IT Portfolio management from a
academic perspective
Introduction
Academic experience
• PhD-student at Centre for IS management , Aalborg
University
• Attached to the DISIMIT-project
• Grounded in the field of Information Systems (IS)
(The difference between IT vs. IS)
• Investigating IT portfolio management in a public
organization
Practical experience
• 3 years experience as IT project manager employed in:
• The municipality of Copenhagen city
• The Ministry of Economic and Business Affairs/ The Danish
Agency for Governmental Management
2
Agenda
Part one:
IT Portfolio management (IT PM) as an academic field
• Definition
• Distinctions
• Relevance in practice
• Relevance in academia
Part Two:
“There is more to IT portfolio management than topmanagement making the right decisions: A review of the IT
PM literature”
• Describe four discourses in IT PM
• Provide a path for future research and practice
3
Part one:
Distinctions and definitions of IT PM
Definition IT PM:
•
ITPM as a continuous process to manage IT project,
application, and infrastructure assets and their
interdependencies, in order to maximize portfolio benefits,
minimize risk and cost, and ensure alignment with
organizational strategy over the long run.(Kumar et. al 2008)
5
IT PM is management of three different
sub-portfolios
Characteristic
of the
portfolio
IT application portfolio IT
infrastructure IT Project portfolio (IT
portfolio
PPM)
Actors
Support Groups (e.g. Kumar
et. al. 2008). Senior
managers of business units
assess the health of the
portfolio of IT applications
(e.g. Lacity and Hirschheim
1995:Weill and Vitale 1999).
IT architects (Kumar et.
al. 2008). Employees in
the IS department (e.g.
Dei et. al. 2007). IS
executives and champions
of
business
process
change (e.g. Broadbent
1999)
IS development groups (e.g.
Kumar et. al. 2008), and the
Central Information Officer
(CIO) (e.g. Bonham 2005).
(e.g. Singh et. al 2009). Six
Stakeholder Groups placed at
three hierarchal levels, in
“business” and “IT” (Fonstad
and Robertson 2006).
Definition
Managing and assessing the
existing portfolio of the
organization’s
IT
applications (e.g. Weill and
Vitale 1999).
Supporting, planning and
facilitating
the
development
of
the
organization’s
IT
architecture (e.g. Kumar
et. al. 2008).
Prioritize and rank projects that
maximize business value and
maintain optimal mix of
company resources (Balji et. al.
2011)
(Adopted from Kumar et. al 2008)
6
IT application portfolio management
Characteristic
of the
portfolio
IT application portfolio IT
infrastructure IT Project portfolio (IT
portfolio
PPM)
Actors
Support Groups (e.g. Kumar
et. al. 2008). Senior
managers of business units
assess the health of the
portfolio of IT applications
(e.g. Lacity and Hirschheim
1995:Weill and Vitale 1999).
IT architects (Kumar et.
al. 2008). Employees in
the IS department (e.g.
Dei et. al. 2007). IS
executives and champions
of
business
process
change (e.g. Broadbent
1999)
IS developments groups (e.g.
Kumar et. al. 2008), and the
Central Information Officer
(CIO) (e.g. Bonham 2005).
(e.g. Singh et. al 2009). Six
Stakeholder Groups placed at
three hierarchal levels, in
“business” and “IT” (Fonstad
and Robertson 2006).
Definition
Managing and assessing the
existing portfolio of the
organization’s
IT
applications (e.g. Weill and
Vitale 1999).
Supporting, planning and
facilitating
the
development
of
the
organization’s
IT
architecture (e.g. Kumar
et. al. 2008).
Prioritize and rank projects that
maximize business value and
maintain optimal mix of
company resources (Balji et. al.
2011)
(Adopted from Kumar et. al 2008)
7
IT application portfolio management
Weill and Vitale (1999)
8
IT infrastructure portfolio management
IT PM is management of three different sub-portfolios – each
portfolio involves different mechanisms
Characteristic
of the
portfolio
IT application portfolio IT
infrastructure IT Project portfolio (IT
portfolio
PPM)
Actors
Support Groups (e.g. Kumar
et. al. 2008). Senior
managers of business units
assess the health of the
portfolio of IT applications
(e.g. Lacity and Hirschheim
1995:Weill and Vitale 1999).
