Governance is indeed the key.
That is a good review of the IT/Business relationships and the point is well made that it requires good business driven IT governance to work in the third case.
IT governance can't exist in a vacuum. For good IT governance there must be good business governance - the two are intimately interlinked.
So there is an easy way to answer your question in the case of these two companies. Do they show, for example, in their annual report, evidence of good governance? Do they show a move towards greater transparency, openness, responsiveness to stakeholders and is this move backed up by genuine evidence or just window dressing?
If there is no such move, or if it is evidently just window dressing, then they are moving backwards and getting rid of the IT director is a negative step.
If there is such a move and sound evidence of good governance, then it may well be a positive move.