ISYS90038 IS Strategy and Governance
The Complete Exam Bible · S2 2026ISYS90038 Overview
- University of Melbourne
- Graduate coursework
- Semester 2, 2026
- Closed-book case exam
- Team governance plan
ISYS90038 IS Strategy and Governance is a University of Melbourne graduate coursework subject on aligning information and communication technology with business strategy and governing its use.
- Assessed by Tutorials, a three-part team report and a closed-book case exam
- Hardest step Citing case evidence by page and line for every claim
- Revision move Rehearse each framework on an unseen organisation under time
How ISYS90038 is assessed
| Component | Weight | Format |
|---|---|---|
| Tutorial Engagement · hurdle | 10% | A mark above zero in 8 or more of the 11 tutorials, counting Miro boards and discussion; a tutorial counts only with a mark above zero, and the top 8 marks count |
| Assignment 1a: Current Strategy | 10% | Team report (5 to 6 members) to the end of Section 2; about 500 words per student; due Week 5 |
| Assignment 1b: Current Governance | 20% | Team report to the end of Section 3, including key gaps; a further 1,000 words per student; due Week 10 |
| Assignment 1c: Final Completed Report | 20% | Proposed ICT governance plan, references and appendices; the final 1,000 words per student; due Week 12 |
| Project planning: Gantt chart and work breakdown · hurdle | 0% | Submitted with each part in Weeks 5, 10 and 12; must reach a passing standard |
| Individual reflection · hurdle | 0% | About 300 words on the group assignment, due Week 12 |
| Written exam · hurdle | 40% | Closed book, on campus, typed on the LMS Quiz platform; 30 minutes reading and 3 hours writing; unseen printed case; at least 20 out of 40 required to pass the subject |
Weights follow the University of Melbourne Handbook 2026 assessment page, which matches the subject's assessment overview on every graded weight. The Handbook also states the exam hurdle of at least 20 out of 40; the subject's own overview table lists the exam without that wording, so treat the Handbook as the official record. The subject structure calls the exam a 3 hour paper and the current exam page gives 30 minutes of reading plus 3 hours of writing, three hours and 30 minutes in total.
What ISYS90038 covers
Follow the subject from strategy and IT value through planning and metrics into COBIT, ITIL, the operating model, the arrangements matrix, governance design and maturity.
An Introduction to Strategy
Week 1. Mintzberg's five Ps and deliberate versus emergent strategy, Porter's competitive advantage and five forces, and Lafley and Martin's cascade of choices, read side by side on one case.02The IT Value Proposition
Week 2. Why IT value is subjective, McKinsey on IT's future role, Peppard's IT island, the W effect in value realisation, and the five principles for delivering value, with the Hefty Hardware case.03Delivering Business Value through IT Strategy
Week 3. Business and IT strategy as one, the role and DNA of the CIO, the four critical success factors, the five dimensions of IT strategy initiatives and a responsive strategy process.04Making IT Count: Planning and IT Metrics
Week 4. Why IT value resists measurement, three tiers of IT metrics, the balanced scorecard, the strategic planning document, and SWOT, PEST, value chain and five forces as planning tools.05Introduction to Governance
Week 5. Corporate governance, the board and the senior executive team, governance versus management, governance and operational policies, and what makes governance good.06ICT Governance Frameworks: COBIT and ITIL
Week 6. COBIT 2019 domains, objectives, components and goals cascade; ITIL 4's service value system, four dimensions, guiding principles and practices; and how to choose between them.07Operating Model and ICT Governance Arrangements
Week 7. ICT governance within corporate governance, the four operating models, and the governance arrangements matrix of decision types and archetypes such as the federal model.08The Governance Design Framework
Week 8. The six boxes of the Governance Design Framework, how arrangements, mechanisms and metrics must cohere, and the questions to consider when implementing governance.09ICT Governance Maturity
Week 9. COBIT 2019 capability and maturity levels, the ITIL maturity model, the weakest-link logic behind both, and Luftman's strategic alignment maturity criteria.10ICT Governance Design Methodology
Week 10. What top governance performers do, designing governance step by step, and the phased ICT governance methodology of Clementi and Carvalho.11Governance and Strategy Integration
Week 11. Linking strategy to governance, formal systems and key decisions, governance planning, and strategic thinking as distinct from strategic planning.Weeks 1 to 4 cover strategy: three perspectives on what strategy is, the IT value proposition, the link between business and IT strategy, and the planning and measurement tools that make IT count.