IT architects (Kumar et.
al. 2008). Employees in
the IS department (e.g.
Dei et. al. 2007). IS
executives and champions
of
business
process
change (e.g. Broadbent
1999)
IS developments groups (e.g.
Kumar et. al. 2008), and the
Central Information Officer
(CIO) (e.g. Bonham 2005).
(e.g. Singh et. al 2009). Six
Stakeholder Groups placed at
three hierarchal levels, in
“business” and “IT” (Fonstad
and Robertson 2006).
Definition
Managing and assessing the
existing portfolio of the
organization’s
IT
applications (e.g. Weill and
Vitale 1999).
Supporting, planning and
facilitating
the
development
of
the
organization’s
IT
architecture (e.g. Kumar
et. al. 2008).
Prioritize and rank projects that
maximize business value and
maintain optimal mix of
company resources (Balji et. al.
2011)
(Adopted from Kumar et. al 2008)
9
IT infrastructure portfolio management
•
•
Definition; centrally coordinated, shared IT services providing
a foundation for the enterprise's IT capabilities and typically
created before the precise usage needs are known (Weill and
Ross 2004)
Changing processes are constrained or enabled by IT
infrastructure (Broardbent 1999) .
10
IT infrastructure portfolio management
Top six of core IT infrastructure services (Broardbent et.
al 1999):
1. Manage firm-wide communication network services
2. Manage group-wide or firm-wide messaging services
3. Recommended standards for at least one component of IT
architecture (e.g., hardware, operating systems, data,
communications)
4. Implement security, disaster planning, and business recovery
services for firm-wide installations and applications
5. Provide technology advice and support services
6. Manage, maintain, support large-scale data processing facilities (e.g.,
mainframe operations)
11
IT Project portfolio management
Characteristic
of the
portfolio
IT application portfolio IT
infrastructure IT Project portfolio (IT
portfolio
PPM)
Actors
Support Groups (e.g. Kumar
et. al. 2008). Senior
managers of business units
assess the health of the
portfolio of IT applications
(e.g. Lacity and Hirschheim
1995:Weill and Vitale 1999).
IT architects (Kumar et.
al. 2008). Employees in
the IS department (e.g.
Dei et. al. 2007). IS
executives and champions
of
business
process
change (e.g. Broadbent
1999)
IS developments groups (e.g.
Kumar et. al. 2008), and the
Central Information Officer
(CIO) (e.g. Bonham 2005).
(e.g. Singh et. al 2009). Six
Stakeholder Groups placed at
three hierarchal levels, in
“business” and “IT” (Fonstad
and Robertson 2006).
Definition
Managing and assessing the
existing portfolio of the
organization’s
IT
applications (e.g. Weill and
Vitale 1999).
Supporting, planning and
facilitating
the
development
of
the
organization’s
IT
architecture (e.g. Kumar
et. al. 2008).
Prioritize and rank projects that
maximize business value and
maintain optimal mix of
company resources (Balji et. al.
2011)
(Adopted from Kumar et. al 2008)
12
IT Project portfolio management
•
[management of] a group of projects that are carried out
under the sponsorship and/or management of a particular
organization. These projects must compete for scarce
resources (people, finances, time, etc.) available from the
sponsor, since there are usually not enough resources to
carry out every project proposed which meets the
organization's minimum requirements on certain criteria such
as potential profitability, etc” (Archer and Ghasemzadeh,
1999).
13
IT Project portfolio management
IT project portfolio management (IT PPM)
•
A dynamic range of mechanisms conducted in phases (Archer
& Ghasemzadeh 1999)
•
These phases can according be synthesized to:
• The pre-selection phase
• The selection phase
• The post-selection phase
14
IT Project portfolio management
15
Adopted from Archer and Ghasemzadeh (1999)
IT Project portfolio management
Weill and Ross (2009)
16
IT PM is management of three different
sub-portfolios
Reflections:
•
The literature emphasizes three types of intervening IT
portfolio management:
• IT application portfolio management
• IT infrastructure portfolio management
• IT project portfolio management
1. Does this reflect how IT PM is conducted in practice?
2. How are these different (sub) IT portfolios integrated in
practice?
