DIGITAL TRACEABILITY GOVERNANCE AND FOOD-RECALL READINESS: A COBIT 2019-BASED DIAGNOSIS AND 2030 SCENARIOS
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.31435/ijitss.3(51).2026.6572Keywords:
COBIT 2019, IT Governance, Food Traceability, Functional Asymmetric Maturity, Scenario Planning, AlgeriaAbstract
Food-safety incidents raise a critical governance question: how reliably can firms identify and contain contaminated products? This exploratory mixed-method single-case study examines traceability-governance readiness in AgriCo Group, an Algerian agri-food conglomerate, using COBIT 2019 as a diagnostic lens. Interviews and documentary evidence provide the primary evidence, complemented by a questionnaire (n = 32) for descriptive triangulation. The overall diagnostic score is 2.5/5, revealing marked functional asymmetry: DSS reaches 3.4/5, compared with APO at 2.1/5 and MEA at 2.3/5. This pattern supports the provisional concept of functional asymmetric maturity, whereby operational IT capabilities develop faster than strategic alignment, data ownership, and monitoring capabilities. Four readiness dimensions—data governance, operational traceability, change and integration control, and governance assurance—structure a governance roadmap and conditional scenarios to 2030. While the single-case design does not establish causal effects on food-safety outcomes, the study provides a testable framework for examining how private-sector IT governance shapes digital traceability and food-recall readiness.
References
Ahriz, S., El Yamami, A., Mansouri, K., & Qbadou, M. (2018). COBIT 5-based approach for IT project portfolio management: Application to a Moroccan university. International Journal of Advanced Computer Science and Applications, 9(4), 88–95. https://doi.org/10.14569/IJACSA.2018.090416
Akkerman, R., Farahani, P., & Grunow, M. (2010). Quality, safety and sustainability in food distribution: A review of quantitative operations management approaches and challenges. OR Spectrum, 32(4), 863–904. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00291-010-0223-2
Al-Ruithe, M., Benkhelifa, E., & Hameed, K. (2019). A systematic literature review of data governance and cloud data governance. Personal and Ubiquitous Computing, 23(5), 839–859. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00779-017-1104-3
Archer, M. S. (1995). Realist social theory: The morphogenetic approach. Cambridge University Press.
Aung, M. M., & Chang, Y. S. (2014). Traceability in a food supply chain: Safety and quality perspectives. Food Control, 39, 172–184. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodcont.2013.11.007
Axelos. (2019). ITIL Foundation: ITIL 4 edition. The Stationery Office.
Barney, J. (1991). Firm resources and sustained competitive advantage. Journal of Management, 17(1), 99–120. https://doi.org/10.1177/014920639101700108
Becker, J., Knackstedt, R., & Pöppelbuß, J. (2009). Developing maturity models for IT management. Business & Information Systems Engineering, 1(3), 213–222. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12599-009-0044-5
Beldjazia, M. (2024). L'effet de l'implémentation des ERP sur le contrôle de gestion : Cas d'entreprise Amor Benamor [Mémoire de master, École Nationale Supérieure de Management, Kolea].
Creswell, J. W., & Plano Clark, V. L. (2018). Designing and conducting mixed methods research (3rd ed.). SAGE Publications.
De Haes, S., Van Grembergen, W., Joshi, A., & Huygh, T. (2020). Enterprise governance of information technology: Achieving alignment and value in digital transformation (3rd ed.). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-25918-1
De Haes, S., Van Grembergen, W., Huygh, T., & Joshi, A. (2023). Introduction to the minitrack “IT governance and its mechanisms” (HICSS 56). Proceedings of the 56th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, 5875–5876. https://hdl.handle.net/10125/103348
Donaldson, L. (2001). The contingency theory of organizations. SAGE Publications.
