IT Project Management Research Articles

A framework for risk assessment based on analysis of historical information of workflow execution in IT systems

Services provided by modern organizations are usually designed, deployed, and supported by large-scale IT infrastructures. In order to obtain the best performance out of these services, it is essential that organizations enforce rational practices for the management of the resources that compose their infrastructures. A common point in most guides and libraries of best practices for IT management – such as ITIL or COBIT – is the explicit concern with the risks related to IT activities. Proactively dealing with adverse and favorable events that may arise during everyday operations might prevent, for example: delay on deployment of services, cost overrun in activities, predictable failures of handled resources, and, consequently, waste of money. Although important, risk management in practice usually lacks in automation and standardization in IT environments. Therefore, in this article, we introduce a framework to support the automation of some key steps of risk management. Our goal is to organize risk information related to IT activities providing support for decision making thus turning risk response planning simpler, faster, and more accurate. The proposed framework is targeted to workflow-based IT management systems. The fundamental approach is to learn from problems reported in the history of previously conducted workflows in order to estimate risks for future executions. We evaluated the applicability of the framework in two case studies both in IT related areas, namely: IT change management and IT project management. The results show how the framework is not only useful to speed up the risk assessment process, but also to assist the decision making of project managers and IT operators by organizing risk detailed information in a comprehensive way.

Model for Managing Software Development Projects by Fixing Some of the Six Project Management Constraints

This study is focused on the software development process, viewed from perspective of information technology project manager. Main goal of this research is to identify challenges in managing such projects and provide a model for delivering software solutions that satisfies client’s expectations. Project management theory describes six constraints or variables in every project, which project managers can use to better control the project and its outputs. Fixing some of the six project management constraints (scope, cost, time, risks, resources or quality) will allow project manager to focus on most important project aspects, rather than being drawn between all of the variables.This paper is aimed at information technology project managers and portfolio managers, as it describes the practical application of this model on a software development project. Findings of this research support the theory that, by applying good project management practice and focusing on project/business-critical requirements, will enable project managers to complete projects successfully and within tolerance limits. Results show that by identifying key business constraints, project managers can create good balance of six constraints and focus on the most important ones, while allowing other constraints to move between limits imposed by clients and stakeholders.

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Herzberg! Can we trust you in Africa?

Information technology (IT) projects are implemented through individual team members. These projects are fairly long in duration, especially enterprise resource planning projects. The problem that IT project managers face is how to motivate the team members, particularly in an African context where a team consists of various cultures and races. This paper presents results of a quantitative research study in which team members were asked to rank their motivating factors on a scale of 1 to 12 based on Herzberg’s two-factor theory. The reason for using this theory is that, it was found to still be applicable after 50 years of its establishment. The purpose was to determine whether Herzberg’s two-factor theory is applicable in an African context and if so, what unique factors could motivate IT team members in Africa. The research indicates that race, age and gender are not indicators and that there is a general tendency that the motivating factors of Herzberg can be used to motivate team members. The implication is that IT project managers can use Herzberg’s two-factor theory to motivate individual team members. The research also adds to the current body of knowledge that Africans are not motivated by hygiene factors. Key words: Herzberg, African, information technology, project management, motivation

Changes and change management in construction and IT projects

Modelling for change management in construction might benefit from experiences from other industries. This study compares reasons for change as well as change practices in interorganizational relationships in construction and information technology. Sixteen contractual relationships have been studied through a questionnaire and interview survey conducted among both clients and providers. Project-type relations are contrasted with more continuous service support contracts. More than their providers, clients tend to ascribe high change frequencies to an increase in technical understanding during projects. Early provider participation is associated with lower change frequencies, while the strength of incentives is less influential. The ease of transforming changes into new projects varies between technologies. Irreversibility is important, as well as relations between pre-investigations and the successive revealing of initial conditions, together with the life-cycle of formal and informal communication. Findings can be used for transfer of agile practices.

The Design of Capability Maturity Model of IT Project Management Based on ERP

With the rapid development of information technology, IT industries and IT products has become a new vitality industry type of economic field. The management capability maturity Model (CMM) is an important to evaluation the management ability of a enterprise, and at present has been widely used. Using the theory of fuzzy mathematics to design a management capability maturity model of IT project, and make the comparative analysis according to the ERP system development process of the different IT enterprise.