3. What are your challenges and what is your focus regarding IT
PM?
17
Relevance to practice:
•
•
•
Organizations experience ongoing challenges in their
management of their portfolio of Information Technology (IT)
as IT expenses have become a major part of the
organizational budget (Jeffery and Leviveld 2004).
Hence, organizations implement a wide range of IT portfolio
management (IT PM) arrangements to gain value from IT
investments (Kumar et. al. 2008).
However, research shows that a vast amount of organizations
are less successful in gaining value from their IT investments
(Jeffery and Leviveld 2004; Weill and Aral 2006; Singh 2009;
Weill and Ross 2009)
18
Relevance to practice:
Reflections:
•
The maturity of IT PM/IT PPM in Danish organizations?
• In the public sector?
• In the private sector?
• Who are the front-runners?
•
Which IT PM concepts are gaining a footing in DK?
• P3O, PMI, Gartner, Project Excellence, Stanford's model,
CA Clarity
•
Where do you find information about maturity in DK
• IT i Praksis
• DISIMIT-project
• Dansk IT
19
Relevance to academia
•
IT PM has been on the research agenda for more than three
decades (McFarlan 1981)
•
Portfolio management is more developed in:
• portfolio management in finance
• portfolio management in research and development (R&D)
• New Product Development (NPD)
20
IT PM as an interdisciplinary field
•
•
•
An interdisciplinary field straddling other disciplines, you
often must look not only within the discipline when reviewing
and developing theory but also outside the field (Webster and
Watson 2002)
A high-quality review is complete and focuses on concepts. A
complete review covers relevant literature on the topic and is
not confined to one research methodology, one set of
journals, or one geographic (Webster and Watson 2002)
Therefore, a concept-centric review was conducted
21
IT PM as an interdisciplinary field
A concept-centric search for relevant IT PM literature
(across different research field)
22
IT PM as an interdisciplinary field
The fourteen journals containing most articles regarding IT PM
Journal
Count
International Journal of Project Management
27
Research-Technology Management
11
IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management
7
European Journal of Operational Research
6
Science of Computer Programming
5
Journal of Strategic Information Systems
4
Journal of Computer Information Systems
3
Decision Support Systems
2
Information Systems Research
2
International Journal of Technology Management
2
Management Science
2
MIT Sloan Management Review
2
R & D Management
2
Technovation
2
23
IT PM as an interdisciplinary field:
Reflections:
•
Which outlets are you utilizing knowledge from?
• Journals?
• Books?
• Conferences?
• Communities?
• Courses?
• Research institutions?
• Research fields?
24
Part two:
There is more to IT portfolio
management than top-management
making the right decisions: A review of
the IT PM literature.
Scope of the article
The topic of this part of the presentation:
• “There is more to IT portfolio management than topmanagement making the right decisions: A review of the IT
PM literature”
• Describe four discourses in IT PM
• Provide a path for future research and practice
Note:
• The examples in the articles are specific about IT PPM
• The term IT PM is used due to an academic technicality; the
article must communicate with the existing IT PM literature
26
There is more to IT portfolio management
“There is more to IT portfolio management than topmanagement making the right decisions: A review of
the IT PM literature” (Hansen and Kræmmergaard
2011)
•
The literature vastly emphasizes the organizational benefits
of establishing IT PM when managing IT investments. Only a
minor part of the literature emphasizes the unintended and
negative consequences of IT Portfolio Management.
•
Thus, our paper aims to answer two research questions.
1. How is this bias discursively constructed in the IT PM
literature?
2. Second, how can we provide a path for future research
and practice?
27
2) There is more to IT portfolio
management
A concept-centric search for relevant IT PM literature
(across different research fields)
28
The framework by Deetz (1996)
•
•
•
•
•
Stanley Deetz, grounded in organizational science
Rethinking Burell and Morgan (1979) “Social Paradigms and
Organizational analysis,”
The term “discourse” has been used by former researchers to
describe different assumptions in organizational science
research (Deetz 1996).
