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Purpose The purpose of this paper is to determine the social media (SM) tools that are the most prevalent for project management activities, ascertain the areas of project management that are most benefited by SM, elucidate enablers and inhibitors to adoption of SM and identify the implications for virtual teams. Design/methodology/approach A Delphi study was used to explore why and how SM is being utilized in projects. In total, 32 participants contributed to three rounds of Delphi study, comprising two rounds of questionnaire followed by confirmatory interviews. The vulnerabilities and difficulties associated with the use of SM were examined by qualitative interviews. Findings Information sharing SM tools, such as YouTube, Dropbox, SlideShare, flickr, CrowdStorm and Instagram, are the most advantageous to project management. However, the tools utilized differ at different stages of the project lifecycle. The major benefit of SM is that it enables project teams to communicate efficiently and positively affects virtual team dynamics. Adoption can be inhibited by the absence of infrastructure in rural areas and differing preferences for SM tools in global regions. There is also a perceived lack of maturity of policies and procedures to govern SM adoption and use. Research limitations/implications The research was conducted based on the Project Management Body of Knowledge version 5 project management processes. Practical implications The findings will enable practitioners to select SM tools that are suitable for project activities and forewarn about potential shortfalls. The findings also facilitate a qualitative analysis of SM attributes and their effect on project management. Social implications Project practitioners can use the findings to adopt SM for their project management. Originality/value This study extends the literature concerning the use of SM for project management, provides a foundation for future research and may present as a useful guide for the adoption of relevant SM tools.

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Purpose National and organizational innovation is currently at the forefront of media discussion and is viewed as critical to economic development. While the argument for investment is universal, how it should be orchestrated is uncertain. The purpose of this paper is to bring together the three major related components of information and communication technology (ICT), knowledge management processes (KMP) and innovation, to explore empirically the constituents of ICT and KMP that improve innovation within Australian enterprises. Design/methodology/approach The method is a quantitative survey of 148 industry managers. The data was refined through confirmatory factor analysis. The hypotheses were evaluated by regression equations and parameter estimates. The findings were identified by the magnitude of the effect sizes. Findings The study’s evidence illuminated how specific components of ICT and KMP impact on particular aspects of innovation. The findings indicate key emerging relationships and then propose a conceptual model validated by the analysis of the survey evidence. The study identifies that investment in ICT and KMP has a positive impact on innovation performance. A particular finding is that information or data capture technologies have the most significant positive consequence for innovation. Practical implications The modeling can be used by managers as a guide to mapping ICT and KMP to specific innovation outcomes. In a modified form, it could be applied as a self-assessment instrument for managers in organizations. Originality/value This is a valuable addition to current literature, as it is unique in bringing these three key components together, confirming their instrumental impact, and indicating the differentiated investment strategies that can be implemented to achieve specific and unique innovation agendas. In addition, some refined constructs, which were developed as part of this study, provide a pre-tested, validated survey instrument for further research.

The much-heralded provision of enterprise resource planning (ERP) and customer relationship management (CRM) applications via hosting houses has been deemed to have failed. Many investigations have taken place, most of which have analysed the failure from the customer perspective, trying to understand why the end-user did not endorse the application service provision (ASP) model. This paper examines the ASP value chain and identifies the winners and risk takers within it. The supply side of ASPs is analysed and an alternative model for ASP adoption propagated.

Although telehealth has been used in the health sector for many years, there is still the perception that it is far from reaching its potential. Telehealth outcomes can be improved if knowledge is effectively managed, but this has proved complex to achieve in practice. Systems approaches that take a holistic view and address fundamental issues are likely to result in greater success than focusing solely on software systems. Managing knowledge in telehealth projects draws upon literature on knowledge management, team learning and virtual working. We report on the findings from interviews with telehealth professionals of their experiences and insights on managing knowledge. The major finding is that telehealth projects are functional in nature, focusing on patient diagnosis or training but rarely consider improving knowledge acquisition and sharing. We explain the reasons for this including the lack of understanding of knowledge management concepts that serve as a barrier to improvements. An integrated set of requirements for a telehealth knowledge management system is proposed that has potential to be a facilitator of change in this area. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore how construction projects should be conceived and how the productivity of the construction industry impacts upon a nation’s wealth. Design/methodology/approach The approach has been to marshal the extant literature about the construction industry, construction industry productivity and the economic value of the built environment. Whilst there are many lenses that are used to understand the industry, different ways to measure productivity performance and differing practices between nations, it has been determined that construction industry productivity improvement significantly lags behind other industries. Findings There is a strong argument that construction productivity improvement correlates to advances in a nation’s economy. Nonetheless, it is the decisions about the nature of infrastructure, the standardisation of infrastructure and the effect upon labour productivity that will have the greatest implications for a nation’s economic future. These economic improvements will be inhibited by legacy infrastructure, particularly in densely populated areas. If substantial innovation occurs, the nations currently holding the highest stock of infrastructure might be economically constrained. Research limitations/implications The construction industry is highly fragmented and has the uncertainties of a cyclic industry. It is, therefore, necessary for governments to identify standards and facilitate innovation. The implications for short- and long-term economic performance require that the industry is a fundamental at the highest level of government. Originality/value Scholars can use the propositions to further analyse construction productivity improvement and the provision of different types of infrastructure with regard to a nation’s economic performance. Hypotheses are offered to support future research.

■This inductive case study research examines the sales cycle of eight information systems (IS) providers situated in Australia, Hong Kong, Europe, and the United States. The study found that the IS sales cycle provides a restrictive covenant for ensuing projects with contractual constraints, having consequences for fundamental project factors such as benefits, scope, and cost. The process also impedes solution design, schedule, extent of customizations, and training. There are many implications for improvements to practice, in particular there should be more focus placed upon business benefits and increased awareness of life cycle cost during the sales process.