Beyond the Generalist

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to adapt a causal modelling approach to investigate the organisational collaboration and information technology (IT) project management issues concerning the planning and adoption of inter‐organisational IT systems across NHS hospital pathology departments.Design/methodology/approachThe researchers adopted an interpretive research approach utilising qualitative methods and in particular template analysis. Themes and categories were initially derived from a review of the literature based on critical success factors from enterprise resource planning (ERP) projects.FindingsA causal loop modelling approach was adapted to define key linkages between success factors. This highlighted virtuous and vicious cycles associated with IT project management and team collaboration – influencing the adoption process of large‐scale integrated IT systems.Research limitations/implicationsSingle case studies can be problematic in terms of generalising from the research. The study had a limited number of interview participants due to the focus on strategic management. Future studies could extend the number of stakeholders involved and also focus on end‐users of services, such as clinicians in primary care.Practical implicationsThe discussion and conclusions assess the appropriateness and utility of using a causal modelling approach, and an adapted causal loop model, to inform more effective approaches to IT planning, project management, team collaboration and adoption of integrated systems.Social implicationsThe findings indicate that a more enhanced understanding of project team collaboration involving technical, administrative and clinical stakeholders has the potential to inform more effective strategies for modernisation of hospital clinical services such as pathology.Originality/valueThis study investigates the anatomy of a high‐profile IT project under the umbrella of strategic modernisation of health services. Privileged access to key stakeholders has enabled the development of a causal model for IT project collaboration and management. This will form the basis for further development of more refined models to enhance project outcomes in the future.

In the dynamic landscape of Information Technology (IT) Project Management, the efficient utilization of resources and the timely execution of tasks are critical for successful project outcomes. The objective of this study is to explore the application of Robotic Process Automation (RPA) in the realm of IT project management, specifically focusing on leveraging Jira automation for software implementations. By automating repetitive tasks and workflows within the Jira platform, IT teams can streamline processes, reduce manual intervention, and enhance productivity. This study is relevant as it investigates implementation strategies associated with integrating RPA into Jira for IT project management. Drawing from industry insights on how methodologies are applied for project development, the research underscores the potential of Jira automation in optimizing the project workflows. Additionally, several scenarios, potential automation candidates, are discussed, and automated workflows are suggested in order to improve team collaboration and accelerate project delivery. Ultimately, this article aims to enhance efficiency and effectiveness in IT project management through the strategic deployment of Jira automation powered by RPA technologies.

In this study, we deploy a rank-order Delphi survey of factors impacting the information technology (IT) project management capability. We first develop a conceptual model based on the theory of dynamic capabilities that positions IT project management as a dynamic capability enabling the IT capabilities of an organization. In our conceptual model, the IT project management maturity level is identified as one antecedent factor that influences the IT project management capability. The objective of this Delphi study is to identify additional factors beyond the scope of most project management maturity models that influence the IT project management capability. The results of this study provide the foundation for future testing and validation of the conceptual model.

This article examines the leadership practices utilized by information technology (IT) project managers that contribute to project success. Specifically, technical and nontechnical leadership practices are contrasted. The importance of nontechnical leadership practices in IT project management has been largely ignored in research until recently. The article identifies key nontechnical leadership practices that are important for the success of IT projects. The article is based on a qualitative study that gathered data from actual IT projects conducted at U.S. companies across several different industry segments. Study results are analyzed to determine the relevance and value of Heifetz's adaptive leadership framework to the area of IT project management. Study findings indicate that nontechnical leadership practices are important to the success of IT projects. Findings also indicate that Heifetz's adaptive leadership framework is consistent with the key nontechnical leadership practices that are important for the success of IT projects. A framework for the development of IT project managers is also proposed.

This research focuses on information technology (IT) project managers' growth mindset concerning IT project management (PM) ability and investigates how such a mindset can promote escalation of commitment to a troubled IT project. Specifically, we suggest that the growth mindset of IT PM ability promotes prospective achievement motivation and can lead IT project managers to escalate their commitment to an IT project despite negative feedback suggesting that the project may not be completed successfully. Through a series of three experiments with 351 IT project managers, we obtained consistent support for our hypotheses suggesting that the growth mindset of IT PM ability promotes IT project escalation and this effect is partially mediated by anticipated regret about project failure and anticipated likelihood of project success. In addition, in the three experiments we found that when the project involves an unfamiliar technology the indirect effect of the growth mindset of IT PM ability through anticipated likelihood of project success is stronger than when the project involves a familiar technology.