The framework can be used in management and
organizational science
Schultze and Leidner (2002) have used the framework to
investigate Knowledge management
29
The framework by Deetz (1996)
Dissensus
Dialogic
Critical
Elite/A Priori
Local/Emergent
Normative
Interpretive
Consensus
From Deetz (1996)
30
The framework by Deetz (1996)
How do researchers
consider the natural state
(regarding conflict) in the
organization?
Dissensus
Elite/A Priori
Local/Emergent
Consensus
What source of knowledge does
the researcher rely upon? A
theoretical/and
a
top
management perspective - or
more emphasis upon empirical
data emerging from local or
lower ranks in the organization
From Deetz (1996)
31
The framework by Deetz (1996)
Local / Emergent
Elite/A Priori
Particularistic
Universalistic
Atheoretical
Theory driven
Situational or structural determinism
Methodological determinism
Sensuality and meaning as central
concerns
Rationality and truth as central
concerns
Situated, practical knowledge
Generalizable, theoretical knowledge
Tends to be feminine
in attitude
Tends to be masculine in attitude
Ontology of "otherness"
over method
Epistemological and procedural
issues rule
over substantive assumptions
Deetz (1996)
32
The framework by Deetz (1996)
Consensus
Dissensus
Trust
Suspicion
Hegemonic order as natural state
Conflicts over order as natural state
Unified science
Positional complimentarily
Naturalization of present
Present order is historicized and
politicized
Integration and harmony are possible
Order indicates domination and
suppressed conflicts
Research focuses on representation
Research focused on challenge and
reconsideration (representation)
Mirror (reflecting) dominant metaphor
Lens (seeing / reading as)
dominant metaphor
Validity central concern
Insight and praxis central concern
Theory as abstraction and triangulation
Theory as opening
Science is neutral
Science is political
Autonomous/free agent
Historically / socially situated agent
Life is discovery
Life is struggle and creation
Researcher anonymous and out of time
and space
Researcher named and positioned
(Deetz 1996)
33
The framework by Deetz (1996)
Organizational
metaphor:
Carnival
Organizational
metaphor:
Polity
Ambition:
Participation, expanded
knowledge
Dissensus
Ambition:
Creativity and Diversity
Dialogic
Critical
Elite/A Priori
Local/Emergent
Normative
Interpretive
Organizational
metaphor:
Community
Consensus
Ambition:
Commitment, quality in
working life
From Deetz (1996)
Organizational
metaphor:
Marketplace
Ambition:
Control and expertise
34
The distribution of the IT PM literature
Dissensus
3
2
Elite/A Priori
Local/Emergent
5
97
Consensus
From Deetz (1996)
35
An exemplary article from the normative
discourse
•
Authors: De Reyck et. al. (2005)
•
Title: The impact of project portfolio management on
information Technology projects
•
Grounding in empirical data: a survey with 31 responses
•
The outlet of the article: International Journal of Project
management
•
Citations: 71 citations in Google scholar (June 2011)
36
An exemplary article from the normative
discourse
The plot of the article:
•
•
•
•
Using a literature review, De Reyck et. al. (2005) finds the
“preconditions” and “key elements” in IT PPM
Makes an adoptions scheme containing all the “best
practices” and defines three stages of PPM adoption
Investigates the impact of IT PPM upon; project performance
and project problems
Provides a phased implementation plan for IT PPM.
37
An exemplary article from the normative
discourse
The preconditions in IT PPM according to De Reyck et. al.
(2005):
•
•
•
Organizational strategy:
Business leaders involvement
Team skills
38
An exemplary article from the normative
iscourse
Key elements in IT PPM (De Reyck et. al. 2005):
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Centralized view on all projects
Financial analysis
Risk analysis
Independencies
Prioritization
Constraints
Dynamic re-assessment of the portfolio
Need for specialized software
Impact on organizations
Problems within organizations
39
An exemplary article from the normative
discourse
The four aspects with the most impact (De Reyck et. al.
