Bad or failing projects drain organisational resources in vain, affect team morale,and are a detriment to corporate strategy. Theimportance of terminating a project that will not deliver as promised canhardly be overemphasized, however it is still a major managerial challenge. Throughout this papera call is made toidentify andterminate failing projectsvia a benefit realisation management process, as successful projectsare only those thatdeliver the expected benefits. Thus, the research question to answer is:How can benefit realisation management aid in deciding when to terminate a project?The purpose of this study is to understand project termination and its relationship with benefits realisation management in the case of IT and R&D projects. This is done by tacking a critical realist view in an abductive process that goes back and forth between the merge of existing theories and data collected, which will result in a conceptual model that integrates project termination decision making into a benefit realisation management process. In this research project termination is defined as: the cancellation and cessation of a project prior the completion of its intended activities; while benefit realisation management is conceived as: a set of processes that ensure projects, programmes, and portfolios delivervalue via verifying they are realising their intended goals and benefits.From the literature, the projects analysed and the model drawn, it was understood that benefit realisation management has to be conceived as a monitoring and evaluation process on the project performance in relation to its intended benefit. The howto do so, is our model: a total of 8 steps that go from the conception of the business strategy to the post mortem evaluation of a project. Each step includes different essential activities that hypothetically lead to the correct decision. This, requires active participation and communication from the primary stakeholders, focus on the organisational strategy and the reason why the project was started in addition to a well-defined goal with a clear way of measurement. The when is approached as the moment in time where the termination decision making process should start. A stimulus, a difference between the expected standard and the project performance trend, is what triggers the recognition that a termination decision might be needed and therefore starts the whole decision-making process. Hence, it is recommended to pay special attention to three moments in the project life that might give a clearer indication: 1) the completion and approval of the business-case, as most errors can already be spotted at this point, 2) the testing phase of the solution, being often the point where success is easier to predict and 3) on the submission of the deliverables, as their quality reflect the quality of the future product.

IT projects serve as the foundation through which a number of organizationalInformation Technology benefits can be created. However, it appears to be acomplicated task with great economic consequences at stake to finish a project beforepositive results can be reached. Project closure, the very last phase of the project lifecycle, seems to be underrepresented in current research compared to the other phasesof the project life cycle. The research regarding postponed closure, meaning thatprojects, which technically are finished, are still allowed to continue, or projects thatare directly unfeasible and therefore should be prematurely terminated, is even moreabsent. This indicates that problems arise somewhere, which is what will beinvestigated in this study.The aim of this study is to gain an understanding to the underlying reasons whycertain projects face a delayed closure, when they in reality should be finalizedearlier. In order to do so, a semi-structured interview study was carried out andpresented in a qualitative data analysis. The results of this study, based on empiricalfindings and support from theoretical frameworks, and presented in an analysis anddiscussion, indicates that there are a number of reasons that are causing postponedclosure. Among others, it has been noted that the planning for project closure maybegin too late in the process, that poor governance from the project manager and thesteering committee could be the result of hesitation to strict decision-making, and anunprepared receiving organization as a result of unsuccessful communication anddocumentation between internal and external stakeholders.

The objective of this study was to investigate IT projects within the Swedish public sector. Furthermore we have looked at the project closure in IT projects. The problem that occurs in this topic is that the projects can run overtime or over budget. In this research we used interviews to conduct the data collection. We have collected data from two public sector organizations – Jönköpings kommun and Domstolsverket, both of these orginzations have a dedicated IT department. Through the methods, theoretical framework and analysis we found many different activities and theories on how to handle project closure in IT. The main subjects that keep coming up when addressing the problems of project closure are communication and planning. The responsibilities of the project manager are investigated and the focus is on closing an IT project. A descriptive diagram has been created to show what is important during and before project closure

The aim of this thesis is modification of the teaching block IS/ICT Project Management at the Department of Information Technologies of the Prague University of Economics by the risk management issues. At present, insufficient space is given to this topic and this may thus create the feeling with the students that this is a marginal issue in the project management. The theoretical starting points to this thesis are above all the PMBOK methodologies of the PMI organization and further the PRINCE2 of the OGD organization. As these are the internationally acknowledged IT project management standards, therefore the key significance is given to them as to the theoretical starting points. Naturally, the part of these methodologies related to the project management is utilized of them. To sketch in the point of view of the issue, the RIPRAN methodology is added that is of Czech origin and was developed by doc. Ing. Branislav Lacko of the Brno University of Technology. This methodology deals only with the risk management. The own new point of view of the risk management that comes out from the above-mentioned theoretical presumptions is divided into following parts: planning, identification, qualitative analysis, quantitative analysis, project simulation, evaluation. As the primary utilization of this thesis is for the students of the Prague University of Economics, namely above all for the students of the given course, this fact is taken into account also in the course of work with the risks. This means, among others, that it is not possible to implement the project according to the plan, and thus simulation tools are utilized for its implementation. All aspects coming out from this school environment have been included in the thesis. A tool in MS EXCEL table editor has been developed for the work with the risks where all steps of the risk management are carried out, namely including the data for subsequent creation of the outputs -- reports, analyses, etc. An advantage of this environment is the possibility of its utilization for automatic procedures. Full use of this characteristic has been made in the tool.

Nowadays risk management is an essential part of project management. It is necessary to identify, analyze, registr and respond to risks. They have to be assesed by means of the probability of their occurence and their final impacts. One of the tools for risk and response management and for keeping the evidence is risk register. This study will compare different theoretical approaches to risk management (e.g. based on PRINCE2) and based on the comparison a template for risk register and related user guide for different IT project environments will be derived. The study will have two parts: the theoretical part will introduce the issue and analyze different methods; in the practical part will be compared these methods and the template for risk register will be derived together with the user guide.