Weeks 5 to 11 cover governance: corporate governance, COBIT 2019 and ITIL 4, the operating model and the governance arrangements matrix, the Governance Design Framework, maturity, a design methodology and the integration of strategy with governance.
Assessment combines tutorial engagement (10%), a three-part team assignment that builds an ICT governance plan for a real organisation (10%, 20% and 20%), and a closed-book written exam worth 40%.
The exam gives you an unseen case on the day, with 30 minutes of reading time and three hours of writing, and the practice paper has 7 questions. The 2026 Handbook lists four hurdles, including a minimum of 20 out of 40 on the exam. Every answer is expected to apply a framework from the subject and cite the case by page and line.
Worked example · free
Classify a decision right with the governance arrangements matrix
- 1Name the decision type: this is IT investment and prioritisation, because the Board decides which digital projects receive funding.
- 1Identify who holds the right: an executive chair plus representatives of every operating division and the CFO decide together (P6, L12-15).
- 1Match the archetype: C-level executives deciding jointly with business representatives from all operating groups is the federal model.
- 1Rule out the nearest alternative: the CIO is absent, so this is not an IT duopoly, and the escalation of large projects to the executive team (P6, L18) adds a business monarchy check above the threshold.
Key terms
- Emergent strategy
- A strategy that forms from a pattern of actions over time rather than from a plan written in advance; Mintzberg and Waters contrast it with deliberate strategy.
- IT value proposition
- Whether an organisation is able to use IT to its best advantage, including the quality of the relationship between the business and IT.
- Balanced scorecard
- A tool for managing how strategy performs, setting the financial view beside learning and growth, internal business process and customer perspectives.
- IT governance
- The framework of decision rights and accountabilities that encourages desirable behaviour in the use of IT, as distinct from the day-to-day management of IT.
- COBIT 2019
- ISACA's governance and management framework for enterprise information and technology, organised into governance and management objectives across five domains.
- ITIL 4
- A service management framework built around the service value system, in which practices and the service value chain turn demand into value.
- Operating model
- The level of business process integration and standardisation an organisation needs, giving four types: diversification, coordination, replication and unification.
- Federal model
- A governance archetype in which senior executives decide jointly with representatives drawn from every operating group; IT may or may not take part.
- Maturity level
- A rating of how well established a governance capability or system is; in this subject's frameworks the overall level is set by the weakest area, not an average.
ISYS90038 FAQ
What is the final exam like?
It is a closed-book, on-campus exam typed on the LMS Quiz platform, with a printed case study handed out on the day. You get 30 minutes of reading time and three hours of writing time, and the practice paper contains 7 questions, a mix of short and longer answers that apply subject frameworks to the case.
Is there a minimum mark on the exam?
Yes. The 2026 Handbook lists a hurdle: you must score at least 20 out of 40 on the exam to pass the subject. The subject's own assessment table does not repeat that wording, so treat the Handbook as the official record and plan to pass the exam on its own merits.
How are the assessment weights split?
Tutorial engagement is worth 10%, the three parts of the team assignment are worth 10%, 20% and 20%, and the written exam is worth 40%. The Gantt chart with work breakdown and the individual reflection carry no marks but are hurdles.
How many tutorials do I need to attend?
At least 8 of the 11 tutorials must carry a qualifying mark, and a tutorial only counts when you receive a mark above zero for it. If you engage in all 11, your best 8 marks make up the engagement mark out of 10.
How should I cite the case in exam answers?
Give a page and line reference such as (P4, L30-32) for every piece of evidence, adding the table number when the evidence sits in a table. Markers require the reference itself; a few words of context help, but copying the case wording is unnecessary.
Should I choose COBIT or ITIL in an answer?
Either can earn full marks when the choice is justified with evidence from the case. The sample solution treats both as defensible; what matters is giving reasons tied to the organisation and naming a practice or objective from the framework you picked.
What does the governance arrangements matrix show?
It records who holds the decision rights for each type of IT decision, using archetypes such as business monarchy, IT duopoly and the federal model. Exam questions ask you to classify a decision from case evidence and judge whether that arrangement works.
How to study for the exam
Build a one-page card for each framework: what it is for, its parts, the evidence it needs, and one trap. Then practise on cases you have not seen, because the exam case is unseen. Use the released practice case under timed conditions: 30 minutes of reading with a highlighter, about an hour of closer reading and notes, then two hours of answers.
In every answer name the concept, cite the page and line, and explain what the evidence means for the organisation. Weight your revision by the paper: the Week 9 session described three strategy questions worth about 17 marks and four governance questions worth about 23. Revisit your tutorial and Miro work, since many exam questions resemble tutorial tasks.
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