2005):
•
An inventory of projects (90% emphasize impact – strong!)
•
Align the project portfolio to a clear statement of the
organizational objectives (88% emphasize impact)
•
The consolidation of information about projects and a
standardization of project analysis (89 % emphasize impact)
•
Considerations about project interdependencies (86%
emphasize impact)
40
An exemplary article from the normative
discourse
Stage I: portfolio inventory
• Centralized project administration
• Risk evaluation procedures
• Explicit incorporation of resource constraints
• Increasing business leaders’ accountability for project results
Stage II: portfolio administration
• Project categorization
• Evaluation of customer impact of the project portfolio results
Stage III: portfolio optimization
• A project committee
• Assessment of the financial value of the portfolio
• Management of the project interdependencies
• Tracking project benefits
41
An exemplary article from the normative
discourse
Contributions from the article by De Reyck et. al. (2005):
•
•
•
There is a positive correlation between organizations’ IT PPMadoption level and project benefit from projects
There is a negative correlation between organizations’ IT
PPM-adoption level and reported project problems
Organizations do not need to implement all elements to
create benefits
42
An exemplary article form the normative
discourse
Local / Emergent
Elite/A Priori
Particularistic
Universalistic
Atheoretical
Theory driven
Situationally or structural
determinism
Methodological determinism
Sensuality and meaning as central
concerns
Rationality and truth as central
concerns
Situated, practical knowledge
Generalizable, theoretical Knowledge
Tends to be feminine
in attitude
Tends to be masculine in attitude
Ontology of "otherness"
over method
Epistemological and procedural issues
rule over substantive assumptions
Deetz (1996)
43
2) There is more to IT portfolio
management (the normative discourse)
Consensus
Dissensus
Trust
Suspicion
Hegemonic order as natural state
Conflicts over order as natural state
Unified science
Positional complimentarily
Naturalization of present
Present order is historicized and politicized
Integration and harmony are possible
Order indicates domination and suppressed
conflicts
Research focuses on representation
Research focused on challenge and
reconsideration
Mirror (reflecting) dominant metaphor
Lens (seeing / reading as)
dominant metaphor
Validity central concern
Insight and praxis central concern
Theory as abstraction and triangulation
Theory as opening
Science is neutral
Science is political
Autonomous/free agent
Historically / socially situated agent
Life is discovery
Life is struggle and creation
Researcher anonymous and out of time
and space
Researcher named and positioned
(Deetz 1996)
44
An exemplary article from the normative
discourse
Critique of De Reyck et. al. (2005)
The empirical grounding:
•
•
Direction in correlation between adoption and positive
benefits?
Builds upon a survey with a respons-rate of 25%
A critique of the assumptions in the article:
•
•
Is IT PPM only involving top-management?
Is IT PPM a strictly rational endeavor?
45
A metaphor developed from the normative
discourse
•
The articles representing the normative discourse are
primarily inspired by economics and mathematics.
•
Verhoef (2002) regards IT PM as an: approach where
decisions on whether or not to invest in IT are based on
potential return, and decisions to terminate or make
additional investments are based on performance much like
an investment broker is measured and rewarded based on
managing risks and achieving results (Verhoef 2002).
46
A metaphor developed from the normative
discourse
Four categories of IT PM litterature(across different research fields)
Dissensus
Elite/A Priori
Local/Emergent
Normative
“IT PM as market
relations”
Consensus
From Deetz (1996)
47
An exemplary article from the critical
discourse
A exemplary article form the critical discourse:
•
Authors: (Platje and Seidel et. al. 1993)
•
Title: Breakthrough in multiproject management: how to
escape the vicious cycle of planning and control
•
Grounding in empirical data: Not clear
•
The outlet of the article: International Journal of Project
management
•
Citations:74 citations in Google scholar (June 2011)
48
An exemplary article from the critical
discourse
The plot:
•
Planning and controlling concepts are not suitable for multi
project situations.
