Despite the continuous need to enhance the value of public services, information systems projects in the public sector still underperform due to their high velocity of change and strategic ambiguity. Diverse studies have been carried out examining ‘project capabilities’ to contribute to the efficiency of information systems project management. However, most studies of project capabilities focus heavily on the project execution that aims for successful implementation of systems. This supplier-oriented approach leads to overlooking the significance of a project owner’s benefits realisation after implementing the information systems. Moreover, this formulation of project capabilities also does not distinguish between dynamic capabilities for benefits realisation and operational capabilities for project execution. For these reasons, the realisation of a project owner’s information systems benefits has still been far from satisfactory, in addition to having a poor rate of project success. In order to address this issue, this thesis develops a more nuanced perspective on project capabilities by distinguishing the dynamic capabilities of owners from the operational capabilities of suppliers and by developing the concept of owner dynamic capabilities. This is followed by analysis of the importance of benefits management as an owner dynamic capability. The aim of this study is to contribute to a deeper understanding of why public sector information systems projects are so challenging and how the project owner’s information systems benefits can be accelerated. A content analysis method was adopted, and 10 years of National Audit Office Value-for-Money reports were analysed covering 31 information systems projects. Theoretically the concept of ‘owner dynamic capabilities’ is introduced, and the experience of UK central government information systems projects is empirically reviewed. The results bring a key implication by showing the significance of benefits management as a distinctive ‘project back-end’ owner dynamic capability. This thesis makes three main contributions to the current literature in information systems project and benefits management. First, the concept of owner dynamic capability is introduced and theorised based on a unique data set of major public sector information systems projects. Second, the importance of project back-end capability is revealed as a distinctive dynamic capability, which owners require to move their information systems investment from practical completion (the system works as expected) to beneficial use (the system delivers the expected business benefits). Third, the key findings provide the future research agenda for project management disciplines.

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.

Mobile enterprise applications (MEAs) are found in increasing numbers in organisations as smart-devices become an everyday necessity amongst employees and customers. Large amounts are invested in these applications, so it is important to see the value in improved business processes and the consequential improvement in business performance. Realising the benefits from their use is important to obtain the value from these investments. Yet, benefits management (BM) is poorly implemented in companies and a first step to improve this situation is to improve the visibility of the benefits that can be achieved by using MEAs. Hence the primary question asked in this study is “How can MEA benefits be successfully realised?” The strategy used to answer the question was action research in a single organisation using three MEAs in two different action research cycles. The study was conducted in a short-term insurance company in the Western Cape of South Africa with an established IT and project capability. Globally, the short-term insurance industry is under a significant threat from disruption by market entrants who don’t have to navigate legacy systems and who are more agile with their product offerings. Traditional insurers are looking for innovative solutions to transform the way in which insurance is sold and serviced. A BM process, which was modified from the literature, was refined through action cycles in three MEA projects to improve benefits realisation. The result showed that for MEA projects, which are not very large investments relative to other IT projects, a lighter, less cumbersome process was more practical and acceptable in the organisation. The creation of a benefits and risks template, during the action cycles, helped the organisation to build stronger business cases for MEA projects and also allowed for more comprehensive benefit identification, measurement and tracking, ultimately realising business performance improvements. The study also used a survey amongst 88 brokers and assessors to determine the factors which influence their adoption of these MEAs. The most significant factors influencing user adoption were the company’s willingness to fund the smart-devices, the ease of use of the MEA, job relevance and location dependence. A limitation of this study is that the organisation has a particular approach to project funding whereby the importance of BM is weighed against the cost of the project, hence BM is more important for very expensive projects. While the model prescribed in this study was sufficient in this context, it may not be suitable for organisations that are more conscientious about BM. This model would need to be tested in other contexts for transferability. A further limitation was the duration of time available for conducting this study because this was a PhD research project. Further action cycles might have refined the process further. The findings from this study are relevant to researchers and to organisations wanting to deploy MEAs. The BM process defined in this study can be used in MEA projects as a process to manage the identified benefits and ensure that they are realised. The benefits template can be used as a first step in the BM process to build the business case and the risks template can be used to identify potential problems that could hinder benefits realisation and can used to put mitigating actions in place to prevent problems to benefits realisation. The identification of factors influencing adoption of MEA can help organisations focus on these factors to ensure that their MEAs are used and they thereby derive benefits. The theoretical contributions of this study are a process model for the BM body of knowledge and a model explaining the factors influencing symbolic adoption of MEA. The identification and description of benefits and risks extends the body of knowledge for mobile applications research. These specific issues in the context of MEAs in the short-term insurance industry are understudied.

