The Impact of IT Material Weaknesses on Corporate Governance Discussant Comments Elaine Mauldin Elaine Mauldin University of Missouri

My Agenda Help the authors sharpen their manuscript Help readers sharpen their understanding of the issues

The Major Findings IT MW, compared to non IT MW, –Are associated with higher turnover of CEO, CFO, and Directors –Are more likely to seek out higher IT knowledgeable replacements –Are more likely to upgrade financial reporting IT –With CFO or Director turnover, remediate more timely

The Potential Sharpening Points: 1.Motivation & Focus 2.Data Classification Schemes 3.Some Added Data Analyses

Sharpening the Motivation & Focus Challenge – are “IT” weaknesses really different? Prior Literature –Negative events (e.g. Desai et al. 06) –MW (e.g. Johnstone et al. 2010)

Sharpening the Motivation & Focus A suggested focus –Importance of IT governance for controls –Importance of IT knowledge and ability vis a vis Accounting and Finance Knowledge

Sharpening Data Classification Schemes IT vs non IT weaknesses? IT detail classifications? IT knowledge? IT upgrade?

Sharpening by Some Added Data Analyses Base comparison –Non IT weakness, but also –Non weakness Sub-sets –High Institutional –High Analyst

Conclusions Interesting study! I hope my comments help the authors sharpen the paper’s focus and the readers sharpen their understanding.