•
Uses organizational sociology and chaos theory to shown that
multiproject environments may lead a organization into a
vicious cycle of bureaucracy and inflexibility
49
An exemplary article from the critical
discourse
The problem:
The vicious circle:
Platje and Seidel et. al. (1993)
More rules
and
centralization
More control
Demotivation
More
rigidness
50
An exemplary article form the critical
discourse
The solution:
Provides:
•The construction of a
feasible portfolio
•Tradeoff between (often
conflicting interests)
•The communication
between department heads
and project leaders
Platje and Seidel et. al. (1993)
51
An exemplary article from the critical
discourse
Local / Emergent
Elite/A Priori
Particularistic
Universalistic
Atheoretical
Theory driven
Situational or structural determinism
Methodological determinism
Sensuality and meaning as central
concerns
Rationality and truth as central
concerns
Situated, practical knowledge
Generalizable, theoretical knowledge
Tends to be feminine
in attitude
Tends to be masculine in attitude
Ontology of "otherness"
over method
Epistemological and procedural issues
rule over substantive assumptions
Deetz (1996)
52
A exemplary article form the critical
discourse
Consensus
Dissensus
Trust
Suspicion
Hegemonic order as natural state
Conflicts over order as natural state
Unified science
Positional complimentarily
Naturalization of present
Present order is historicized and
politicized
Integration and harmony are possible
Order indicates domination and
suppressed conflicts
Research focuses on representation
Research focused on challenge and
reconsideration (representation)
Mirror (reflecting) dominant metaphor
Lens (seeing / reading as)
dominant metaphor
Validity central concern
Insight and praxis central concern
Theory as abstraction and triangulation
Theory as opening
Science is neutral
Science is political
Autonomous/free agent
Historically / socially situated agent
Life is discovery
Life is struggle and creation
Researcher anonymous and out of time
and space
Researcher named and positioned
(Deetz 1996)
53
A exemplary article form the critical
discourse
Critique of Platje and Seidel et. al. (1993):
•
•
How do the researchers know, before doing the fieldwork,
where conflicts will arise, and who will be involved?
The finding are not grounded in empirical evidence
54
A metaphor developed from the critical
discourse
•
The articles representing the critical discourse are few.
•
These show how lack of open communication makes different
parties cocooning their interests.
•
The aims of articles from this discourse to:
• articulate that IT PPM is about conflicting interest
• to provide a “parliament” where this conflict can be
shoveled.
55
A metaphor developed from the critical
discourse
Four categories of IT PM litteratur (across different research field)
Dissensus
Critical
“IT PM as
polity”
Elite/A Priori
Local/Emergent
Consensus
From Deetz (1996)
56
A exemplary article from the interpretive
discourse
•
Authors: (Blichfeldt & Eskerod 2008)
•
Title: Project portfolio management – There’s more to it than
what management enacts
•
Source of data: Based on 128 in-depth interviews in 30
(Danish) companies.
•
Outlet: International Journal of Project Management
•
Citations: 26 in Google scholar (June 2011)
57
An exemplary article from the interpretive
discourse
The plot of the article:
• Although companies manage project portfolios concordantly
with project portfolio theory, they may experience problems
in the form of delayed projects, resource struggles, stress,
and a lack of overview.
•
Finds the concrete problems:
• Projects are not completed according to plan
• Management and employees miss having a broad
overview of ongoing projects
• People experience stress as resources are continuously
reallocated across projects (to make ends meet)
58
An exemplary article from the interpretive
discourse
The dilemma:
• Wanting to include all projects in PPM, and aiming at keeping
the resources and cognitive burden of doing PPM at a
reasonable level
The solution:
• Take the decision about including all projects in PPM or not:
• A “not all inclusive PPM” – make a pool of resources to the
unknown projects
• “Include all projects”. Be careful because this easily
provides a cognitive overburden and de-motivation of
employees.