A project manager's optimism and stress management and IT project success

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to determine how the soft competencies of an information technology (IT) project manager, specifically optimism and stress, can affect project success.Design/methodology/approachThe research was exploratory. Experienced IT project managers were requested to relate a “structured” story regarding a significant, personal experience relating to optimism or stress and how this affected the project outcome. In total, eight stories were captured on the optimism theme and five on stress. Themes from these stories were identified.FindingsQualitative analysis of the stories identified several project managers' optimism themes that strongly influenced IT project success. In addition, it was concluded that IT project success was both positively and negatively influenced by stress. To improve their chances of project success, it was concluded that IT project managers should have a positive but realistic degree of optimism based on a well‐accepted project plan. Whilst the project team should expect and embrace stress during the project, this should be carefully managed.Originality/valueSix important project management practical activities were deduced from the analysis which could assist project managers and their teams to better handle optimism and stress. These activities, when applied effectively, could lead to improved project outcomes.

Leadership and teams in business: a study of IT projects in the United Arab Emirates

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the effectiveness of leadership and team processes in information technology (IT) projects in business environments. The paper contextualizes the study in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).Design/methodology/approachThe paper addresses two central questions: what is the level of IT project team effectiveness in the UAE context? What is the maturity level of leadership in IT project management in the UAE? A tailored instrument, based on Cohen and Bailey's team effectiveness evaluation model, was used in this study of 42 project teams in the UAE across various sectors.FindingsThe findings demonstrate that IT projects in the UAE demonstrate a maturity level that is transactional, with task‐focused teams and people‐oriented leadership styles.Research limitations/implicationsThe implications of the paper can facilitate broader contextualized research on leadership and IT project team effectiveness, with particular emphasis on developing economies. This is important in addressing the issue of high failure rates in IT projects in general.Practical implicationsUnderstanding the role of leadership and its responsibility in facilitating teams in technical and high failure environments can impact on productivity and success rates in future projects.Originality/valueThis paper is unique in providing collated opinion about constructs within IT project team processes and leadership effectiveness in the context of businesses in developing economies. The use of a maturity structure addressing leadership, trust, teams and cohesion is distinctive.

A performance measurement view of IT project management

PurposeThe objective of this paper is to develop a methodology and a framework to assess performance measurement and generate a better understanding of the project context. The paper aims to present an application to illustrate the proposed methodology, to identify and measure the success parameters for a project.Design/methodology/approachThe research method is a mixture of qualitative and quantitative and it is applied to a case study. The primary data were gathered using unstructured interviews with decision makers. Bibliographic research is used in order to construct the theoretical framework and the intervention instrument adopted is the multicriteria decision aiding methodology – constructivist (MCDA‐C).FindingsThe methodology makes it possible to visualize the criteria that must be taken into account according to the decision makers' values in the project selection process. The framework supports the ordinal and cardinal measurement of the project performance, making it possible to compare and rank proposals, as well providing a process to improve project proposals.Practical implicationsThis process has helped in negotiations between stakeholders in the project, and, consequently, has helped the chief project officer to select and prioritize strategic projects within the demand for new products.Originality/valueThis paper offers an empirical understanding of the application of performance evaluation to project management and identifies a complementary tool in this interdisciplinary area.

STUDENT REFLECTION FROM AN IT PROJECT MANAGEMENT COURSE

This paper highlights the structure of an IT Project Management course as well as a summary of students’ opinions on course organization and testaments on what worked well and what not. The students discuss their roles in the project groups and the knowledge gained from participating in group activities. Each student was part of a group that worked on a project and presented their work on a regular basis. The emphasis was on learning by doing, and the instructor provided feedback at regular intervals to ensure the students were incorporating the IT Project Management principles learnt in the classroom. The course provided a good mix of theoretical knowledge as well as hands-on experience. The students felt confident of their IT Project Management skills by the end of the course. The students additionally learnt to present their work to an audience, answer questions and receive feedback. The team projects and presentations helped students hone their interpersonal and communication skills.

IT PROJECT MANAGEMENT: CLASS PROJECT OF A POINT OF SALE (POS) SYSTEM IMPLEMENTATION IN A RESTAURANT

One of the best ways in which students acquire knowledge in an IT project management course is through the application of concepts taught in the course and the planning of implementation of projects with bases in the realworld [4]. These capstone projects enable the learner to gain real world experience in a relatively safe academic environment. This paper focuses on the implementation of a POS system in the hospitality industry—specifically a table service restaurant. The course’s design and methodology and case concept are discussed. This case has application for instructional use in IT project management as well as an overview of the potential risks and benefits of the approach used in managing the project’s implementation.

Activators and inhibitors for successful project management of IT projects in Indonesia and the UK: a comparative case study

We compare activators and inhibitors of project management (PM) for information technology (IT) projects in Indonesia and the UK and show how they are influenced by cultural differences between the two countries. Our findings come from an empirical case study that we conducted in 2007/2008 using a survey. We show that our results are statistically significant and give reasons for the differences we found. Furthermore, we highlight conclusions that can be drawn by the IT PM community from our study.