Compared with other projects, information technology (IT) projects are unique, which are characterized by emergency, uniqueness, one shot, short term and uncertainty. To implement an IT project successfully, problems in the IT project management must be found, analyzed and solved and there must be successful project management and management innovation as well. Then, what are the major problems in IT project management? Who can conduct IT project management successfully? How to conduct IT project management successfully? How to innovate IT project management? This paper discusses all these questions. And on the basis of the above, it also draws the following conclusion: The project managers play a key role in both implementing and controlling stages of IT projects. The project managers should regard IT project management as a system, deal with various relationships with the parties concerned in the system well, and conduct management innovation. By adequate communication channels, the project managers should communicate with all the stakeholders, i.e. the factors in the system, including the client, the management, and the team members to know their requirements, needs and the problems respectively. Only by so doing, can they give satisfactory responsiveness to the client, get support from the management, lead and control the team outstandingly, and make the team work efficiently. While by management innovation, the project managers can make all the factors in their management system interact effectively and efficiently with each other to create a synergy effect. Only by so doing, can the IT project management be successful, and finally, can the IT projects be implemented successfully.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper was to discover the best practices used by information technology (IT) project managers to determine what leadership skills, behaviors, communication tools and techniques are needed to lead and communicate effectively with virtual IT project teams.Design/methodology/approachIn this qualitative case study, data was gathered by semistructured interviews from ten successful IT project managers from Northern California who had more than ten years of experience managing virtual teams (VTs) with growing and profitable IT companies in Silicon Valley, California.FindingsIT project managers and leaders may consider building personal relationships with team members at the beginning of each project to foster a sense of camaraderie and common ground for the successful outcome and desired results. Maintaining cohesive team relationships to gain their trust and confidence may require additional coaching, mentoring, collaborating, recognizing their accomplishments, providing technical training, and understanding different cultures and local laws that relate to VTs to manage projects successfully to move projects forward in sustaining business, and assure customer satisfaction.Originality/valueFindings from this study may assist IT project managers and leaders in building trust and rapport, increasing efficiency and developing effective lines of communication within their virtual IT teams.

This research explores information technology (IT) project managers’ reuse of knowledge associated with soft skills when managing user expectations. Through interviews with IT project managers, several themes emerged: novelty of problems, conditions within the organization, types of available knowledge, and methods for reusing knowledge. Within this study, we discovered the need for additional research on how social norms and organizational conditions encourage or inhibit knowledge reuse. Furthermore, we identified a difference in the usefulness of knowledge captured in formal repositories according to levels of project management experience. The findings confirm, extend, and illuminate the current research associated with knowledge reuse in IT project management.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to highlight the main findings of a successfully defended doctoral thesis that studied factors or interventions causing the discrepancy between how adequate project risks should be managed and how project risks are actually managed.Design/methodology/approachThe approach involved interviews and a survey using questionnaires gathered data from project managers about their experiences with project risk management during two phases of fieldwork. The first phase included in‐depth interviews with information technology (IT) project managers in order to explore patterns involving risk mediators and their influence on project risk management. A web‐based survey was used in the second phase for the purpose of testing these patterns on a wider range of project managers.FindingsSpecific risk‐related interventions strongly influence the effective use of project risk management: project managers tended to deny, avoid, ignore risks and to delay the management of risk. Risks were perceived as discomforting, not agreed upon. IT project managers were unaware of risks and considered them to be outside their scope of influence and preferred to let risks resolve themselves rather than proactively engaging with them. As a consequence, factors such as the lack of awareness of risks by IT project managers appeared to constrain the application of project risk management with the result that risk had an adverse influence on the outcome of IT projects.Practical implicationsThe underlying rational assumptions of project risk management and the usefulness of best practice project risk management standards as a whole need to be questioned because of the occurrence of interventions such as the lack of information. IT project managers should first prevent risk‐related interventions from influencing the use of project risk management. However, if this is not possible, they should be prepared to adapt to risks influencing the project outcome.Originality/valueThe paper contradicts the myth of a “self‐evidently” correct project risk management approach. It defines interventions that constrain project manager's ability to manage project risk.

In today's competitive business landscape, sustainability has become a crucial element of strategic and competitive advantage, particularly in the management of IT projects. As organizations increasingly acknowledge the importance of sustainable development, it is essential to understand the factors that drive the incorporation of sustainability into project management practices. This research paper aims to explore the key factors influencing the adoption of sustainability practices in information technology (IT) project management. It seeks to provide insights into the drivers of integrating sustainability into project management. The study investigates the various factors that influence sustainability in IT project management and examines the barriers to its adoption. It employs a combination of literature review, and data analysis to identify the primary drivers and obstacles. The findings reveal key factors influencing sustainability practices in IT project management, including organizational culture, stakeholder pressure, regulatory requirements, and long-term cost efficiency. The barriers identified include lack of awareness, resistance to change, and limited resources.

Many systems that comprise our critical infrastructures – including electricity, transportation, healthcare, and financial systems – are designed and deployed as information technology (IT) projects using project management practices. IT projects provide a one-time opportunity to securely cybersecurity to the IT components of critical infrastructures. The project management maturity models used by organizations today to assess the quality and rigour of IT project management practices do not explicitly consider cybersecurity. This article makes three contributions to address this gap. First, it develops the argument that cybersecurity can and should be a concern of IT project managers and assessed in the same way as other project management capabilities. Second, it examines three widely used cybersecurity maturity models – i) the National Institute of Science and Technology (NIST) framework for improving critical infrastructure cybersecurity, ii) the United States Department of Energy’s Cybersecurity Capability Maturity Model (C2M2), and iii) the CERT Resilience Management Model (CERT RMM) from the Carnegie Mellon Software Engineering Institute – to identify six cybersecurity themes that are salient to IT project management. Third, it proposes a set of cybersecurity extensions to PjM3, a widely-deployed project management maturity model. The extensions take the form of a five-level cybersecurity capability perspective that augments the seven standard perspectives of the PjM3 by explicitly assessing project management capabilities that impact the six themes where IT project management and cybersecurity intersect. This article will be relevant to IT project managers, the top management teams of organizations that design and deploy IT systems for critical infrastructures, and managers at organizations that provide and maintain critical infrastructures. The challenge in the digital economy is that no chain is stronger than its weakest link.

In this research, we focused on one of the core issues associated with Information Technology (IT) project management, namely the tendency to inadequately manage project risks. Project managers (PMs) surely must know by now that risks can derail projects and that tools and techniques are available to support the risk management process. Why, then, do many PMs seem unable or unwilling to adequately manage project risks? We believe that answering this fundamental question requires gaining a better understanding of how PMs construe risks. To gain this understanding, we examined key activities associated with the risk management process from a CLT perspective to determine the impact of construal on the judgment and decision-making of IT PMs when it comes to managing IT project risks. We found that IT PMs with a concrete mental construal (1) identify a greater number of project risks; (2) perceive a greater potential impact of project risks; (3) perceive that more effort and resources are required for risk management; and (4) are less willing to enact risk responses than IT PMs with an abstract mental construal. We demonstrate that IT PMs’ mental construal can affect activities that are important to risk management.

This study investigates the emphasis placed on different managerial roles of information technology (IT) executives and IT project managers. Six managerial roles from Mintzberg's classic role model were applied ire this research: resource allocator, leader; spokesman, monitor; liaison, and entrepreneur. Two surveys were conducted ire Norway in 2000/2001 to investigate the management roles. The first survey, which focused on IT executives, obtained 128 usable responses, representing a response rate of 19 percent. Respondents emphasized the spokesman role significantly more than other managerial roles. The second survey, which focused on IT project managers, obtained 80 usable responses, representing a response rate of 14 percent. Respondents emphasized the leader role significantly more than other managerial roles. A comparison of IT executives and IT project managers found significant differences in four out of six managerial roles. IT executives emphasize the monitor role significantly more than IT project managers, while IT project managers emphasize the leader; resource allocator and entrepreneur roles significantly more than IT executives. The study found evidence that IT executives are more externally oriented than IT project managers, and that IT project managers are more internally oriented than IT executives.

This study investigates the emphasis placed on different managerial roles by information technology (IT) executives and IT project managers. Six managerial roles from Mintzberg's classic role model were applied in this research: leader, resource allocator, spokesman, entrepreneur, liaison, and monitor. Two surveys were conducted in Norway in 2000/2001 to investigate the management roles. In the first survey, which focused on IT executives, the respondents emphasized the entrepreneur role significantly more than other managerial roles. In the second survey, which focused on IT project managers, the respondents emphasized the leader role significantly more than other managerial roles. A comparison of IT executives and IT project managers found significant differences in four out of six managerial roles. IT executives emphasize the monitor role significantly more than IT project managers, while IT project managers emphasize the leader, resource allocator, and entrepreneur roles significantly more than IT executives. The empirical results found evidence that IT executives are more externally oriented than IT project managers. The study encourages both IT executives and IT project managers to be more externally oriented to meet future challenges.

A theoretical model of information technology (IT) project management was formulated based on the results of previous studies incorporating transactional and transformational leadership styles, team diversity, and team culture as determinants of team processes and project outcomes. The study addresses the lack of previous studies of IT projects and is concerned with infrastructure and software projects conducted in cross‐functional environments with co‐located teams in the context of Thailand. The model was tested and developed to a final model using data collected from a sample of 219 professionals with experience in IT projects in Thailand. The results confirmed several reported effects of leadership styles, team diversity, and culture on team cooperation, cohesion, and conflict and their subsequent effects on performance and psychosocial project outcomes. The findings highlighted results not commonly reported in previous studies of IT project management concerning the role of dominant cultural characteristics of Thai society at the level project teams as well as important direct effects of leadership styles and aspects of team diversity on performance and psychosocial outcomes. Based on the findings practical recommendations for improving IT project outcomes are presented.