How Effective Are Project Management Methodologies? An Explorative Evaluation of Their Benefits in Practice

Abstract

A report from former UK Health Secretary Andrew Lansley captured the attention of many by highlighting that "Labour's IT programme let down the NHS [National Health Service] and wasted taxpayers' money by imposing a top-down IT system on the local NHS, which didn't fit their needs" (BBC News, 2011). This report highlighted significant issues associated with IT/IS project delivery. Successful delivery of projects is essential to the effective functioning of government and has a direct bearing on departments' abilities to improve public services (Improving Government Risk Handling, 2009). Despite this central role of IT/IS projects within organizations, the high cost and failure rate continue to engage researchers and practitioners. Improving project performance by means of ensuring successful management, development, and delivery of information technology/information system (IT/IS) projects remains the top priority of most organizations and project communities (Standish Group, 2010; Wysocki, 2007; Yardley, 2002). As a way of addressing this, project management methodologies (PMMs) are regularly employed with the aim of increasing project efficiency and effectiveness. Public and private sector organizations worldwide invest significant resources into efforts, ranging from a review and tailoring of the current practices to the adoption or development of new PMMs. Despite these efforts, the benefit gained through the usage of methodologies toward improving project performance of IT/IS projects has rarely been examined or articulated. Therefore, this article, which is a subpart of a major research (Figure 1), examines the benefits and support provided by PMMs in their business context, through firsthand empirical investigation. The following section sets the context and the research background for this article. Research Background and Literature Organizations achieve business benefits, produce and improve products, design and develop systems and services, and invest in company infrastructure primarily through project activities (Davies & Hobday, 2005; Shenhar & Dvir, 2007). In the United Kingdom alone, around 21% of the gross value added in manufacturing and construction is through complex products and systems development projects (Davies & Hobday, 2005). As a result, there is a tendency toward standardizing project activities by means of formalized, generic PMMs (Gunnarson, Linde, & Loid, 2000)-for example, the drive from government and the public sector toward the promotion and usage of

Taking stock of project value creation: A structured literature review with future directions for research and practice

“…The focus on success factors and mere evaluation, as well as discussions of project success, is unrelated to the key concepts in this paper (e.g., Goparaju, 2012;Wells, 2012).…”

Project management in IT enterprises – literature review

“…2012, https://www.versionone.com/pdf/7th-Annual-State-of-Agile-Develop ment-Survey.pdf. 32 Powyżej przedstawione wnioski skłaniają do sformułowania problemu badawczego w postaci następującego pytania: "Jakie metodyki zarządzania projektami są obecnie stosowane w przedsiębiorstwach branży IT w Polsce przy rozwoju nowego produktu?" Należy rozważyć przeprowadzenie szczegółowych badań nad aktualnym podejściem do zarządzania projektami w Polskich przedsiębiorstwach branży IT.…”

“…Conforto E. i Amaral D. wskazują na powstanie hybrydowego modelu scalającego zwinne zarządzanie projektami wraz z etapowym podejściem do rozwoju nowego produktu 32 . …”

Insights from Global Project Managers: Career Advice for Successful International Assignments

“…This discussion begs the question, "What factors lead to, or are associated with successful project managers, in a global setting?" Some studies conclude that the individual project manager's capability, training, and experience are all factors that contribute to success and are likely to carry more weight than simply following guidelines or template (Fisher, 2011;Kerzner, 2013;Wells, 2012). This study seeks to better understand what successful project managers, with global experience, describe as the challenges of working in a foreign country, preparation advice, and general advice to project managers aspiring to take an international assignment.…”

“…Additionally, studies suggest that in spite of the increasing familiarity with and implementation of the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK), a high percentage of projects continue to fail (Bolin, 2012;Kerzner, 2012;Kippenberger, 2000). In fact, it has been suggested that project management methodologies, in general, seem to play a limited role in project success by filling gaps in knowledge and supporting senior management control of projects (Wells, 2012). …”