Exploring the Research Domain of IT Governance in the SME Context

Abstract

This research aims to explore the research domain of IT governance in the SME context. To meet this objective, a small systematic literature review procedure is used. Results indicate that IT governance in the SME context has been researched previously, albeit not extensively. There seems to be consensus among authors that IT governance is important for SMEs as well as larger organizations. Additionally, many authors indicate that SME specificities will likely influence the nature and implementation of IT governance in the SME context. There also appears to be no great variety in research strategies used in this niche research domain. Regarding the contemporary state of IT governance in SMEs, authors seem to indicate that there is room for improvement. Finally, there is no published framework for IT governance that is tailored for SMEs, although the need for this is directly reported in the literature. This paper concludes by discussing some potential directions for future research, starting from the state-of-the-art of the research domain.