Navigating the Organization to Ensure Data Governance - Data Governance: Creating Value from Information Assets - page 36

transition and good data governance practices. A proactive change man-
agement plan, e.g., cross-training personnel, minimizes the risks associ-
ated with change. Being prepared for the unexpected ensures a successful
data governance process.
ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE AND
ITS IMPACT ON DATA GOVERNANCE
Data governance is a dynamic, adaptive, and complex system that should
be viewed as an organic whole, which includes people, technologies, rules,
and relationships to support the information needs in the organization.
Organizational culture plays a large part in the success of a data gov-
ernance plan. Organizations with a culture of openness, sharing, and
exchanging information within and beyond the organization (as appro-
priate) understand the importance of data and information and are sup-
portive of data governance policies. It is regarded as the norm and is
supported and rewarded.
Commitment by all stakeholders of the data governance program and
their continuing involvement is essential for a data governance program
to succeed. Organizations that empower their employees, valuing initia-
tive, encouraging employees to take responsibility for advancing organi-
zational objectives, and providing people with the information resources
to act, contribute to effective data governance.
The culture of the organization should be considered when setting
expectations and plotting the course of progress for data governance. With
data governance, a measure of structure is added where needed. In highly
collaborative environments where decision making is drawn out, a level of
rigor is added by introducing decision-making protocol in the organization.
Culture of Accountability
Data governance changes how an organization views its data. It involves
a cultural shift away from thinking about data as a commodity toward
thinking of data as one of the organization's most valuable assets, and
creating an organizational mindset of accountability.
For data governance to be implemented successfully, the entire enter-
prise must be willing to be accountable for data governance success.