Information Technology

Information Technology
Project Management, Sixth
Project Management, Sixth
Edition
Edition
Note: See the text itself for full citations.
Copyright 2009

Describe the systems view of proect management

an! how it applies to information technology
proects

"n!erstan! organi#ations$ inclu!ing the four

frames$ organi#ational structures$ an!
organi#ational culture

%xplain why sta&ehol!er management an! top

management commitment are critical for a
proect's success
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"n!erstan! the concept of a proect phase an!

the proect life cycle an! !istinguish between
proect !evelopment an! pro!uct !evelopment

Discuss the uni,ue attributes an! !iverse nature

of information technology proects

Describe recent tren!s affecting () proect

management$ inclu!ing globali#ation$ outsourcing$
an! virtual teams
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*roects must operate in a broa! organi#ational

environment

*roect managers nee! to use systems thinking:

)a&ing a holistic view of carrying out proects within the
context of the organi#ation

Senior managers must ma&e sure proects

continue to support current business nee!s
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/ systems approach emerge! in the 0910s to

!escribe a more analytical approach to
management an! problem solving

)hree parts inclu!e:

Systems philosophy: an overall mo!el for thin&ing about
things as systems
Systems analysis: problem2solving approach
Systems management: a!!ress business$ technological$
an! organi#ational issues before ma&ing changes to
systems
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Structural frame:
5ocuses on roles an!
responsibilities$
coor!ination an! control.
6rgani#ation charts help
!efine this frame.
Human resources frame:
5ocuses on provi!ing
harmony between nee!s of
the organi#ation an! nee!s
of people.
Political frame:
/ssumes organi#ations
are coalitions compose!
of varie! in!ivi!uals an!
interest groups. Conflict
an! power are &ey issues.
Symbolic frame: 5ocuses
on symbols an! meanings
relate! to events. Culture
is important.
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+any enterprise resource planning 8%9*: proects fail !ue to
organi#ational issues$ not technical issues. 5or example$ Sobey's
Cana!ian grocery store chain aban!one! its two2year$ ;90 million
%9* system !ue to organi#ational problems.
/s Dalhousie "niversity /ssociate *rofessor Sunny +arche states$
<)he problem of buil!ing an integrate! system that can
accommo!ate !ifferent people is a very serious challenge. =ou
can't !ivorce technology from the sociocultural issues. )hey have
an e,ual role.>
Sobey's %9* system shut !own for five !ays$ an! employees were
scrambling to stoc& potentially empty shelves in several stores for
wee&s. )he system failure cost Sobey's more than ;90 million an!
cause! sharehol!ers to ta&e an 722cent after2tax hit per share.?
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- basic organi#ation structures

Functional: functional managers report
to the C%6
Project: program managers report to the
C%6
Matrix: mi!!le groun! between functional
an! proect structures@ personnel often
report to two or more bosses@ structure
can be wea&$ balance!$ or strong matrix
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Organizational culture is a set of shared

assumptions !alues and beha!iors
that characterize the functioning of an
organization

Many experts belie!e the underlying

causes of many companies" problems
are not the structure or staff but the
culture
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+ember i!entity?

Aroup emphasis?

*eople focus

"nit integration?

Control
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9is& tolerance?

9ewar! criteria?

Conflict tolerance?

+eans2en!s
orientation

6pen2systems focus?
?*roect wor& is most successful in an organi#ational
culture where these items are strongBhigh an! other
items are balance!
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*roect managers must ta&e time to i!entify$

un!erstan!$ an! manage relationships with all
proect sta&ehol!ers

"sing the four frames of organi#ations can help

meet sta&ehol!er nee!s an! expectations

Senior executivesBtop management are very

important sta&ehol!ers
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)he New =or& )imes reporte! that the proect to

rebuil! Aroun! Cero in New =or& City is having
severe problems@ imagine all of the sta&ehol!ers
involve! in this huge$ highly emotional proect

/ -.2page report !escribes the many challenges

face! in the reconstruction of the former Dorl!
)ra!e Center site nearly ten years after the
terrorist attac& of September 00$ 2000

)he report i!entifie! the nee! for a steering to

ma&e final !ecisions on important matters
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*eople in top management positions are &ey

sta&ehol!ers in proects

/ very important factor in helping proect managers

successfully lea! proects is the level of commitment
an! support they receive from top management

Dithout top management commitment$ many proects

will fail

Some proects have a senior manager calle! a

champion who acts as a &ey proponent for a proect
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Pro!iding ade#uate resources

$ppro!ing uni#ue project needs in a

timely manner

%etting cooperation from other parts of

the organization

Mentoring and coaching on leadership issues

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&' go!ernance a!!resses the authority an! control

for &ey () activities in organi#ations$ inclu!ing ()
infrastructure$ () use$ an! proect management

/ lac& of () governance can be !angerous$ as

evi!ence! by three well2publici#e! () proect
failures in /ustralia 8Sy!ney Dater's customer
relationship management system$ the 9oyal
+elbourne (nstitute of )echnology's aca!emic
management system$ an! 6ne.)el's billing system:
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(f the organi#ation has a negative attitu!e towar!

()$ it will be !ifficult for an () proect to succee!