Purpose – This research aims to explore the effectiveness of utilising Benefits Realisation Management (BRM) as part of comprehensive success measures, emphasising the stage in-between appraisal and evaluation of projects in the UK public sector. Design/methodology/approach – The study is constructed as a qualitative case study. Semi-structured interviews are used as part of the inductive, exploratory approach to achieve the study's objectives. It employs an approach based on grounded theory for its analysis. Findings – This paper suggests that Benefits Realisation Management is not used effectively in the UK public sector during projects lifetime to control and monitor projects and ensure their success. The current reviews of projects and programmes, through their execution, may not be sufficient. Research limitations/implications – This study offers contributions to the project success literature and benefits management literature by adding empirically supported insights about BM utilisation during project reviews. The research may be limited primarily by the research method – predominantly the snow-balling data collection. The assumptions made about the UK public sector may limit the broader generalisation of the findings. Practical implications – This research may be used to advise the practising managers of the need to maintain benefits orientation after appraisal throughout a project's lifetime and after delivery. Project governance structures are advised to update and improve their current project review practices. The study additionally identifies possible obstacles to the process and biases. Originality/value – This paper attempts to fill a literature gap by providing empirical results that explore the success definition and measures and the effectiveness of BRM during project execution and gate reviews. Keywords: Benefits Management; Project Success; Project Performance; Performance Measurement; Public Sector. Paper type: Research Thesis

<p>No organisation has an endless and unlimited supply of money, especially in a recessive economy, and therefore decisions have to be made as to which areas an organisation will invest in. As organisations, such as YZ1 financial services organisation, are focused on seeing returns on investment (ROI), implementing software that is not being used&nbsp / will not render any benefits to the organisation. Research problem: Project Managers (PMs) in YZ organisation&rsquo / s IT department need to perform mandated processes, as&nbsp / defined in their centralised repository. PMs need to use Financial and Planning Software (FPS)2 software to perform certain project management activities, as required by their&nbsp / job function. However, it was found that MPP3 software, another tool, was used for more detailed project schedules, as well as activities that were not strictly enforced by&nbsp / management, the Project Office or the Quality Assurance team. Therefore, from this discovery, it was not clear whether the intended benefit of implementing this mandatory&nbsp / software (FPS) was being realised &ndash / since implementing software that is not being utilised fully would not deliver the intended benefits to the IT department (Devaraj &amp / Kohli&nbsp / 2003), even if the software is termed &lsquo / mandatory&rsquo / . Objective: The primary objective of this research was to explore and optimise the key success factors for an effective&nbsp / implementation of mandatory software in a department, in order to derive the intended business benefits. Literature Review: Literature was reviewed in the search for models or&nbsp / theories that explore the relationship between the use of mandatory software and the achievement of business benefits. The Information Management Body of Knowledge&nbsp / (IMBOK) was selected as this framework defines the relationship between IT and the realisation of business benefits, and ultimately the achievement of any business strategy. The literature review focused predominantly on the level of user involvement, change management, as well as factors that influence the usage of mandatory software by&nbsp / individuals. 1. The name of the organisation utilised has been changed. Refer to Ethical Consideration 2. The name of the tools utilised has been changed. Refer to Ethical&nbsp / Consideration and list of acronyms 3. The name of the tools utilised has been changed. Refer to Ethical Consideration and list of acronyms. Focus was given to organisational factors affecting usage, such as top management support and organisational processes. A model was compiled using unique constructs in the Technology Acceptance Model&nbsp / (and TAM2), the Motivational Model (MM) and the Model of PC Utilisation (MPCU) &ndash / in order to test user acceptance of mandatory software. The literature study concludes with a&nbsp / review of an approach to benefits management including five stages, namely: identifying and structuring benefits, planning for the realisation of benefits, executing the plan, in&nbsp / addition to the evaluation and the review. Research design and methodology: A case study was used in this research, as it examined the phenomenon in its natural setting,&nbsp / &nbsp / &nbsp / employing multiple methods of data collection to gather information from a few entities (groups and data sources). In this way, it was not limited to only qualitative or quantitative&nbsp / approaches, but utilised mixed methods instead. A mixed methods approach was used in order to elaborate, enhance and clarify the results from the qualitative research&nbsp / through the results of the quantitative analysis. Findings: The main finding, based on the compilation of three models of user acceptance, proved that FPS was not being utilised&nbsp / as intended. There was also no evidence of an improvement in business operations. Therefore, benefits management was negatively impacted. Organisational processes were&nbsp / dentified as the most important organisational factor, influencing the usage of FPS software. Own technological capability was considered to be the least important factor,&nbsp / as respondents believed that they had sufficient IT skills in order to learn how to use FPS software. Change management was rated negatively / and as a result, it impacted the&nbsp / usage of FPS, as users were not involved in the decision to implement, and had limited interaction in the implementation process. In addition, there was no evidence found that&nbsp / benefits management was conducted in the IT department / and therefore, the impact of using alternative software could not be quantitatively assessed. Recommendations: In concluding this research, it is recommended that the &ldquo / best practice&rdquo / , derived from the pertinent literate should be followed more diligently if YZ organisation is to benefit from the&nbsp / implementation of mandatory software. For example, in this research, it was found that top management&rsquo / s support of FPS (second most important organisational factor influencing use) was lacking, despite the literature suggestion that senior management involvement in changing technology is crucial for organisational commitment. It is&nbsp / suggested that a more formal approach to benefits management should be implemented. It is also recommended that further study should be conducted &ndash / in order to explore&nbsp / the applicability of the Japanese framing (achieving benefits from IT software through the concept of strategic instinct, rather than strategic alignment) in the context of a&nbsp / developing country (such as South Africa).</p>

<p>No organisation has an endless and unlimited supply of money, especially in a recessive economy, and therefore decisions have to be made as to which areas an organisation will invest in. As organisations, such as YZ1 financial services organisation, are focused on seeing returns on investment (ROI), implementing software that is not being used&nbsp / will not render any benefits to the organisation. Research problem: Project Managers (PMs) in YZ organisation&rsquo / s IT department need to perform mandated processes, as&nbsp / defined in their centralised repository. PMs need to use Financial and Planning Software (FPS)2 software to perform certain project management activities, as required by their&nbsp / job function. However, it was found that MPP3 software, another tool, was used for more detailed project schedules, as well as activities that were not strictly enforced by&nbsp / management, the Project Office or the Quality Assurance team. Therefore, from this discovery, it was not clear whether the intended benefit of implementing this mandatory&nbsp / software (FPS) was being realised &ndash / since implementing software that is not being utilised fully would not deliver the intended benefits to the IT department (Devaraj &amp / Kohli&nbsp / 2003), even if the software is termed &lsquo / mandatory&rsquo / . Objective: The primary objective of this research was to explore and optimise the key success factors for an effective&nbsp / implementation of mandatory software in a department, in order to derive the intended business benefits. Literature Review: Literature was reviewed in the search for models or&nbsp / theories that explore the relationship between the use of mandatory software and the achievement of business benefits. The Information Management Body of Knowledge&nbsp / (IMBOK) was selected as this framework defines the relationship between IT and the realisation of business benefits, and ultimately the achievement of any business strategy. The literature review focused predominantly on the level of user involvement, change management, as well as factors that influence the usage of mandatory software by&nbsp / individuals. 1. The name of the organisation utilised has been changed. Refer to Ethical Consideration 2. The name of the tools utilised has been changed. Refer to Ethical&nbsp / Consideration and list of acronyms 3. The name of the tools utilised has been changed. Refer to Ethical Consideration and list of acronyms. Focus was given to organisational factors affecting usage, such as top management support and organisational processes. A model was compiled using unique constructs in the Technology Acceptance Model&nbsp / (and TAM2), the Motivational Model (MM) and the Model of PC Utilisation (MPCU) &ndash / in order to test user acceptance of mandatory software. The literature study concludes with a&nbsp / review of an approach to benefits management including five stages, namely: identifying and structuring benefits, planning for the realisation of benefits, executing the plan, in&nbsp / addition to the evaluation and the review. Research design and methodology: A case study was used in this research, as it examined the phenomenon in its natural setting,&nbsp / &nbsp / &nbsp / employing multiple methods of data collection to gather information from a few entities (groups and data sources). In this way, it was not limited to only qualitative or quantitative&nbsp / approaches, but utilised mixed methods instead. A mixed methods approach was used in order to elaborate, enhance and clarify the results from the qualitative research&nbsp / through the results of the quantitative analysis. Findings: The main finding, based on the compilation of three models of user acceptance, proved that FPS was not being utilised&nbsp / as intended. There was also no evidence of an improvement in business operations. Therefore, benefits management was negatively impacted. Organisational processes were&nbsp / dentified as the most important organisational factor, influencing the usage of FPS software. Own technological capability was considered to be the least important factor,&nbsp / as respondents believed that they had sufficient IT skills in order to learn how to use FPS software. Change management was rated negatively / and as a result, it impacted the&nbsp / usage of FPS, as users were not involved in the decision to implement, and had limited interaction in the implementation process. In addition, there was no evidence found that&nbsp / benefits management was conducted in the IT department / and therefore, the impact of using alternative software could not be quantitatively assessed. Recommendations: In concluding this research, it is recommended that the &ldquo / best practice&rdquo / , derived from the pertinent literate should be followed more diligently if YZ organisation is to benefit from the&nbsp / implementation of mandatory software. For example, in this research, it was found that top management&rsquo / s support of FPS (second most important organisational factor influencing use) was lacking, despite the literature suggestion that senior management involvement in changing technology is crucial for organisational commitment. It is&nbsp / suggested that a more formal approach to benefits management should be implemented. It is also recommended that further study should be conducted &ndash / in order to explore&nbsp / the applicability of the Japanese framing (achieving benefits from IT software through the concept of strategic instinct, rather than strategic alignment) in the context of a&nbsp / developing country (such as South Africa).</p>

Queensland University of Technology has radically restructured the top-level governance systems for information technology planning and management. Additionally, QUT has integrated information technology planning and management with physical infrastructure planning and management via the Asset Management Plan. To complete the approach, QUT has instigated a top-level governance committee for IT to ensure alignment with organisational goals and strategies. This is an unusual development for IT planning and management at an Australian university and attracted attention from the Commonwealth Department of Education, Science and Training (DEST) as well as other universities in the Australian tertiary education sector and led to the research study. This research studies the redevelopment of the information technology planning and management approach. The survey research determines the level of integration of IT and university planning, and the correlation of this integration to effectiveness of IT planning. The case study documents the changes, highlights the advantages and disadvantages of the new approach and provides a model for change in IT management at other Australian universities. It is evident from current literature on information technology management and strategic planning that these developments are validated as steps toward achieving best practice in information technology planning and management. Through rigorous conduct of interviews, observations and review of documentation and through application of a survey questionnaire to a defined population, the research reviews the developments and ongoing implementation of the planning and management infrastructure. Among the outcomes from the new approach are better alignment of information technology investment with QUT goals and objectives, better benefits realisation from information technology investment, better project management of information technology development and innovation, and increased flexibility and accountability in information technology expenditure. Finally, a comparison to other information technology planning and management methods in place at Australian universities demonstrates the uniqueness of the QUT approach. The thesis reports the benefits and difficulties associated with this approach, and provides a context for future development of IT planning, management and governance at QUT.

Magister Commercii (Information Management) - MCom(IM) / No organisation has an endless and unlimited supply of money, especially in a recessive economy, and therefore decisions have to be made as to which areas an organisation will invest in. As organisations, such as YZ1 financial services organisation, are focused on seeing returns on investment (ROI), implementing software that is not being used will not render any benefits to the organisation. Research problem: Project Managers (PMs) in YZ organisation’s IT department need to perform mandated processes, as defined in their centralised repository. PMs need to use Financial and Planning Software (FPS)2 software to perform certain project management activities, as required by their job function. However, it was found that MPP3 software, another tool, was used for more detailed project schedules, as well as activities that were not strictly enforced by management, the Project Office or the Quality Assurance team. Therefore, from this discovery, it was not clear whether the intended benefit of implementing this mandatory software (FPS) was being realised – since implementing software that is not being utilised fully would not deliver the intended benefits to the IT department (Devaraj & Kohli 2003), even if the software is termed ‘mandatory’. Objective: The primary objective of this research was to explore and optimise the key success factors for an effective implementation of mandatory software in a department, in order to derive the intended business benefits. Literature Review: Literature was reviewed in the search for models or theories that explore the relationship between the use of mandatory software and the achievement of business benefits. The Information Management Body of Knowledge (IMBOK) was selected as this framework defines the relationship between IT and the realisation of business benefits, and ultimately the achievement of any business strategy. The literature review focused predominantly on the level of user involvement, change management, as well as factors that influence the usage of mandatory software by individuals. 1. The name of the organisation utilised has been changed. Refer to Ethical Consideration 2. The name of the tools utilised has been changed. Refer to Ethical Consideration and list of acronyms 3. The name of the tools utilised has been changed. Refer to Ethical Consideration and list of acronyms. Focus was given to organisational factors affecting usage, such as top management support and organisational processes. A model was compiled using unique constructs in the Technology Acceptance Model (and TAM2), the Motivational Model (MM) and the Model of PC Utilisation (MPCU) – in order to test user acceptance of mandatory software. The literature study concludes with a review of an approach to benefits management including five stages, namely: identifying and structuring benefits, planning for the realisation of benefits, executing the plan, in addition to the evaluation and the review. Research design and methodology: A case study was used in this research, as it examined the phenomenon in its natural setting, employing multiple methods of data collection to gather information from a few entities (groups and data sources). In this way, it was not limited to only qualitative or quantitative approaches, but utilised mixed methods instead. A mixed methods approach was used in order to elaborate, enhance and clarify the results from the qualitative research through the results of the quantitative analysis. Findings: The main finding, based on the compilation of three models of user acceptance, proved that FPS was not being utilised as intended. There was also no evidence of an improvement in business operations. Therefore, benefits management was negatively impacted. Organisational processes were dentified as the most important organisational factor, influencing the usage of FPS software. Own technological capability was considered to be the least important factor, as respondents believed that they had sufficient IT skills in order to learn how to use FPS software. Change management was rated negatively; and as a result, it impacted the usage of FPS, as users were not involved in the decision to implement, and had limited interaction in the implementation process. In addition, there was no evidence found that benefits management was conducted in the IT department; and therefore, the impact of using alternative software could not be quantitatively assessed. Recommendations: In concluding this research, it is recommended that the “best practice”, derived from the pertinent literate should be followed more diligently if YZ organisation is to benefit from the implementation of mandatory software. For example, in this research, it was found that top management’s support of FPS (second most important organisational factor influencing use) was lacking, despite the literature suggestion that senior management involvement in changing technology is crucial for organisational commitment. It is suggested that a more formal approach to benefits management should be implemented. It is also recommended that further study should be conducted – in order to explore the applicability of the Japanese framing (achieving benefits from IT software through the concept of strategic instinct, rather than strategic alignment) in the context of a developing country (such as South Africa). / South Africa

Magister Commercii (Information Management) - MCom(IM) / No organisation has an endless and unlimited supply of money, especially in a recessive economy, and therefore decisions have to be made as to which areas an organisation will invest in. As organisations, such as YZ1 financial services organisation, are focused on seeing returns on investment (ROI), implementing software that is not being used will not render any benefits to the organisation.Research problem: Project Managers (PMs) in YZ organisation’s IT department need to perform mandated processes, as defined in their centralised repository. PMs need to use Financial and Planning Software (FPS)2 software to perform certain project management activities, as required by their job function. However, it was found that MPP3 software, another tool, was used for more detailed project schedules, as well as activities that were not strictly enforced by management, the Project Office or the Quality Assurance team.Therefore, from this discovery, it was not clear whether the intended benefit of implementing this mandatory software (FPS) was being realised – since implementing software that is not being utilised fully would not deliver the intended benefits to the IT department (Devaraj & Kohli 2003), even if the software is termed ‘mandatory’.Objective: The primary objective of this research was to explore and optimise the key success factors for an effective implementation of mandatory software in a department, in order to derive the intended business benefits.Literature Review: Literature was reviewed in the search for models or theories that explore the relationship between the use of mandatory software and the achievement of business benefits. The Information Management Body of Knowledge (IMBOK) was selected as this framework defines the relationship between IT and the realisation of business benefits, and ultimately the achievement of any business strategy.The literature review focused predominantly on the level of user involvement, change management, as well as factors that influence the usage of mandatory software by individuals.1 The name of the organisation utilised has been changed. Refer to Ethical Consideration 2 The name of the tools utilised has been changed. Refer to Ethical Consideration and list of acronyms 3 The name of the tools utilised has been changed. Refer to Ethical Consideration and list of acronyms Focus was given to organisational factors affecting usage, such as top management support and organisational processes. A model was compiled using unique constructs in the Technology Acceptance Model (and TAM2), the Motivational Model (MM) and the Model of PC Utilisation (MPCU) – in order to test user acceptance of mandatory software.The literature study concludes with a review of an approach to benefits management including five stages, namely: identifying and structuring benefits, planning for the realisation of benefits, executing the plan, in addition to the evaluation and the review.Research design and methodology: A case study was used in this research, as it examined the phenomenon in its natural setting, employing multiple methods of data collection to gather information from a few entities (groups and data sources). In this way, it was not limited to only qualitative or quantitative approaches, but utilised mixed methods instead. A mixed methods approach was used in order to elaborate, enhance and clarify the results from the qualitative research through the results of the quantitative analysis.Findings: The main finding, based on the compilation of three models of user acceptance, proved that FPS was not being utilised as intended. There was also no evidence of an improvement in business operations. Therefore, benefits management was negatively impacted. Organisational processes were identified as the most important organisational factor, influencing the usage of FPS software. Own technological capability was considered to be the least important factor, as respondents believed that they had sufficient IT skills in order to learn how to use FPS software.Change management was rated negatively; and as a result, it impacted the usage of FPS, as users were not involved in the decision to implement, and had limited interaction in the implementation process. In addition, there was no evidence found that benefits management was conducted in the IT department; and therefore, the impact of using alternative software could not be quantitatively assessed.Recommendations: In concluding this research, it is recommended that the “best practice”,derived from the pertinent literate should be followed more diligently if YZ organisation is to benefit from the implementation of mandatory software. For example, in this research, it was found that top management’s support of FPS (second most important organisational factor influencing use) was lacking, despite the literature suggestion that senior management involvement in changing technology is crucial for organisational commitment.It is suggested that a more formal approach to benefits management should be implemented. It is also recommended that further study should be conducted – in order to explore the applicability of the Japanese framing (achieving benefits from IT software through the concept of strategic instinct, rather than strategic alignment) in the context of a developing country (such as South Africa).