Abstract
Complexity has emerged as the new norm in the 21st century, and IS projects play a significant role in organisations to address various socio-political concerns. The purpose of this paper is to understand what are the relevant constructs for measuring IS project complexity. A model for measuring IS project complexity is developed using PLS-SEM. The model reveals that organisational complexity, technical complexity, and uncertainty underpin IS project complexity. Organisational complexity in terms of project team, stakeholder management, and strategic drive should be managed by the project manager. Technical complexity was established in terms of project goals, requirements management, technology management, and norms and standards. Uncertainty in IS projects exists in terms of skills management, the triple constraint, and activity management. Suggestions were provided to guide IS project managers on how to manage each construct and alleviate the level of project complexity. This paper presents an updated and different perspective on measuring and managing IS project complexity. The findings would serve as additional building blocks to further elucidate IS project complexity understanding and assist with improving the value of these projects. Furthermore, the suggestions for IS project managers can lead discussions around how IS projects should be managed to ensure complexity is under control.
Highlights
Introduction e StandishGroup [1] showed that between 2013 and 2017, information systems (IS) projects fluctuated between a 17% and 14% success rate in terms of high customer satisfaction and high return on value to organisations. e extant literature contends that as a key reason for this is complexity [2,3,4,5]
In this paper IS project complexity is viewed as a higher order construct (HOC), which is a composite construct informed by the five lower order constructs (LOCs) of organisational complexity, technical complexity, environmental complexity, dynamics, and uncertainty
Results and Discussion of the Model for Measuring IS Project Complexity e literature reveals the need for understanding and incorporating organisational complexity when executing projects [4, 12, 33]. e model presented in this paper is similar to findings of Xia and Lee [59] who empirically validated the influence of organisational complexity in the IS project context. is paper validates that complexities regarding the number of different nationalities, experience with involved parties, project drive, stakeholder interrelations, team cooperation and communication, and work hours are all indicators contributing to organisational complexity
Summary
Complexity has emerged as the new norm in the 21st century, and IS projects play a significant role in organisations to address various socio-political concerns. E purpose of this paper is to understand what are the relevant constructs for measuring IS project complexity. Technical complexity was established in terms of project goals, requirements management, technology management, and norms and standards. Once the constructs have been identified, it is important to understand which underlying indicators should be measured and managed to alleviate complexity. PovedaBautista et al [16] addressed this by incorporating multiple project management standards and literatures to develop the measures for IS project complexity. E research goal of this paper is to understand what are the relevant constructs for measuring IS project complexity.
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