An increasing number of ebusiness projects are undertaken as voluntary collaborations of independent organizations. These projects are known as ‘ebusiness collaborative projects’. Industry sources estimate only about 20% of these projects achieve their stated objectives due partly to inadequate project management. The volunteer and virtual nature of the collaboration and relationships among the participating organizations means existing project management frameworks and methods are not appropriate because they assume project management has authority, or that projects occur within a single organization. This thesis investigates the nature of ebusiness collaborative projects to provide insight into management approaches that increase the likelihood of success. The research questions are: What concepts need to be addressed in a framework capable of supporting effective management and providing an understanding of ebusiness collaborative project outcomes? Is there an existing framework with this capability? Are the concepts supported by empirical evidence and a sound theoretical base? Can these concepts be used to form an integrated framework suitable for use by practitioners? A qualitative meta analysis of 6 published case studies identified characteristics that explained challenges specific to ebusiness collaborative project management. Empirical research identified concepts that need to be addressed in a management framework, namely: 3 organizational levels – organizations, teams and representatives; 3 stages of the eBusiness Collaborative Project Lifecycle© and; 4 management meta factors - motivation, capability, communication and coordination These concepts were supported by theory. In the absence of an existing framework, the concepts were used to develop the Integrated Framework for Managing eBusiness Collaborative Projects. Five additional case studies were used to evaluate the Integrated Framework and its usefulness for practitioners. Findings indicate the Integrated Framework is capable of supporting effective management and providing an understanding of the outcomes of ebusiness collaborative projects within the Australian context. This thesis contributes to knowledge by integrating and building on theory and existing research about project management, collaborations and virtuality and applying these findings to a real world environment. The Integrated Framework enhances industry best practice and may apply to all collaborative projects in which participating organizations volunteer to work towards an agreed objective or outcome.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ADTP/187380 |
| Date | January 2007 |
| Creators | Cameron, Julie, Computer Science & Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, UNSW |
| Publisher | Awarded by:University of New South Wales. School of Computer Science and Engineering |
| Source Sets | Australiasian Digital Theses Program |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Rights | Copyright Julie Cameron, http://unsworks.unsw.edu.au/copyright |
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