Introduction to IT/Project Management Minitrack

Abstract

This mini-track focuses on several areas of IT and project management that are of interest to academics and practitioners: Managing in a multidisciplinary and global technical team environment; using IT-based project management tools and techniques effectively; identifying emerging tools and techniques for managing information system projects; leading and managing teams in technology based project organizations, and with internal and external project stakeholders. The nine papers this year reflect these diverse interests: In the first paper (Celebrating IT Project Success) Paul Bannerman and Alan Thorogood discuss a multi-domain framework for defining IT project success. The second paper (Comparing risks in individual software development and standard software implementation projects), by Stefan Hoermann, Marco Aust, Michael Schermann, and Helmut Krcmar, explores differences in risk profiles across IS projects using a Delphi study at a German-based financial services company. The third paper (SCRUM Project Architecture and Thriving Systems Theory) by Leslie Waguespack and William Schiano, describe Thriving Systems Theory that explains the appeal of project structure and processes converging in the agile methodologies. The fourth paper (The role of objects in the coordination of knowledge-intensive projects: A study of computer games development) by Harry Scarbrough, Niki Panourgias, and Joe Nandhakumar, is an empirical study of project work in the computer games sector that explores the role played by milestone schedules. The fifth paper (The Emergence of Information Infrastructure Risk Management in IT Services) by Lars Ronnback, Nils-Petter Augustsson, Jonny Holmstrom, and Lars Mathiassen) explores how risk management practices in a successful IT service provider group emerged over time. The sixth paper (Determinants of user involvement in software projects) by Rahul Thakurta and Rahul Roy) presents survey results of factors that influence users’ involvement during a custom software development project. The seventh paper (Humanizing User Influence Tactics in the Quest to Reduce Resistance Against IT Project Management Methodology Use) by Kunal Mohan, Frederik Ahlemann, and Anol Bhattacherjee, uses needs theory to address the need for an abstract taxonomy to reduce complexity and to motivate individuals to use a methodology. The eighth paper (Institutionalization Embedded Rationality, and the Escalation of Commitment to IT Projects) by Kenneth J. Park and Nicholas Berente argues that commitment, using the institutional perspective, is the norm associated with failed IT projects once an IT project is institutionalized. The ninth paper (Investigating the Interactive Effect of Control in Information Systems Development Projects) by Ravi Narayanswamy and Aiken Raymond Henry found that formal controls have direct effect on project performance, informal controls do not, yet informal controls augment the impact of formal controls on project performance. 2012 45th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences