Chapter 2:
The Project Management and
Information Technology Context
Learning Objectives
o Describe the systems view of project
management and how it applies to IT projects.
o Understand organizations, including the four
frames, organizational structures, and
organizational culture.
o Explain why stakeholder management and top
management commitment are critical for a
project’s success.
Learning Objectives (Cont.)
o Understand the concept of a project phase and
the project life cycle and distinguish between
project development and product development.
o Discuss the unique attributes and diverse nature
of IT projects.
Projects cannot be Run in Isolation
o Projects must operate in a broad organizational
environment.
o Project managers need to use systems
thinking:
n Taking a holistic view of a project and
understanding how it relates to the larger
organization.
o Senior managers must make sure projects
continue to support current business needs.
A Systems View of Project Management
o The term systems approach emerged in the 1950s to
describe a holistic and analytical approach to solving
complex problems.
o Three parts include:
n Systems philosophy: an overall model for thinking about
things as systems, which are interacting components that
work within an environment to fulfill some purpose.
n Systems analysis: Problem-solving approach.
n Systems management: Address business, technological, and
organizational issues before making changes to systems.
Three Sphere Model for Systems Management
Understand Organizations
Structural frame:
Focuses on roles and
responsibilities,
coordination, and control.
Organization charts help
define this frame.
Human resources frame:
Focuses on providing
harmony between needs of
the organization and needs
of people.
Political frame:
Assumes organizations
are coalitions composed
of varied individuals and
interest groups. Conflict
and power are key issues.
Symbolic frame: Focuses
on symbols and meanings
related to events. Culture is
important.
Organizational Culture
o Organizational culture is a set of shared
assumptions, values, and behaviors that
characterize the functioning of an organization.
o Many experts believe the underlying causes of
many companies’ problems are not the
structure or staff, but the culture.
Ten Characteristics of Organizational Culture
o
o
o
o
o
Member identity*
Group emphasis*
People focus
Unit integration*
Control
o
o
o
o
o
Risk tolerance*
Reward criteria*
Conflict tolerance*
Means-ends orientation
Open-systems focus*
*Project work is most successful in an organizational culture
where these characteristics are highly prevalent and where the
other characteristics are balanced.
Stakeholder Management
o Project managers must take time to identify,
understand, and manage relationships with all
project stakeholders.
o Using the four frames of organizations can help
you meet stakeholder needs and expectations.
o Senior executives and top management are very
important stakeholders.
Importance of Top Management Commitment
o Several studies cite top management commitment as
one of the key factors associated with project success.
o Top management can help project managers:
n Secure adequate resources.
n Get approval for unique project needs in a timely
manner.
n Receive cooperation from people throughout the
organization.
n Learn how to be better leaders.
Best Practice
o IT governance addresses the authority and control
for key IT activities in organizations, including IT
infrastructure, IT use, and project management.
o A lack of IT governance can be dangerous, as
evidenced by three well-publicized IT project
failures in Australia (Sydney Water’s customer
relationship management system, the Royal
Melbourne Institute of Technology’s academic
management system, and One.Tel’s billing system).
Need for Organizational Commitment to
Information Technology (IT)
o If the organization has a negative attitude
toward IT, it will be difficult for an IT project
to succeed.
o Having a Chief Information Officer (CIO) at a
high level in the organization helps IT projects.
o Assigning non-IT people to IT projects also
encourages more commitment.
Need for Organizational Standards
o Standards and guidelines help project managers be
more effective.
o Senior management can encourage:
n The use of standard forms and software for project
management.
n The development and use of guidelines for writing
project plans or providing status information.
n The creation of a project management office or
center of excellence.
Project Phases and the Project Life Cycle
o A project life cycle is a collection of project
phases that defines:
n What work will be performed in each phase.
n What deliverables will be produced and when.
n Who is involved in each phase.
n How management will control and approve work
produced in each phase.
o A deliverable is a product or service produced or
provided as part of a project.
