Managing information assets by JSE listed companies in South Africa

Abstract

is a key element of competitive advantage for every organisation because it is created internally, and can be completely unique when compared to competitors. Information is used and produced throughout the value chain of activities and is important for enabling selling to customers in a personalised manner, and for customers to make informed choices when buying. The importance of information to JSE listed banks is crucial for their continued sustainability, and the need to manage information effectively then becomes the foundation for success. Extensive literature was reviewed on information management practices, linking business and technology strategy, and finally linking these to information management through enterprise architecture and effective IT governance. Existing corporate governance principles for effective management of information assets, as stipulated by the King Report on corporate governance, were also reviewed as part of the study. The data-collection method was qualitative in nature and centred on nine unstructured interviews with senior IT and Business Management employees of four JSE listed banks. Results could be triangulated by comparing Information Management literature, Enterprise Architecture literature, and balancing views from both business and IT management perspectives. The data was analysed by identifying important themes in a consistent manner, and then compared to the literature framework to present and discuss the findings, and finally make conclusions and recommendations. JSE listed banks are clear on what their strategy and operating model approach is in interacting with their customers. However, the key requirement to successfully execute these choices is to have accurate information available to be able to have one view of their customers and present one unified organisation to customers. The study finds that this key element is not well executed because of the many architectural challenges each faces. iii At a strategic and IT management level, each of the banks have the know-how to set strategy and design systems and processes to support the chosen strategy. The biggest challenge is the lack of clarity in how business management expresses how processes should function that will allow IT to design systems and data structures allowing effective information creation that is aligned with executing strategy.