59
An exemplary article from the interpretive
discourse
Local / Emergent
Elite/A Priori
Particularistic
Universalistic
Atheoretical
Theory driven
Situational or structural
determinism
Methodological determinism
Sensuality and meaning as
central concerns
Rationality and truth as central concerns
Situated, practical knowledge
Generalizable, theoretical Knowledge
Tends to be feminine
in attitude
Tends to be masculine in attitude
Ontology of "otherness"
over method
Epistemological and procedural issues rule
over substantive assumptions
Deetz (1996)
60
An exemplary article from the interpretive
discourse
Consensus
Dissensus
Trust
Suspicion
Hegemonic order as natural state
Conflicts over order as natural state
Unified science
Positional complimentarily
Naturalization of present
Present order is historicized and politicized
Integration and harmony are possible
Order indicates domination and suppressed
conflicts
Research focuses on representation
Research focused on challenge and
reconsideration (representation)
Mirror (reflecting) dominant metaphor
Lens (seeing / reading as)
dominant metaphor
Validity of central concern
Insight and praxis central concern
Theory as abstraction and triangulation
Theory as opening
Science is neutral
Science is political
Autonomous/free agent
Historically / socially situated agent
Life is discovery
Life is struggle and creation
Research anonymous and out of time and
space
Researcher named and positioned
(Deetz 1996)
61
An exemplary article from the interpretive
discourse
Critique:
•
Emphasizes social integration of the different organizational
levels and units. This assumption may be criticized for giving
a too naïve and optimistic description of IT PM in
organizations.
•
In opposition to the definition of IT PM put forward by this
paper, stating that: “[IT PM] is a competition for scarce
resources available from the sponsor, since there are usually
not enough resources. It can be argued that different
organizational levels and units hold fundamental different
interests that cannot be solved by social integration.
62
An exemplary article from the interpretive
discourse
Developing a metaphor:
•
Blichfeldt & Eskerod (2008) have asked people about the
problems they experience in (IT) PPM.
•
Cooper and his colleagues are another example of a solid
empirical grounded investigation identifying the problems
experienced by the people in organizations, e.g. “The
resource crunch”
•
But is it reflecting our empirical reality that IT PPM is a
sphere of harmony?
63
A metaphor developed from the
interpretive discourse
Four categories of IT PM litterature (across different research fields)
Dissensus
”
Elite/A Priori
Local/Emergent
Interpretive
“IT PM as social
relations with
dilemmas”
Consensus
From Deetz (1996)
64
An exemplary article from the dialogical
discourse
•
Author: Kirsch (1997)
•
Title: Portfolio of Control Modes and IS Project Management
•
Grounded in empirical data: A comparative case study of four
companies. Data collection was conducted during a period of
11 months. Interviews, reviews of a range of project
documents. -> rich data!!
•
Outlet: This is an article from a top ranked IS journal
(Information Systems research)
•
Citations: 251 in Google scholar (June 2011)
65
An exemplary article from the dialogical
discourse
The plot of the article:
•
States the question: How are control modes implemented in
IS projects and why do stakeholders use that particular
combination of control modes?
•
Is this about IT PPM? (yes, but implicitly - the article talks
about IS and user stakeholders).
•
Kirsch (1997) is interested in both the formal and the
informal side in managing the projects of an organization.
66
An exemplary article from the dialogical
discourse
Control mode
Behavior
Outcome
Clan
Self
Key characteristics
Rules and procedures.
Articulated rewards based on
following rules & producers.
Outcomes and goals articulated.
Rewards based on producing
outcomes & goals.
Common values, beliefs &
problem solving philosophy.
Identification & reinforcement
of acceptable behaviors.
Individually defined task goals
or producers.
Individual monitoring, rewards
partly based on the individual’s
self control and skills.
Antecedent conditions
Knowledge of appropriate
behaviors, knowledge is
observable
Outcome measurability
Examples of mechanisms
Job descriptions
Appropriate behavior.
Unknown outcomes.
Not measurable.
Socializations
Complex or non-routine
tasks. Performance
evaluation ambiguity.
Lack of required rules or
procedures. Desire to
exercise self control.
Individual ability.
Self-set goals
Define target
implementation date
Kirsch (1997)
67
An exemplary article from the dialogical
discourse
Findings by Kirsch (1997):
•
Users has no formal control in development projects (even
though they have a lot of useful knowledge)
•
Makes a model to understand why stakeholders choose the
particular combination of modes of control in management of
projects.