The Communication System in Project Teams: Problems of Transfer of Knowledge and Information for the Management of IT Projects

An international association advancing the multidisciplinary study of informing systems. Founded in 1998, the Informing Science Institute (ISI) is a global community of academics shaping the future of informing science.

Human resources management main role in information technology project management

Abstract Today the information technology is indeed a base of development for countries and a benchmark practice for leading and successful organizations. Success in this area depends on the success of micro and macro projects of information technology, and this success is not achievable unless all aspects, especially the most valuable element, e.g. the human resources, are considered. Because the policies related to human resources in the projects are changing, so the roles of managers of IT projects will also change in this regard. In this paper while reviewing some of the challenges in the field of information technology and human resources, factors affecting the success of IT projects such as the need to redesign jobs, more attention to personality characteristics of individuals in the process of recruitment, role of education in development of Information Technology projects and... have been considered. This research has tried to pay attention to three perspectives of individual, job-related, and organizational which from the point of view of these employees, individual perspectives and then job-related perspectives and ultimately organizational perspectives were effective in the success of the IT projects respectively. It is interesting to note that the employees have implicitly noted the major roles of the human resources of the managers of the IT projects in improving performance as one of the effective factors.

Review the benefits of using value engineering in information technology project management

Abstract The fast-growing movement of the modern societies shows increasing implementation of operational projects in the areas of IT in organizational and national levels. And it is special and important because of the very high risks that large projects (and even small ones) experience, so we decided to examine the role of value engineering in the process of project implementation and to deal with it step by step in our project, hence the importance of beginning to define value engineering and its position among the different nations. Finally, we have proposed the expression of different techniques used in value engineering with different phases of expression during the life of IT projects, using techniques based on the proposals presented.

Project Management Practices and Project Manager Traits as a Key to Successful Information Systems Implementation

Information Technology project management lingers between science and art. Many will not dwell on such a thought, and define the information technology project manager as the one person that gets the information technology project done. This paper introduces 74 best practices and traits for the novice information systems project manager. The 74 personal traits and best practices were collected from 35 project managers and are based on personal experiences on a number of IT projects. This article provides an interactive platform for the information system technology project manager by catering to their needs for practical insights toward efficient and individually tailored project management.

システムの導入工程の作成と管理 ＩＴプロジェクトマネジメントとＷＢＳ

システムの導入工程の作成と管理 ＩＴプロジェクトマネジメントとＷＢＳ

PROJECT ORIENTATION: A PROPOSAL TO DEVELOP A SERVICEORIENTED ARCHITECTURE

A service-oriented architecture (SOA) is occasionally seen as a complex and undefeatable challenge (Serman, 2007). This feeling is motivated by the lack of attention from practitioners and from the academy on the means for its construction. The work aims to bring the portfolio management of IT projects as an option to guide the SOA development. A review of the literature on SOA was carried out, including case studies on the SOA adoption. A case study was also done, which analyzed some projects of a particular organization, focusing on the evolution of its services architecture. The results show a gradual development of SOA in the case studied based on projects execution and sequencing. It concludes with a proposal of a process for building SOA as well as suggestions and limitations for future research.

Toward a Theory of Whistleblowing Intentions: A Benefit‐to‐Cost Differential Perspective*

ABSTRACTIn order to rescue information technology (IT) projects when they go awry, it is critical to understand the factors that affect bad news reporting. Whistleblowing theory holds promise in this regard and a number of salient factors that may influence whistleblowing intentions have been identified. However, an integrative theory that explains how they influence whistleblowing intentions has been conspicuously absent. In this research, we introduce and test a middle‐range theory of whistleblowing that can explain how and why a variety of factors may influence an individual's whistleblowing intentions. Drawing on the social information processing perspective, we propose that individuals holistically weigh the perceived “benefit‐to‐cost differential” and that this mediates the relationship between whistleblowing factors and whistleblowing intentions. Tests using data collected from 159 experienced IT project managers largely support our theoretical perspective, in which the central explanatory variable (benefit‐to‐cost differential) significantly mediates a majority of the proposed relationships. Implications of these findings for research and practice are discussed.

Critical Behavioral Competencies for IT Project Managers

What behavioral competencies do experienced IT project managers apply when facing critical situations in their projects, and how have they developed those competencies? In this paper, the authors answer these questions. The authors interviewed 23 experienced IT project managers from 11 organizations, focusing on critical situations that they now managed differently from their earlier, novice, practices, and on how they had learned to develop these different approaches. The authors discuss a variety of management development and training interventions. They use a thematic analysis to identify the key competencies being applied and learning methods experienced by this set of managers. Results suggest that IT project managers are drawing on a different set of competencies from those required for project management in other industries. Additionally, this paper reveals the importance of informal learning channels, often involving project experiences, for the development of IT project management competencies.