Information Technology (IT) projects that resulted from the accelerated technological
pace of change, will enable a path of growth and long term return on investment
(ROI) for organisations. However, embarking on such large scale investments leave
little opportunity to turn back, and sound project management principles will be
required to effectively manage unforeseen issues during the project life cycle, and if
these fail, the organisations will be constantly functioning in crisis mode.
The absence of risk control and risk management can be destructive towards overall
business performance. Management skills are therefore of paramount importance to
reduce direct cost of projects and to handle increased challenges derived from
improvements on existing IT infrastructures. The need for a robust risk management
framework exists although many industry standard methodologies are available to
assist management in the ongoing task of project delivery.
The main objective of the study was to propose a general reference framework that
describes an optimal project risk management process plan for IT projects from
various industry types in South Africa. The literature study focused on identifying key
factors and components within the project risk management academic field. This
framework can also be useful to organisations in developing and expanding existing
project risk management processes to facilitate the preparation and practical
implementation in order to give assurance to stakeholders that all potentially
momentous risks are identified and properly managed.
Shareholders require transparency and high standards of corporate governance that
must therefore function in an environment that cultivate open communication
channels. Shareholder value will be delivered by means of information that is applied
through effective knowledge management initiatives and constantly monitored by
measurable strategic objectives.
The second part of the study entails an empirical investigation that identified the [1]
general project management issues within organisations; [2] perceptions on risk
management practices; [3] key factors within project risk management; [4] and methodologies/frameworks that are applied in practice. The results indicated that it
simply will not suffice with only managing some stages of a project cycle. Information
audits form an integral part in maximising Information Systems (IS) that must be
aligned with the overall organisational strategy. Strategy, performance and
sustainability are inseparable assets of any organisation. IT governance perceived by
organisations as important, can improve its competitive value with effective risk
practises like risk methodology and data management. Knowledge management will
lead management towards better competitive positions as well as increasing the
overall organisational performance levels. Risks identified must be well documented,
and the implementation of risk support systems will enable business management to
anticipate future conditions and plan ahead.
Management tools like Prince2 and PMBOK can guide the project management
process. None of them, however, ensure project success and the project team must
decide on the combination of each tool to implement according to individual
organisational needs.
The study further indicated that an organisation must cultivate an open
communication channel for identifying and escalating risk and issues. Risk
management can be seen as a scientific soul mate to project management with
communication lying at the heart of effective risk management. Effective
communication will establish critical links between shareholders' needs; information
distribution; performance reporting; and management of issues towards
shareholders.
Governance, as the binding glue for organisations, has been one of the fastest
growing elements of risk management. Performance measurement is paramount to
IT governance and must be set and monitored by measurable objectives. COBIT as a
comprehensive framework for IT management, promotes an excellent reference
model to advance IT governance. King III, as non-legislated code towards JSE
Securities Exchange, states that a company should have a risk assessment
framework in place to enable management to pro-actively and continuously address
risks. Basel II has reached the plateau but its effectiveness purely rests on the management of financial institutions to extend beyond the regulation alone. Various
ISO standards can be used in conjunction with these management tools like the ISO
31000 risk management standard to guide management in the effective
implementation of risk practices.
The empirical research indicated that knowledge management will lead organisations
towards better competitive positions as well as increasing the organisation's overall
performance levels. It further indicated that IT governance can improve an
organisation's competitive value with effective risk management practices.
The study revealed that top management involvement is vital with each IT project
intervention along with the required sponsor support. Project risk management is not
only the project teams' responsibility, but the organisation as a whole. The strategy of
an organisation must cultivate an open communication channel within projects;
clearly assign roles and accountability; enforce a repository support system to
monitor and evaluate risks; and to drive risk awareness throughout the organisation. / Thesis (M.B.A.)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2011.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:nwu/oai:dspace.nwu.ac.za:10394/4455 |
| Date | January 2010 |
| Creators | Van Antwerp, Herbert James |
| Publisher | North-West University |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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