CH8 notes: Managing Projects 8.1.

Importance of Project management Consequences of poor project management: Cost overruns, time slippage, technical shortfalls impairing performance, failure to obtain anticipated benefits. Project management deals with five variables: scope, time, cost, quality, and risk. 8.2. Selecting projects Each level of management in the hierarchy is responsible for specific aspects of systems projects, and this structure helps give priority to the most important systems projects for the organisation. Information Systems Plan includes: 1. Purpose of Plan; Strategic business plan rationale; Current Systems; New Developments; Management strategies; Implementation plan; Budget requirements Critical Success Factors (CSFs): this approach relies on interviews with key managers to identify CSFs. Individual CSFs are aggregated to develop CSFs for the entire firm. Systems can then be built to deliver information on these CSFs. But, whatmay be considered critical to a management may not be important for the organisation as a whole. (can be biased toward top managers) Portfolio Analysis: used to evaluate alternative system projects.

Cautiously examine Avoid

Identify and develop Routine Projects

Scoring Models: useful for selecting projects where many criteria must be considered. The most important outcome of scoring model is the agreement on the criteria used to judge a system not the score. 8.3. Establishing the Business Value of Information Systems. Info Sys Cost and benefits Cost: Hardware, telecommunications, software, services, personnel Benefits: Tangible (cost savings); Intangible Capital budgeting for info sys: measure value of investing in long-term capital investment projects. Real Option Pricing Models: useful when considering highly uncertain IT investment. Limitations of Fins Model: focus on financial and technical aspects thus overlook social and organisational dimensions of IS. 8.4. Managing Project risk Dimensions of Project risk: size, project structure, experience with technology. Concept of Implementation Implementation: refers to all organisational activities working towards the adoption, management, and routinisation of an innovation. Change agent: system analyst. The role of end users More opportunities to mould the system according to their priorities thus control outcome. Likely to react positively. Close gap between user-designer communication gap so pursue same goals. Management Support and Commitment Backing and commitment of management at various levels more likely to be perceived positively by users. Change Management Challenges for business Process Reengineering, enterprise applications, and mergers and acquisition. Controlling risk factors Managing technical Complexity: project leaders need heavy technical expertise and project management experience with highly experienced members. Formal Planning and control tools: for documenting and monitoring project plans Gant Chart: list project activities and their corresponding start and completion dates. Visually represents timing and duration of different task and human resource requirements. Pert Chart: Program Evaluation and Review Technique. Depicts project tasks and their interrelationships such as which activities needed to be completed before another task can start.

Increasing user involvement and overcoming user resistance: encourage user participation (active members in project team like user champions identified and given leadership position, answering users question promptly, incorporate users feedback and show willingness to help); and address issue of counterimplementation ( deliberate strategy to thwart the implementation of an IS or an innovation in organisation. Resistance may take the form of increased error rates, disruptions, and even sabotage. User education and training, management support, better incentives for users who corporate. Make new system userfriendly by improving end user interface.

Designing for the organisation Organisational factors in Sys Planning and implementation: Transformation in job functions Power relationships Ergonomics: considers design of jobs, health issues Employee grievance resolution procedures Employees participation Standards and performance monitoring Sociotechnical Design Project Management software tools