COBIT-Design-and-Implementation Exam Dumps - Isaca COBIT Questions and Answers

The COBIT® 2019 Design Guide describes the COBIT goals cascade as the mechanism for translating enterprise goals into governance and management objectives. The guide clearly states that this translation must begin with prioritized enterprise goals, not generic or selective lists.

Prioritization ensures that governance design focuses on what matters most to the enterprise, given its strategy, risk profile, and context. Without prioritization, governance systems risk becoming overly broad, complex, or misaligned with business value.

Generic enterprise goals represent the full COBIT catalog and are not specific enough to guide design decisions. Risk-based goals are an important input but do not replace enterprise-wide prioritization. Selective goals lack formal weighting and may omit critical dependencies.

By starting with prioritized enterprise goals, the governance designer can systematically identify relevant alignment goals and then map them to governance and management objectives. This structured approach is explicitly recommended in COBIT 2019 and ensures traceability, focus, and value-driven governance design.

The COBIT 2019 Implementation Guide stresses:

"Management must continue to communicate the benefits and need for governance to sustain support and ensure long-term success."

Sustained communication helps embed governance practices into the culture of the organization.

In COBIT 2019, the difference between the Risk Profile design factor and the I&T-Related Issues design factor is that IT risk scenarios describe potential events that could impact the organization in the future, while IT issues describe current events or situations affecting the organization.

References in COBIT 2019 Design and Implementation:

COBIT 2019 Design Guide, Chapter 2:This chapter outlines the various design factors, including the risk profile and I&T-related issues, and explains their distinctions. Risk scenarios are used to anticipate and plan for future risks, while I&T-related issues address present challenges impacting the enterprise.

By distinguishing between future risks and current issues, enterprises can better plan and prioritize their governance and management activities to address both immediate and potential challenges.

“Boards and executive management seek independent advice and opinions regarding critical I&T functions and services.”

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COBIT 2019 identifies governance system components, which include processes, organizational structures, policies and procedures, information flows, culture, ethics and behavior, skills, and infrastructure.

"Governance system components are the elements required to build and sustain a governance system. Examples include the risk register, policies, organizational structures, etc."

The risk register is a specific component that provides information used in governance processes.

An enterprise should consider the implementation of a strong compliance function as part of their governance system when it is subject to substantially higher than average compliance regulations because it is operating in a heavily regulated industry sector.

In COBIT 2019, the need for a strong compliance function is influenced by the regulatory environment in which the enterprise operates. Enterprises in heavily regulated industries face stringent compliance requirements and significant consequences for non-compliance. Therefore, a robust compliance function is essential to ensure adherence to regulations and to mitigate compliance-related risks.

COBIT 2019 Framework References:

COBIT 2019 Framework: Introduction and Methodology, Chapter 5:Discusses the importance of compliance requirements as a design factor in tailoring the governance system.

COBIT 2019 Design Guide, Chapter 2:Highlights the role of compliance and assurance capabilities in highly regulated industries.

Implementing a strong compliance function in such scenarios helps the enterprise manage regulatory risks, maintain compliance, and avoid legal and financial penalties.

COBIT® 2019 explicitly acknowledges that design factors may produce conflicting priorities. The Design Guide dedicates a specific step to resolving inherent priority conflicts, emphasizing that governance design is not a mechanical process but a judgment-based activity.

The guide states that enterprises must be willing to reassess and adjust priorities when conflicts arise, provided there are clearly justified and documented reasons. This flexibility ensures that the final governance system remains realistic, balanced, and aligned with enterprise context.

Deferring decisions entirely to executive management bypasses structured design logic. The workflow does not provide universal answers for conflicts, and not all steps must be applied rigidly in every situation.

Therefore, the key consideration is the willingness to deviate from earlier priorities when justified, ensuring that governance design remains practical and effective.

The COBIT 2019 framework aligns enterprise goals with balanced scorecard (BSC) dimensions. Under thegrowth and innovationBSC perspective, one of the core enterprise goals listed is:

"Product and business innovation" – which directly supports strategic growth by encouraging new products, services, and ways of operating.

This goal aligns with an enterprise that is expanding and looking to leverage innovation to sustain growth. Other options like risk management or cost optimization fit different BSC dimensions (e.g., financial, internal process).

The COBIT 2019 Design Guide defines the "Role of IT" design factor, including the value “Strategic”:

"If the role of IT is strategic, it means that IT is critical to the enterprise's business strategy, directly influencing its success."

Given that technology is critical to achieving the business strategy, the role of IT as "Strategic" is the most appropriate selection.

According to COBIT 2019’s industry context insights:

"Nonprofit organizations typically operate under fewer regulatory constraints compared to heavily regulated sectors like finance or healthcare. However, they are highly cost-sensitive due to budget limitations and donor expectations."

This combination makes nonprofits focused on cost-efficiency and operational value delivery, rather than regulatory compliance. In contrast, financial and healthcare sectors are bound by strict regulatory obligations and compliance oversight.