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FIT3174 IT STRATEGY AND GOVERNANCE

Semester 1, 2020

Assignment 2: Evaluating IT Systems Failure: A Case Study

Value: This assignment is worth 10% of your final assessment in the unit.
Type of Assignment: Individual
Submission Date: Friday, Week 11 (5th June 2020), 11:55 pm
Submission of the Assignments: You are required to submit your assignment to
Moodle/Turnitin. The file names should contain Unit Code, assignment number and your
student ID number, similar to the following example:
FIT3174A2_StudentID.docx OR FIT3174A2_StudentID.pdf

Learning outcomes:
Demonstrate the understanding of IT governance, and how IT projects can be
successfully completed with appropriate attention to IT critical success factors,
implementation issues and IT governance. Discuss the applications of the well-known IT
governance frameworks commonly used in organisations, such as ITIL/COBIT.

Broad Assignment Aims
Students are presented with a case study to:
(a) critically review the need for the organisation to implement an IT governance
framework,
(b) critically evaluate the implementation experience of these organisations by drawing
on the theoretical constructs involved in IT governance frameworks like COBIT,
(c) how its chosen IT governance framework affects that strategy.
Students are required to derive the strategic motivations, barriers, impact, and lessons of
the case organisation in implementing IT governance frameworks like COBIT, relating
them to the IT governance scholarly literature.

Report Outline:
A recommended report outline is as follows:
 Title page (with assignment title, student name, ID, unit code, tutors name)
 Table of contents
 Executive summary or Abstract
 Introduction section, e.g. purpose, scope
 Body (responses to the assignment tasks)
o a critical review of the case study
o evaluate the applications of IT governance frameworks
 Conclusion
 One single aggregated reference list at the end of the document.

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Writing style:
 Use an IT/business report genre (https://www.monash.edu/rlo/quick-study-
guides/features-of-reports).
 Font - Times New Roman font, size 12, and single space.
 Paging - each page (except the title page, table of contents) must be numbered.
 Write in a neutral voice.
 Writing clear sentences and paragraphing, for examples:
o Writing clear paragraphs: https://www.monash.edu/rlo/research-writing-
assignments/writing/clear-communication/writing-clear-paragraphs
o IT report: approaching the task: https://www.monash.edu/rlo/assignment-
samples/information-technology/approaching-the-task
o Writing style attributes: https://www.monash.edu/it/current-
students/resources-and-support/style-guide
References:
Students are encouraged to search for relevant extra readings and draw on suitable
literature from academic publications as well as practitioner outlets. All sources of
information must be fully and appropriately acknowledged using in-text citation and
reference list. The reference section should use the American Psychological Association
(APA) style of referencing (https://guides.lib.monash.edu/citing-referencing/apa).

Late Submissions: Late submissions will be penalised as stated in the unit guide.

Other Questions: Please contact your tutor or lecturer should you require further
clarifications.

Assignment Assessment Criteria:
Your submission will be evaluated in terms of the following criteria:
 Depth of analysis
 Completeness and correctness of arguments
 Richness of arguments
 Clarity of expression
 Use of appropriate references to support arguments


Specific Instructions
Students are provided with an initial resource for the assessment which is available in
Moodle, under Assessments→Assignment 2: Instructions, Resources and Submission.
Read the following article:
“The Largest Admitted IT Project Failure in the Southern Hemisphere: A Teaching
Case” by Rebekah Eden and Darshana Sedera. Students also are encouraged to read
related academic and practitioner material on the case study.
Drawing on the reading of the article and based on the understanding developed through
this unit (FIT3174), prepare a report addressing the assignment tasks.
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You are required to seek additional material from a variety of sources. You must specify
any sources used in the submission using appropriate referencing styles. You are required
to find information beyond the resources provided below. However, you are not required
to contact the organisation for information. You may make reasonable assumptions and
state them in the report.

Task 1 (34 marks)
Discuss how IT projects can be successfully completed with appropriate attention to IT
critical success factors, implementation issues, and IT governance.
 List and discuss at least three implementation issues that can be observed in the
Queensland Health’s payroll system failure. (12 marks)
 Discuss how this project can be a successful one with appropriate attention to IT
critical success factors. Include at least three critical success factors. You must
justify your answers using evidence from the case study or web resources.
(12 marks)
 Discuss the need for ‘Good Governance’ in this project. (10 marks)
 Suggested length: 2-3 pages

Task 2 (36 marks)
Provide an overview of how Queensland Health payroll system project failure could have
been minimised (or avoided) using the COBIT (Control Objectives for Information and
Related Technologies) five principles and enablers. Your responses should include at
least two principles and two enablers. Your discussion should demonstrate clear links
between principles and enablers.
Suggested length: 2-3 pages

Task 3 (20 marks)
Search for another well-known IT governance framework that is commonly used in
organisations and discuss the advantages of the framework, e.g. to overcome issues,
challenges, areas, etc., that are not addressed by COBIT.
Explain with examples to justify the applications of the framework in Queensland
Health’s payroll project.
Suggested length: 1-2 pages

References (5 marks)
Include at least five references and cite them in the body of your assignment report and
add full references in the bibliography (use APA6 style).

Overall presentation (5 marks)

(The End)