rates, and financial savings.