More on Project Phases
o In the early phases of a project life cycle:
n Resource needs are usually lowest.
n The level of uncertainty (risk) is highest.
n Project stakeholders have the greatest opportunity to influence
the project.
o In the middle phases of a project life cycle:
n The certainty of completing a project increases.
n More resources are needed.
o In the final phase of a project life cycle:
n The focus is on ensuring that project requirements were met.
n The sponsor approves completion of the project.
Phases of the Traditional Project Life Cycle
Product Life Cycles
o Products also have life cycles.
o A systems development life cycle (SDLC) is a
framework for describing the phases involved in
developing information systems.
o Systems development projects can follow:
n Predictive Software Development (PSD) life cycle: The
scope of the project can be clearly articulated and the
schedule and cost can be predicted.
n Adaptive Software Development (ASD) life cycle:
Projects are mission driven and component based, and use
time-based cycles to meet target dates.
Predictive Life Cycle Models
o Waterfall
model: Has
well-defined,
linear stages
of systems
development
and support.
Predictive Life Cycle Models (Cont.)
o V-Model: the
extension of the
waterfall model.
Instead of
moving down in
a linear way, the
process steps
are bent
upwards after
the coding
phase, to form
the typical V
shape.
Predictive Life Cycle Models (Cont.)
o Spiral model:
combining
elements of both
design and
prototyping-instage, in effort to
combine
advantage of
top-down and
bottom-up
concepts.
Incremental Model Delivery
design
build
install
evaluate
increment
1
First incremental delivery
design
build
install
evaluate
increment
2
Second incremental delivery
design
Delivered
System
build
install
evaluate
Third incremental delivery
increment
3
This approach involves breaking the application down into small
components which are then implemented and delivered in sequence.
Advantages of Incremental Approach
o The feedback from early increments improve the later
stages.
o The possibility of changes in requirements is reduced
because of the shorter time span between the design of
a component and its delivery.
o Users get benefits earlier than with a conventional
approach.
o Early delivery of some useful components improves
cash flow, because you get some return on investment
early on.
Advantages of Incremental Approach (Cont.)
o Smaller sub-projects are easier to control and
manage.
o If a feature is not in the current increment then it
can be included in the next.
o The project can be temporarily abandoned if
more urgent work crops up.
o Job satisfaction is increased for developers who
see their labors bearing fruit are regular, short,
intervals.
Disadvantages of Incremental Approach
o Software breakage, that is, later increments
may require modifications to earlier
increments.
o Programmers may be more productive working
on large system than on a series of smaller
ones.
Software Prototyping
o An iterative process of creating quickly and
inexpensively live and working models to test out
requirements and assumptions.
o Main types:
n Throw-away prototypes
o The prototype is used only to test out some ideas and is then
discarded when the true development of the operational
system is commenced.
n Evolutionary prototypes
o The prototype is developed and modified until it is finally in
a state where it can become the operational system.
Reasons for Prototyping
o Learning by doing
n When we have done something for the first time we can
usually look back and see where we have made mistakes.
o Improved communication
n Even if users do read system specifications, they do not
get a feel for how the system is likely to work in practice.
o Improved user involvement
n The users can be more actively involved in design
decisions about new system.
Reasons for Prototyping (Cont.)
o Clarification of partially known requirements
n Where there is no existing system to mimic, users can
often get a better idea of what might be useful to them
by trying out prototypes.
o Demonstration of the consistency and completeness of
a specification
n Ensures that the specification is correct.
o Reduced need for documentation
n Because a working prototype can be examined there is
less need for detailed documentation of requirements.
Reasons for Prototyping (Cont.)
o Reduced maintenance costs
n If the user is unable to suggest modifications at the
prototyping stage they are more likely not to ask for
changes to the operational system.
o Feature constraint
n If an application building tool is used, then the
prototype will tend to have features that are easily
implemented by that tool.
o Production of expected results
n Prototype can be used for producing expected results.
Prototyping: Drawbacks
o User can misunderstand the role of the prototype
n For example, they might expect the prototype to have as
fast a response as the operational system although this was
not intended.
o Lack of project standards possible
n Evolutionary prototyping could just be an excuse for a
sloppy ‘hack it out and see what happens’ approach.
o Lack of control
n It can be difficult to control the prototyping cycle if the
driving force is the users’ propensity to try out new things.