•
A solid empirical grounding provides the foundation for a rich
analysis of the research questions (A dialogue with the data
and the theory)
68
An exemplary article from the dialogical
discourse
(Kirsch 1997)
69
An exemplary article from the dialogical
discourse
Local / Emergent
Elite/A Priori
Particularistic
Universalistic
Atheoretical
Theory driven
Situational or structural
determinism
Methodological determinism
Sensuality and meaning as
central concerns
Rationality and truth as central concerns
Situated, practical knowledge
Generalizable, theoretical knowledge
Tends to be feminine
in attitude
Tends to be masculine in attitude
Ontology of "otherness"
over method
Epistemological and procedural issues rule
over substantive assumptions
Deetz (1996)
70
An exemplary article from the dialogical
discourse
Consensus
Dissensus
Trust
Suspicion
Hegemonic order as natural state
Conflicts over order as natural state
Unified science
Positional complimentarily
Naturalization of present
Present order is historicized and
politicized
Integration and harmony are possible
Order indicates domination and
suppressed conflicts
Research focuses on representation
Research focused on challenge and
reconsideration (representation)
Mirror (reflecting) dominant metaphor
Lens (seeing / reading as)
dominant metaphor
Validity central concern
Insight and praxis central concern
Theory as abstraction and triangulation
Theory as opening
Science is neutral
Science is political
Autonomous/free agent
Historically / socially situated agent
Life is discovery
Life is struggle and creation
Researcher anonymous and out of time
and space
Researcher named and positioned
(Deetz 1996)
71
An exemplary article from the dialogical
discourse
Critique of Kirsch (1997)
•
The insights are difficult to transform to normative guidelines
for practitioners.
•
Could it be that the rigorous style of a top-ranked journal is
shading the interesting and relevant story
•
Is IT PPM only about control (vertical relations)
72
A metaphor developed from the dialogical
discourse
Four categories of IT PM litteratur e(across different research fields)
Dissensus
Dialogic
”IT PM as a
carnival of power
mechanisms ”
Elite/A Priori
Local/Emergent
Consensus
From Deetz (1996)
73
There is more to IT portfolio management
- the four discourses
Four categories of IT PM litteratur e(across different research fields)
Dissensus
Dialogic
”IT PM as a
carnival of power
mechanisms ”
Critical
IT PM as
polity between interests
Interpretive
“IT PM as social
relations with
dilemmas”
Normative
“IT PM as law-like
market relations”
Elite/A Priori
Local/Emergent
Consensus
From Deetz (1996)
74
There is more to IT portfolio management
- the four discourses
•
•
•
Practitioners may use these metaphors to consider whether
their efforts to improve IT PM mediate the aspects that each
metaphor articulates.
Eskimos living in an environment of ice and snow have a
great need for a vocabulary describing different aspects of
snow and ice. This ability to perform sophisticated
descriptions and understanding of a wide range of aspects of
these conditions are essential to the survival of the Eskimos.
Similarly, as the need of IT PM becomes urgent in
organizations and IS research, a more complex
understanding of IT PM is called for. Explicit use of the four
discourses by Deetz (1996) in IT PM research seems like a
fruitful path.
75
Finish
Thank you for your comments and attention:-)
76
The applied theoretical frame in my thesis
2) Brug af work design teori til at
undersøge en “real life” case
Conceptualizing Work Design Problems: Within and Between Organization:
Figure 1: Adopted from Sinha and Van de Ven (2005)
78
IT Project portfolio management in threes
phases
IT project portfolio management (IT PPM)
•
A dynamic range of mechanisms conducted in phases (Archer
& Ghasemzadeh 1999)
•
These phases are:
1. The pre-selection phase
2. The selection phase
3. The post-selection phase
79
3) A work design – a organizations IT
project portfolio
80
3) The preliminary result indicates a
increasing complex network problem after
the projects are selected.
3
2
1
Figure 1: Adopted from Sinha and Van de Ven (2005)
81