This study aims at exploring the ways project managers can communicate within a multicultural team in an IT project. The purpose is to make the project process understandable and to ensure that the instructions are perceived by everyone in the same way, regardless of their cultural differences. A qualitative study has been conducted to gain more insights from both IT project managers and team members working in Finland, France, Italy, Uganda, and the USA. The empirical findings allowed the authors to gather enough information to present a set of skills that will help project managers develop their communication abilities when working with multicultural teams in IT projects. The majority of competencies found to be useful are soft skills related to interpersonal communication and their implications for team dynamics: empathy, clarity of thought, respect and responsibility, cultural awareness, and multicultural leadership. The findings contribute to both confirming existing theories and providing new information that could be implemented in academic articles, especially concerning skills useful to project managers.

An individual’s bad news reporting behavior has been studied from a number of perspectives and has resulted in a variety of research streams including the MUM effect (or reluctance to transmit bad news), whistle-blowing, and organizational silence. While many scholars in different areas have studied reporting behavior, it has not been widely discussed in the information systems literature. This dissertation research addresses an individual’s bad news reporting behavior (and its antecedents) in the troubled IT project context. Many social phenomena are multi-causal (Hollander 1971). The silence phenomenon involved in an individual’s bad news reporting behavior is multi-causal too. While prior research has identified many antecedents to the bad news reporting behavior, it has not provided any systematic approach for categorizing them. In this dissertation, the antecedents are categorized into three different levels: personal factors (i.e., individual-level factors), situational factors (i.e., project-level factors), and organizational factors. This research empirically investigates how the antecedents at different levels affect (i.e., encourage or discourage) an individual’s decision to report or not report bad news in the IT project context. The dissertation follows a multi-paper model, and includes three independent, empirical studies, each with its own research model focusing on personal, situational, and organizational factors.

Motivated by scarce academic consideration of project management control frameworks, this article explores usage, value and structure of frameworks with a focus on the popular Control Objectives for IT and related Technology (CobiT) construct. We attempt to add to an empirically validated structure of internal control over IT project management by including CobiT's views on the intended domain of content. Results from the empirical survey indicate that the metrics suggested by CobiT are regarded as feasible and important by project management professionals, and are regularly used in controlling practice. Experience, regularity of significant projects and the size of the hosting organisations, however, seem to be stronger moderators of success rates than the use of a management control system with or without support of CobiT. CobiT's suggestions are of generic nature and in particular useful for programme performance management. The latent dimensions of project quality on process and activity levels were not validated and gaps to other project assessment models were identified.

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.

Submitted by Nadir Basilio (nadirsb@uninove.br) on 2018-02-21T15:47:54Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Rogerio Alves Soares.pdf: 1327786 bytes, checksum: de2f81862b4cbcbbd363fb93a33eb36b (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-02-21T15:47:54Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Rogerio Alves Soares.pdf: 1327786 bytes, checksum: de2f81862b4cbcbbd363fb93a33eb36b (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-12-16 / A importância dos projetos de Tecnologia de Informação (TI) para os negócios aumentou e os resultados dos projetos impactam diretamente a estratégia e os lucros das empresas. Neste contexto, o processo de gerenciamento de risco pode ajudar gerentes de projeto a analisar as consequências das mudanças a serem feitas no objetivo e nas baselines dos projetos. O gerenciamento de riscos também permite aos gerentes de projetos a terem uma visão holística dos projetos. Apesar dos gerentes de projetos reconhecerem a importância do gerenciamento de riscos, muitos o fazem parcialmente, ou até mesmo não conseguem gerenciar os riscos devido às dificuldades diárias e à pressão do tempo. Plataformas wiki possuem algumas características herdadas das ferramentas Web 2.0 que podem ajudar gerentes de projetos no gerenciamento de riscos. Wikis também podem ajudar gerentes de projeto a envolver suas equipes e stakeholders nas discussões, na divulgação e no monitoramento dos riscos. Esta dissertação propõe um framework, chamado Wiki for Risk Management (W4RM), a ser adotado em gerenciamento riscos de projetos de TI. A pesquisa foi dividida em três estágios: revisão de literatura, grupo focal e entrevistas conduzidas a partir de abordagem metodológica construtivista. Esta pesquisa concluiu que gerentes de projetos enfrentam uma série de dificuldades ao gerenciarem, dificuldades estas já apontadas em por outros autores na área de gerenciamento de projetos. Os resultados indicam que devido às estas dificuldades, gerentes de projetos não conseguem gerenciar riscos em seus projetos como esperado. Uma importante contribuição desta pesquisa para a teoria é uma robusta análise dos problemas existente no gerenciamento de riscos. Outra contribuição teórica é o framework proposto para gerenciamento de riscos em projetos de TI. Uma contribuição para a prática é que o framework W4RM pode ser usado por profissionais em gerenciamento de projetos. / The importance of Information Technology (IT) projects for business is increasing and project results directly impact organizations’ strategy and performance. In this scenario, risk management processes can help project managers to analyze the consequences of changes on project goals and baselines. By managing risks, project managers can have a holistic view of projects. Despite project managers recognizing the importance of risk management, many of them only manage risks partially or even, skip this process due to daily difficulties and time pressure. Wiki platforms have some characteristics and principles inherited from Web 2.0 tools that can be useful when adopted on risk management. Wikis can help project managers evolve their teams and stakeholders on the process of identifying, reporting and monitoring risks on projects. This thesis proposes a framework - the Wiki for Risk Management (W4RM) - that can be used on risk management in IT projects. The process of designing the framework was divided into three stages: literature review, one focus group and interviews based on a constructivist methodological approach. This research points out that professionals face a series of difficulties as they engage on risk management, as previously argued by other authors on project management research area. Due to these difficulties, project managers are not able to manage risks as expected. An important theoretical contribution of this research is the robust analysis existing issues on risk management in IT settings. Another contribution of this thesis is the proposed framework for risk management for IT projects. For managerial implication of this research the W4RM framework that can be used by practitioners on project management.