Prototyping: Drawbacks (Cont.)
o Additional expense
n Building and exercising a prototype will incur additional
expenses.
o Focus on user-friendly interface could be at expense of
machine efficiency
o Close proximity of developers
n Prototyping could mean that code developers have to be
sited close to the users. One trend is for organizations
in developed countries to transfer software development
to developing countries with lower costs such as India.
Other Ways of Categorizing Prototyping
o What is being learnt?
n The most important reason for prototyping is need to learn about
area of uncertainty. Thus it is essential to identify at the outset
what is to be learned from the prototype.
n Prototypes can use to find out about new development techniques,
by using them in a pilot project.
n Different projects will have uncertainties at different stages.
Prototypes can therefore be used at different stages.
o A prototype might be used, for instance, at the requirements
gathering stage to pin down requirements that seem blurred and
shifting.
o A prototype might be used at the design stage to test out the users’
ability to navigate through a sequence of input screens.
Other Ways of Categorizing
Prototyping (Cont.)
o To what extent is the prototyping to be done?
n Mock-ups
o As when copies of input screens are shown to the users on a
workstation, but screens cannot actually be used.
n Simulated interaction
o For example, the user can type in a request to access a record
and the system will show the details of a record, but the details
shown are always the same and no access is made to a database.
n Partial working model:
o Vertical – Some, but not all, features are prototyped fully;
o Horizontal – All features are prototyped but not in detail.
Other Ways of Categorizing
Prototyping (Cont.)
o What is being prototyped?
n The human-computer interface
o With the business applications, processing requirements have
usually been established at an early stage. Prototyping tends to
be confined to the nature of operator interaction. Here the
physical vehicle for the prototype should be as similar as
possible to the operational system.
n The functionality of the system
o Here the precise way the system should function internally is
not known. For example, a computer model of some real-world
phenomenon is being developed. The algorithms used might
need to be repeatedly adjusted until they satisfactorily imitate
the real-world behavior.
Controlling Changes during Prototyping
o A major problem with prototyping is controlling changes
to the prototype following suggestions by the users.
n Cosmetic (about 35% of changes)
o These are simply changes to the layout of the screen.
n Local (about 60% of changes)
o These involve changes to the way that the screen is
processed but do not affect other parts of the system.
n Global (about 5% of changes)
o These are changes that affect more than one part of the
processing. All changes here have to be the subject of a
design review before they can be implemented.
Adaptive Life Cycle Models
o Rapid Application Development (RAD) model: Used to
produce systems quickly without sacrificing quality.
o Extreme programming (XP): Developers program in pairs
and must write the tests for their own code. XP teams
include developers, managers, and users.
o Scrum: Iterative development in which repetitions are
referred to as sprints, which normally last thirty days.
Teams often meet each day for a short meeting, called a
scrum, to decide what to accomplish that day. Works best
for object-oriented technology projects and require strong
leadership to coordinate the work.
Distinguishing Project Life Cycles and
Product Life Cycles
o The project life cycle applies to all projects,
regardless of the products being produced.
o Product life cycle models vary considerably
based on the nature of the product.
o Most large IT systems are developed as a series
of projects.
o Project management is done in all of the
product life cycle phases.
The Importance of Project Phases and
Management Reviews
o A project should successfully pass through each
of the project phases in order to continue on to
the next.
o Management reviews, also called phase exits
or kill points, should occur after each phase to
evaluate the project’s progress, likely success,
and continued compatibility with organizational
goals.
The Context of IT Projects
o IT projects can be very diverse in terms of size,
complexity, products produced, application
area, and resource requirements
o IT project team members often have diverse
backgrounds and skill sets
o IT projects use diverse technologies that change
rapidly. Even within one technology area,
people must be highly specialized
Summary
o Project managers need to take a systems approach when
working on projects.
o Organizations have four different frames: structural,
human resources, political, and symbolic.
o The structure and culture of an organization have strong
implications for project managers.
o Projects should successfully pass through each phase of
the project life cycle.
o Project managers need to consider several factors due to
the unique context of information technology projects.
Questions and Answers