European Commission. (2024). Commission publishes 2023 Annual Report on food safety alerts and agri-food fraud investigations. Directorate-General for Health and Food Safety. https://ec.europa.eu/newsroom/sante/items/847722/en
FAO. (2021). Traceability frameworks for agri-food chains: Technical guidelines. Food and Agriculture Organization. https://www.fao.org/3/cb5416en/cb5416en.pdf
Flyvbjerg, B. (2006). Five misunderstandings about case-study research. Qualitative Inquiry, 12(2), 219–245. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077800405284363
Gantman, S., & Fedorowicz, J. (2016). Communication and control in outsourced IS development projects: Mapping to COBIT domains. International Journal of Accounting Information Systems, 21, 63–83. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.accinf.2016.05.001
Gibbert, M., Ruigrok, W., & Wicki, B. (2008). What passes as a rigorous case study? Strategic Management Journal, 29(13), 1465–1474. https://doi.org/10.1002/smj.722
Havelaar, A. H., Kirk, M. D., Torgerson, P. R., Gibb, H. J., Hald, T., Lake, R. J., Praet, N., Bellinger, D. C., de Silva, N. R., Gargouri, N., Speybroeck, N., Cawthorne, A., Mathers, C., Stein, C., Angulo, F. J., & Devleesschauwer, B. (2015). World Health Organization global estimates and regional comparisons of the burden of foodborne disease in 2010. PLOS Medicine, 12(12), e1001923. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1001923
Henderson, J. C., & Venkatraman, N. (1993). Strategic alignment: Leveraging information technology for transforming organizations. IBM Systems Journal, 32(1), 4–16.
ISACA. (2018a). COBIT 2019 framework: Introduction and methodology. ISACA.
ISACA. (2018b). COBIT 2019 framework: Governance and management objectives. ISACA.
ISO 22005:2007. (2007). Traceability in the feed and food chain: General principles and basic requirements for system design and implementation. International Organization for Standardization.
ISO 38500:2015. (2015). Information technology: Governance of IT for the organization. International Organization for Standardization.
Jensen, M. C., & Meckling, W. H. (1976). Theory of the firm: Managerial behavior, agency costs and ownership structure. Journal of Financial Economics, 3(4), 305–360. https://doi.org/10.1016/0304-405X(76)90026-X
Kamble, S. S., Gunasekaran, A., & Gawankar, S. A. (2020). Achieving sustainable performance in a data-driven agriculture supply chain: A review for research and applications. International Journal of Production Economics, 219, 179–194. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpe.2019.05.022
Lunardi, G. L., Maçada, A. C. G., Becker, J. L., & Van Grembergen, W. (2017). Antecedents of IT governance effectiveness: An empirical examination in Brazilian firms. Journal of Information Systems, 31(1), 41–57. https://doi.org/10.2308/isys-51626
Miles, M. B., & Huberman, A. M. (1994). Qualitative data analysis: An expanded sourcebook (2nd ed.). SAGE Publications.
OECD. (2020). The OECD digital government policy framework: Six dimensions of a digital government (OECD Public Governance Policy Papers No. 02). OECD Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1787/f64fed2a-en
Podsakoff, P. M., MacKenzie, S. B., Lee, J. Y., & Podsakoff, N. P. (2003). Common method biases in behavioral research: A critical review of the literature and recommended remedies. Journal of Applied Psychology, 88(5), 879–903. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.88.5.879
Pournader, M., Ghaderi, H., Hassanzadegan, A., & Fahimnia, B. (2021). Artificial intelligence applications in supply chain management. International Journal of Production Economics, 241, Article 108250. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpe.2021.108250
Soomro, Z. A., Shah, M. H., & Ahmed, J. (2016). Information security management needs more holistic approach: A review of issues and challenges. International Journal of Information Management, 36(2), 215–225. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijinfomgt.2015.11.011
Tiwana, A., & Kim, S. K. (2015). Discriminating IT governance. Information Systems Research, 26(4), 656–674. https://doi.org/10.1287/isre.2015.0591
World Health Organization. (2015). WHO estimates of the global burden of foodborne diseases: Foodborne disease burden epidemiology reference group 2007–2015. https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789241565165
Weill, P., & Ross, J. W. (2004). IT governance: How top performers manage IT decision rights for superior results. Harvard Business School Press.
Yin, R. K. (2014). Case study research: Design and methods (5th ed.). SAGE Publications.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Lynda Douas

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
All articles are published in open-access and licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0). Hence, authors retain copyright to the content of the articles.
CC BY 4.0 License allows content to be copied, adapted, displayed, distributed, re-published or otherwise re-used for any purpose including for adaptation and commercial use provided the content is attributed.