IT projects are complex and often numerous challenges arise during the projects’ execution. The ten knowledge areas designed to support projects management more often challenge include the project management team to deliver the outcome on time. The present study tries to answer the question of whether the use of a technological management tool in project management can help to solve most problematic knowledge areas, and to meet the delivery deadlines. The author runs a case study at an IT consulting firm. The purpose for the study is to investigate if technologies can help to resolve these issues, and to recommend a project management tool for more efficient delivery time. In a two phased study, first, the author identifies the project management knowledge areas that may have impacted IT project delivery delays, and second, the author investigates if using a project management tool can solve the delivery time issue. Results from the first phase show that delivery issues emerged at different levels, namely: stakeholders, resources, scope, quality, and integration management.  To investigate if a management tool could help to overcome the delays in delivery, a selection of technological tools was made. Based on the results from the first phase so the technological tool integrates functions and features for stakeholders, resources, scope quality, and integration management. The interviewees then ranked three technological tools and shared opinions on possible adoption of any of these tools. Final analysis show that interviewees think that proposed technological tools can resolve some of the issues experienced in the projects: mainly, the transition between departments, resource allocation, to visualise the quality management, plan for communication with stakeholders, and clearer handling of the project’s requirements. In the final results from the second interview, the tool that can help to solve issues with the five most problematic knowledge areas, and thus the delivery delays issue, for the case company is Genius Project.

This dissertation investigates how executives engage in information technology projects and how organizational control of IT projects forms and evolves over time. It contains an in-depth account of a large, multi-year IT project in a financial company. The story of the “New Deposit System” project provides insights into the dynamics of IT projects in organizations and the challenges facing executives engaging in the governance of these complex undertakings. Several characteristics of IT projects, such as their abstract nature, technological complexity and non-repetitiveness, render several of the manager’s trusted forms of control impracticable. Even the ideal of “strong top management support” is found to be problematic: it is an extraordinary measure unlikely to translate well into regular organizational practice. What we find instead are actors in search of means and ways to exercise influence. We find control to be reciprocal and dynamic, influenced by the organization and its history, by the principles and practices of corporate IT management and by the values and norms of the IT profession. In this environment, selection of key people, evolving trust, other people’s assessments and the construction and reshaping of a project image become important parts of the managerial repertoire for IT project governance. / Diss. Stockholm : Handelshögskolan, 2002

