When IT Risk Management Produces More Harm than Good: The Phenomenon of 'Mock Bureaucracy'

46th Hawaii International Conference on Systems Science (HICSS 2013)

10 Pages Posted: 27 Jun 2013

See all articles by Manuel Wiesche

Manuel Wiesche

Technische Universtität München

Michael Schermann

Santa Clara University - Operations and Management Information Systems

Helmut Krcmar

Technische Universität München (TUM)

Date Written: June 11, 2013

Abstract

This paper investigates the complications of designing effective governance for IT risk management (IT-RM). Literature on formal governance suggests that either a coercive (i.e., to force employees' effort and compliance) or an enabling (i.e., to help employees better to master their tasks) design of procedures help to avoid what literature calls "mock bureaucracy" (i.e., rules are promulgated for their symbolic value but ignored in practice). Our analysis of two organizations, however, implies that both coercive and enabling governance for IT-RM may lead to mock bureaucracy. We categorize antecedents of "mock" IT-RM procedures and identify important design challenges for IT-RM research and practice. Our study contributes to the IT governance body of knowledge by linking types of bureaucracy to IT governance tasks and providing anti-patterns associated with IT-RM procedures.

Suggested Citation

Wiesche, Manuel and Schermann, Michael and Krcmar, Helmut, When IT Risk Management Produces More Harm than Good: The Phenomenon of 'Mock Bureaucracy' (June 11, 2013). 46th Hawaii International Conference on Systems Science (HICSS 2013), Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2277870

Manuel Wiesche (Contact Author)

Technische Universtität München ( email )

Arcisstrasse 21
Munich, DE 80333
Germany

Michael Schermann

Santa Clara University - Operations and Management Information Systems ( email )

500 El Camino Real
Santa Clara, CA 95053
United States

Helmut Krcmar

Technische Universität München (TUM) ( email )

Arcisstrasse 21
Munich, DE 80333
Germany

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