Eaving a Chief (nformation 6fficer 8C(6: at a high

level in the organi#ation helps () proects

/ssigning non2() people to () proects also

encourages more commitment
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Stan!ar!s an! gui!elines help proect managers

be more effective

Senior management can encourage:

)he use of stan!ar! forms an! software for proect
management
)he !evelopment an! use of gui!elines for writing proect
plans or provi!ing status information
)he creation of a proect management office or center of
excellence
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/ project life cycle is a collection of proect

phases that !efines:
Dhat wor& will be performe! in each phase
Dhat !eliverables will be pro!uce! an! when
Dho is involve! in each phase
Eow management will control an! approve wor&
pro!uce! in each phase

/ deli!erable is a pro!uct or service pro!uce! or

provi!e! as part of a proect
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&n early phases of a project life cycle:

9esource nee!s are usually lowest
)he level of uncertainty 8ris&: is highest
*roect sta&ehol!ers have the greatest opportunity to
influence the proect

&n middle phases of a project life cycle:

)he certainty of completing a proect improves
+ore resources are nee!e!

'he final phase of a project life cycle focuses on:

%nsuring that proect re,uirements were met
)he sponsor approves completion of the proect
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*ro!ucts also have life cycles

)he Systems (e!elopment )ife *ycle +S()*, is a

framewor& for !escribing the phases involve! in
!eveloping an! maintaining information systems

Systems !evelopment proects can follow

Predicti!e life cycle: the scope of the proect can be clearly
articulate! an! the sche!ule an! cost can be pre!icte!
$dapti!e Soft-are (e!elopment +$S(, life cycle:
re,uirements cannot be clearly expresse!$ proects are
mission !riven an! component base!$ using time2base!
cycles to meet target !ates
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Daterfall mo!el: has well2!efine!$ linear stages of

systems !evelopment an! support

Spiral mo!el: shows that software is !evelope!

using an iterative or spiral approach rather than a
linear approach

(ncremental buil! mo!el: provi!es for progressive

!evelopment of operational software

*rototyping mo!el: use! for !eveloping prototypes to

clarify user re,uirements

9api! /pplication Development 89/D: mo!el: use!

to pro!uce systems ,uic&ly without sacrificing ,uality
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/gile software !evelopment has become popular

to !escribe new approaches that focus on close
collaboration between programming teams an!
business experts

Fisit www.agilealliance.org for information

See the companion Deb site for Suggeste!

9ea!ings
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/ proect shoul! successfully pass through

each of the proect phases in or!er to
continue on to the next

+anagement reviews$ also calle! phase

exits or kill points$ shoul! occur after
each phase to evaluate the proect's
progress$ li&ely success$ an! continue!
compatibility with organi#ational goals
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G)he real improvement that ( saw was in our ability toin the wor!s
of )homas %!ison&now when to stop beating a !ea! horse.H
%!isonIs &ey to success was that he faile! fairly often@ but as he sai!$
he coul! recogni#e a !ea! horse before it starte! to smell...(n
information technology we ri!e !ea! horsesfailing proectsa long
time before we give up. Jut what we are seeing now is that we are
able to get off them@ able to re!uce cost overrun an! time overrun.
)hatIs where the maor impact came on the success rate.>?
+any organi#ations$ li&e Euntington Jancshares$ (nc.$ use an
executi!e steering committee to help &eep proects on trac&.
?Cabanis$ Keannette$ GI/ +aor (mpactI: )he Stan!ish AroupIs Kim Kohnson 6n
*roect +anagement an! () *roect Success$G *+ Networ&$ *+($ Sep.0997$ p. 4
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&' projects can be !ery di!erse in terms of

size complexity products produced
application area and resource
re#uirements

&' project team members often ha!e di!erse

backgrounds and skill sets

&' projects use di!erse technologies that

change rapidly. e!en -ithin one technology
area people must be highly specialized
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%lobalization: lower tra!e an! political barriers an!

the !igital revolution have ma!e it possible to
interact almost instantaneously with billions of other
people across the planet

Outsourcing: is when an organi#ation ac,uires

goo!s an!Bor sources from an outsi!e source@
offshoring is sometimes use! to !escribe
outsourcing from another country

/irtual teams: a !irtual team is a group of

in!ivi!uals who wor& across time an! space using
communication technologies
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&ssues
*ommunications
'rust
*ommon -ork practices
'ools

Suggestions
0mploy greater project discipline
'hink global but act local
1eep project momentum going
2se ne-er tools and technology
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6rgani#ations remain competitive by using

outsourcing to their a!vantage$ such as fin!ing ways
to re!uce costs

)heir next challenge is to ma&e strategic ()

investments with outsourcing by improving their
enterprise architecture to ensure that () infrastructure
an! business processes are integrate! an!
stan!ar!i#e! 8see Suggeste! 9ea!ings:

*roect managers shoul! become more familiar with

negotiating contracts an! other outsourcing issues
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(ncreasing competiveness an! responsiveness by

having a team of wor&ers available 2.B4

Lowering costs because many virtual wor&ers !o not

re,uire office space or support beyon! their home
offices

*rovi!ing more expertise an! flexibility by having

team members from across the globe wor&ing any
time of !ay or night

(ncreasing the wor&Blife balance for team members by

eliminating fixe! office hours an! the nee! to travel to
wor&
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(solating team members

(ncreasing the potential for communications

problems

9e!ucing the ability for team members to networ&

an! transfer information informally

(ncreasing the !epen!ence on technology to

accomplish wor&
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*roect managers nee! to ta&e a systems approach

when wor&ing on proects

6rgani#ations have four !ifferent frames: structural$

human resources$ political$ an! symbolic

)he structure an! culture of an organi#ation have

strong implications for proect managers

*roects shoul! successfully pass through each phase

of the proect life cycle

*roect managers nee! to consi!er several factors !ue

to the uni,ue context of information technology proects

9ecent tren!s affecting () proect management inclu!e

globali#ation$ outsourcing$ an! virtual teams
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