Stratgic alignment has been one of the top concerns for IT executives for decades. One of the great debates in literature regarding strategic alignment is what act ‘alignment’ means, why it is needed and how do enterprises stay aligned. Alignment has many definitions, but in this context, it is concerned with the integration of business and IT strategies. Research has proven that there are positive relations to enterprise performance when it is aligned.   This qualitative research investigates the causes of misalignment through the views and thoughts of IT professionals at a Scandinavian IT consultancy company. By using a model created by, Schlosser, Wagner, and Coltman, this thesis could establish the most common factors to achieve alignment in the given enterprise. The model allowed the field of business-IT alignment to be explored in IT projects, and allowed for a better understanding of what causes misalignment.   This thesis conducted six interviews to answers two research questions; (1) what factors cause misalignment in IT projects and (2) how do these factors differ in different methodologies. The results from the analysis found that the main factors of misalignment were ‘procedures / workflow alignment’, ‘managerial skills of business and IT employees’, ‘technical skills and knowledge of IT employees’, ‘mutual trust and respect between business and IT executives / employees’, ‘IT skills and knowledge of business executives/employees’ and ‘alignment of business and IT strategy/goals/plans’. The second research question could  concluded that more research is needed to understand how factors change using different methodologies, as the results were to similar to reach a definit conclusion. For future research the thesis recommends using a multiple case study using the same model to verify the data gathered in this thesis and to strengthen the use of the model.

The main object of this thesis is a design of the project with the utilization of project management principles in the chosen company. Company SynopsIS Technologies, a.s. is developing and selling a software solution for advocacy and law offices. The starting point of the entire process of designing is the strategic analysis of the current state of the company, analysis of the external environment and business field of the company. The main object is a designed project of the change, which will be used for project management in order to successfully reach set goals and minimize the risks of the project. A designed solution is using the support of Microsoft Project Professional 2016 software.

Diplomová práce je zaměřena na zpracování návrhu realizaci vybraného projektu ve zvolené firmě s využitím vhodných metod, technik a nástrojů projektového řízení. V prní části praci bude proveden průzkum teoretické informaci ohledne problemaiky proektového řízení IT projektů. V druhé částí bude popsan součásný stav ve vybrané společnosti a na zakládě tohoto stavu budou aplikované vhodné metodiky a nástroje pro realizaci projektu v návrchové části práci.

Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Technology: Information Technology, Durban University of Technology, Durban, 2015. / Agile approaches have proliferated within the software development arena over the past decade. Derived mainly from Lean manufacturing principles, agile planning and control mechanisms appear minimal and fluid when compared to more traditional software engineering approaches. Scrum ranks among the more popular permutations of agile. Contemporary literature represents a rich source of contributions for agile in areas such as practice guidelines, experience reports, and methodology tailoring; but the vast majority of these publications focus on the individual project level only, leaving much uncertainty and persistent questions in the multi-project space. Questions have recently been raised, by both academics and practitioners alike, concerning the ability of Scrum to scale from the individual project level to the multi-project space. Program management is an area encompassing practice and research areas concerned mainly with harmonizing the existence of competing simultaneous projects. Existing literature on program management essentially perceives projects as endeavours that can be carefully planned at the outset, and controlled in accordance with strong emphasis placed on economic and schedule considerations. This complexion seems to be mostly a result of well-established and ingrained management frameworks like Project Management Institute (PMI), and is largely at odds with emerging practices like Scrum. This disparity represents a gap in the literature and supports the need for deeper exploration. The conduit for this exploration was found in two South African software development small to medium sized enterprises (SMMEs) practicing Scrum. The practical realities and constraints faced by these SMMEs elicited the need for more dynamic program management practices in support of their quest to maximize usage of limited resources. This thesis examines these practices with the aim of providing new insights into the program management discourse in the context of Scrum software development environments. The research approach is qualitative and interpretive in nature. The in-depth exploratory case study research employed the two software SMMEs as units of analysis. Traditional ethnographic techniques were commissioned alongside minimal researcher participation in project activities. Activity Theory honed the data analysis effort and helped to unearth the interrelationships between SMME characteristics, program management practices, and Scrum software development. The results of the data analysis are further refined and fashioned into eleven knowledge areas that represent containers of program management practices. This is the product of thematic analysis of literature and data generated from fieldwork. Seeing as the observed practices were highly dynamic in nature, concept analysis provided a mechanism by which to depict them as snapshots in time. As a theoretical contribution, proposed frameworks were crafted to show how program management practices might be understood in the context of organizations striving towards agile implementation. Furthermore, representations of the mutually influential interfaces of SMME characteristics and Scrum techniques that initiate the observed fluid nature of program management practices, are brought to the fore.

A substantial amount of IT projects fail or stay challenged in meeting their targets based on project schedule, budget and system requirements.  Leading global surveys in the last decade barely indicate any improvement in the statistical performance of IT projects in spite of the fact that a lot of effort has been taken in the past to identify and fix those critical factors on which the success and failure of IT projects are generally based on. The poor trend and the underperformance of IT projects still continue. Different researches based on different approaches identify different critical factors but to a very large extent people and processes are blamed. This thesis is under taken to understand the impact of Information Systems (IS) processes and methodologies in the success and failure of IT projects. Major challenges within IS processes, such as their initial identification, implementation and organizational process awareness are identified through qualitative research methods. ‘Identification and selection of IS process and methodologies’ is identified as a major challenge within IT projects and is discussed in detail as, why and what difficulties organizations face in the process of  selecting processes and methodologies on a given IT project. A couple of methodology selection frameworks to overcome these difficulties are presented along side with their critical review and improvement. We come to a conclusion that there is a growing need for more efficient and competent methodology selection frameworks as the ones which exist today are barely complete and efficient and if they do then only to a limited and partial degree.