O alinhamento do portfólio de projetos das empresas às estratégias de negócios das organizações é uma relevante e complexa tarefa. A Governança Corporativa e a Governança de Tecnologia da Informação são apontadas como importantes elementos para atingir esse objetivo. Entretanto, ainda são recentes os estudos sobre os benefícios e a importância da Governança de TI nas empresas e na condução de projetos de TI. Nesta dissertação, é apresentado um estudo sobre a percepção dos consultores e gerentes de projetos quanto à importância da Governança de Tecnologia da Informação na implementação de Sistemas de Informações Gerenciais (SIGs). Adotou-se, como método, a pesquisa exploratória que utilizou como delineamento um estudo de caso, com abordagem qualitativa. Os dados foram obtidos pela aplicação de um questionário e analisados por meio das técnicas estatístico-descritivo. Os resultados obtidos apontam que o uso das melhores práticas de Governança de TI, na percepção dos consultores e gerentes de Projetos de TI, são importantes para o sucesso na implementação de SIG. Com destaque para as questões de planejamento que apresentaram maior relevância em contrapartida as questões de controle consideradas de menor relevância. / The alignment of the project portfolio of the companies to the business strategies of the organizations is an important and complex task. The Corporate Governance and Governance of Information Technology are identified as important elements to achieve this goal. However, recent studies are still about the benefits and importance of IT governance in enterprises and conducting IT projects. This dissertation presents a study on the perceptions of consultants and project managers on the importance of Information Technology Governance implementation of Management Information Systems. It was adopted as a method, exploratory research design that used as a case study, with qualitative approach. Data were collected through questionnaire and the results based on descriptive statistical method. The results indicate that the best practices of IT governance, perceptions of consultants and managers of IT projects are important to the success of Management Information Systems implementation. Highlighting the issues of planning that was more relevant, on the other hand, control issues was considered less relevant.

Bakgrund:  Digitaliseringens framfart påverkar i princip allting i dagens samhälle. Detta har lett till att företagens IT-landskap blir alltmer komplexa. För att hantera detta introduceras många olika IT-projekt inom organisationer. Dessa IT-projekt har dock en historia av att misslyckas och det finns därför mängder av rekommenderade implementationsprocesser samt litteratur som beskriver hur man bör hantera projektkomplexitet. Däremot saknas forskning som utreder om verksamhetsarkitektur bidrar till projektkomplexiteten samt empiriska undersökningar angående hur detta hanteras.  Syfte: Syftet med studien är att undersöka hur verksamhetsarkitektur kan påverka projektkomplexitet och i sin tur implementation av nya affärssystem. Vidare ämnar studien skapa förståelse för hur projektkomplexitet hanteras i implementeringsprocesser.   Metod: Denna studie är en kvalitativ fallstudie, där vi undersökt ett företag inom miljö- och återvinningsbranschen. Empirin har samlats in genom fem semistrukturerade intervjuer där urvalet varit målstyrt. Slutsats: Denna studie visar att verksamhetsarkitekturen påverkar de faktorer som ingår i projektkomplexitet. I detta fall har det även påverkat implementeringen av nya affärssystem negativt. Vidare visar studien en bristfällig hantering av projektkomplexitet då fallföretaget inte haft något tillvägagångssätt för att vare sig förebygga komplexitet eller hantera det utmaningar som uppstått. / Background: The advance of digitalisation affects almost everything in today's society. This has led to an increasingly complex IT landscape for businesses. To cope with this, many different IT projects are being introduced within organisations. However, these IT projects have a history of failing and there is therefore a wealth of recommended implementation processes and literature describing how to deal with project complexity. However, there is a lack of research investigating whether enterprise architecture contributes to project complexity and empirical studies on how this is managed. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate how architecture has affected project complexity and in turn the implementation of new business systems. Furthermore, the study intends to provide an understanding of how project complexity is handled within implementation processes.   Completion: This study is a qualitative case study, in which we investigated a company in the environmental and recycling industry. The empirical data have been collected through five semi-structured interviews where the sample was purposive.  Conclusion: This study shows that the enterprise architecture influences the factors of project complexity. In this case, it has also negatively affected the implementation of new enterprise systems. Furthermore, the study shows a poor management of project complexity as the case company had no approach to either prevent complexity or manage the challenges that arose.

This research focuses on the role that polychronic Communication (PC) plays in the productivity and project success of Information Technology (IT) Project Managers (PMs). PC refers to a communication style where the communicator switches rapidly between several conversations, irrespective of topic similarity, instead of completing one conversation before starting another. An online questionnaire collected data from Information Technology workers in multiple industries across the globe. The data consisted out of two distinct groups: IT PMs (n = 202) and IT project team members (n = 122). Statistical analysis on the dataset considered the perspectives of both participant groups, first separately and then combined. The results showed relationships between: 1. IT PMs’ individual polychronicity and their PC. 2. IT PMs’ PC and their opinion of the influence of PC on the success of the projects that they are managing. 3. IT PMs’ PC and their opinion of the influence of PC on their productivity. 4. IT PMs’ PC and the corporate polychronicity of their employers. In addition, when IT PMs rate their PC, the rating is lower than when other IT project team members rate the IT PMs’ PC. By contrast, there was no difference between IT PMs rating the influence of their PC on their project success and productivity versus IT project teams rating the influence of the IT PMs’ PC on their project success and productivity. These findings contribute to the factors that a corporation has to consider in hiring new IT PMs or training their current IT PMs. / Information Science / M. Sc. (Information Systems)