Rethinking IT project management: Evidence of a new mindset and its implications

Sauer, Chris; Reich, Blaize Horner

doi:10.1016/j.ijproman.2008.08.003

Cited by 101 publications

(60 citation statements)

References 15 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…(1) to recognise the complexity of projects and encourage more models and theories to manage different types of projects (2) to recognise the social nature of projects and encourage human interactions, multiple stakeholders and power relations to be considered in research (3) to shift the focus to value creation and pay more attention to emergence, sense making and multiple expectations/meanings (Winter 2006;Sauer & Reich 2009) (4) to build broader conceptualisations of projects and acknowledge the multidisciplinary, emergent and negotiable concepts and approaches that can be pursued (5) to move the conception of practitioners from trained technicians to that of becoming reflective practitioners who can learn, adapt and apply theory effectively in their practice domains.…”

Section: Isolation Of Project Management Literaturementioning

confidence: 99%

The rise and fall of project management: are we observing the birth of a new discipline?

Young

2012

PPPM

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This conceptual paper examines the state of the project, program and project portfolio management literature and highlights the divergent views of strategy that exist between project managers and top managers. Project management concepts are shown to be based on approaches to planning that top managers had rejected after thirty years of unsuccessful experience with strategic planning. Persistently high project failure rates and recent developments at the board level suggest that we might have reached the limits of our current approaches, and the question is asked whether project management is destined to follow the rise and fall of strategic planning.Alternatives to the traditional linear mechanistic approaches are explored and it is suggested that the project management field would need to embrace the delivery of strategy as the common ground to engage top managers. Approaches would need to be developed that are consistent with how strategy emerges in turbulent environments. Program and portfolio concepts are found to have the most potential to contribute to the emerging field of strategy implementation.Keywords: rethinking project management; new project management approach; top management; project strategy Introduction Strategy is derived from the Greek word strategos. It is an ancient concept first expounded in a military context and refers to a plan of action designed to achieve a particular goal (Ghemawat 2002). Modern corporate strategy was created after the writings of Clausewitz, Sun Tzu and other military strategists were applied to the business domain in the mid-20th century. However, the application has not been consistent and there are different understandings of strategy. In particular, there is a different level of focus between top managers and project managers. The need for research into the overlap between strategy in the management literature and projects to implement strategy has been noted but never fully explored (Okumus 2003).

show abstract

Section: Isolation Of Project Management Literaturementioning

confidence: 99%

The rise and fall of project management: are we observing the birth of a new discipline?

Young

2012

PPPM

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Thus, Vaidya, Sajeev and Callendar (2006) propose a framework that could checkmate actors' activities towards assisting in projects, to minimise failure. In Sauer and Reich's (2009) assessment, there are five key 'directions' that could be employed in the implementation of projects, which include complexity, social process, value creation, broader conceptualisation of project and reflective practice.…”

Section: Information Technology Projectmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The dominant factor is therefore used as a source of individuals' power, to make a difference in a project within an environment. Sauer and Reich (2009) identify and emphasise the importance of being able to control the project team using the mandated power that is bestowed on the focal actor, as prescribed by the rules and regulations of the organisation. Power is a phenomenon, which involve control of resources for a specific task at different stages.…”

Section: Domination And/or Facility And/or Powermentioning

confidence: 99%

Improvising information technology projects through the duality of structure

Iyamu

2017

S. Afr. j. inf. manag.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background: There is always emphasis on information technology (IT) projects because of their significance in organisations. Thus, efforts and resources are reciprocally committed to ensure the successes. Still, failure of IT projects in many organisations remains high and affects competitiveness. As recourse for remedy, different techniques and approaches have been employed. However, little or no progress has been made in increasing the success rate of IT projects in many organisations.Objectives: The objective of this study was to examine the factors that influence and impact IT projects, improvisation and how improvisation manifests.Method: The study was carried out using a single case study approach. Qualitative data were collected and duality of structure from the perspective of structuration theory was used as lens to guide the analysis.Results: Findings from this study reveal how reproduction of actions manifests from non-technical factors, such as cultural value, organisational structure, power relationship, human capacity, know-how and change management. These factors help to gain a more constructive and better understanding of how IT projects improvisation is influenced or impacted by non-technical factors in organisations.Conclusion: The study is intended to benefit both practitioners and academics. Some of the benefits will be gained from fresh perspectives on the complexities of IT projects improvisation, which are often caused by various seen and unforeseen non-technical factors. This includes how actions from relationship, know-how about facilities and communicative scheme are produced and reproduced.

show abstract

“…IS development is a crucial part of delivering technology innovation (Schwaber 2004), and as a result, business is both more aware and more critical of the success of IS projects. Business sees IS as being of strategic and operational importance -they want to see a return on their investment in IS and they have become more mature in their understanding of the nature of IS and IS projects (Sauer & Reich 2009). …”

Section: Information System Implementation and Project Management Chamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Evidence for this reputation is that only 29% of worldwide IS projects achieved project management (PM) success (The Standish Group International 2015). This failure rate is high when compared with other high-tech projects and is the reason for concern given that IS is increasingly seen as being of critical strategic and operational importance in organisations (Sauer & Reich 2009). Furthermore, within the knowledge economy, software is seen as a source of knowledge and IS development as a source of knowledge creation (Bailin 1997;Shongwe 2015), and creating knowledge affords organisations the opportunity to gain and sustain competitive advantages (Mitchell & Boyle 2010).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Between a rock and a hard place: Management and implementation teams’ expectations of project managers in an agile information systems delivery environment

Nkukwana

Terblanche

2017

S. Afr. j. inf. manag.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background: To address the low success rate in information system (IS) projects, organisations in South Africa are adopting agile implementation methodologies. Agile delivery environments advocate an iterative approach where autonomous, self-organising teams share project management (PM) activities. This encroaches on the traditional project manager role. Are project managers still relevant in agile delivery environments and how should they adapt?Objectives: This case study investigated how project managers could adapt to agile IS implementation environments to remain relevant. Specifically, the views of their key stakeholders (the management and implementation teams) were elicited to provide insights into what is expected from agile project managers.Method: A qualitative, inductive content analysis approach using purposive sampling was used to identify 13 participants (comprising management and implementation team members) within a large South African insurance company. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with all participants.Results: The management and implementation teams agreed that PM remains highly relevant in an agile environment for ensuring project governance including delivery, risk management, reporting and budgeting. There was, however, disagreement between the management and implementation teams on project management interaction with the implementation team. Management preferred a command and control type project manager, while the implementation team favoured a more inclusive, facilitative PM style.Conclusion: To remain viable in an agile IS project implementation environment within large corporates, project managers need to be aware of what various stakeholders expect of them. They need to retain some of the classic PM functions while adapting to the interpersonal and collaborative requirements of the agile way.

show abstract

Rethinking IT project management: Evidence of a new mindset and its implications

Cited by 101 publications

References 15 publications

The rise and fall of project management: are we observing the birth of a new discipline?

The rise and fall of project management: are we observing the birth of a new discipline?

Improvising information technology projects through the duality of structure

Between a rock and a hard place: Management and implementation teams’ expectations of project managers in an agile information systems delivery environment

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About