DIT 8214 Week 10 Discussion 2

Student name

Capella University

DIT-8214

Professor Name

Submission Date 

At the time Cheryl Smith joined WestJet, her initial review indicated that there were various structural and operational IT issues that were constraining the company from meeting its expanding strategic objectives. In spite of its success and innovation in the initial years, WestJet’s IT organization had developed reactively in response to the business, but not by design. Smith discovered that the systems were half industry standard, the staffing levels were not commensurate with skills requirements, the IT plan was disjointed, and the business did not have a clear view of project status. Furthermore, the data center was built too near a runway that was in operation, and this would have been a critical liability to operations. The IT was culturally a reactive and not a strategic operation (WestJet Case, p. 5). IT governance is important in these settings as it helps eliminate fragmentation due to the mismatch between technology decisions and business goals and reinforces the overall enterprise strategy (Theseira, 2024). These problems were examples that, in its existing state, IT was not in a position to assist WestJet to achieve its next tier of digital maturity.

Significant transformations were necessary since the corporate strategy of WestJet relied more on technology to provide excellent guest experiences, increase international relationships, and enhance new digital self-service options. Smith felt that a change in governance model to business-facing, one whereby IT personnel were relocated to business units, would enhance the responsiveness and alignment. Such a structure would enable IT to learn the business priorities further, bring transparency, and contribute to the creation of greater strategic value. The governance redesign was also meant to address the frustrations among the business leaders who believed that IT was acting in a vacuum and was not accountable. The enhancement of the IT-business partnership is a growing trend in research as one of the primary drivers of better value delivery, innovations, and risk avoidance (Moreno et al., 2024). Through the establishment of business unit CIOs (BU-CIOs), Smith would be able to integrate IT into the strategic decision-making process as opposed to making IT an isolated support unit.

Smith did not support the proposal to start a PMO as the most crucial solution since it would have created another administrative level when the structural issues should have been resolved. A PMO would not have solved visibility issues, cultural differences, priorities, and the absence of accountability between the IT and business units.

The implication of the model of governance that Smith proposed to the CIO and the role of the BU-CIO were important. The CIO would also serve as a business-wide leader of the enterprise that would align units and ensure that the business has a single infrastructure. BU-CIOs required knowledge of business, communication, and technical translation of strategic goals into the technical implementation of this strategy. They were also effective to the extent that they could be real partners capable of shaping business strategy without being slack on delivery.

In the case of executive vice presidents and leaders of business units, the new model demanded better prioritization, more intensive cooperation with IT, and readiness to share technology-driven opportunities. This shift often required overcoming initial resistance from leaders accustomed to traditional, siloed decision-making. They had to take to the table not only operational knowledge but also a strategic orientation to enable IT provide high-value capabilities. Finally, this system of governance put WestJet in a better position to utilize IT to gain a competitive advantage and grow long-term.