Managing Projects

Managing Projects

1. Selecting Projects

   • Management Structure
     • 1. Corporate strategic planning group: developing firm's strategic Plan 2. IT steering committee: system development and operation  3. Project Management: overseeing specific information systems projects 4. Project team: directly responsible for the individual system project. 
   • Portfolio Analysis
     • Inventories all of the organisation's IS projects and assets, infrastruction, outsourcing contracts and licenses.  - Evaluate alternative system projects. - having certain profile for risk and benefits of the project  - portfolio analysis that aligns with business strategy -> superior returns on IT assets, better organisation-wide coordination of IT investments. 
   • Linking system projects to business plan
     • Develop an Information system plans that supports overall business plan. - Road map for the purpose, rational, current system situation, new developments to consider, management strategy, implementation plan and budget.  - will need to inventory and document all of firms information system application and IT infrastructure components. 
   • Key Performance Indicators
     • Use key performance indicators to identify information requirements.  - Information system should help firms meet goals implied by KPIs. 
   • Scoring Model
     • Select project where many criteria is to be considered.  - Give criteria certain weightage and assign the % a system can fulfil the criteria. Multiply them to get a score.  - used commonly to confirm, rationalised and support decisions 

2. Importance of Project Management

   • - Project: Planned series of related activities to achieve a specific business objectives.  - Project management: application of knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to achieve specific targets within specific budget and time constraints. 
   • - Planning the work, assessing risks, estimating resources, organising the work, acquiring human and material resources, assigning tasks, directing activities, controlling project execution, reporting progress, analysing results
   • Runway Project and System Failure
     • 1. Exceed Budget 2. Unexpected time slipping 3. Technical performance is less than expected 4. Failure to obtain anticipated benefits 
     • - represent wrong piece of data - user interface is not user friendly  - inconsistency or inaccuracy in the data 
   • Project Management Objectives
     • 5 Major variables: 1. Scope: what work is included in the project 2. Time: period used to complete the project  3. Cost: cost of human resources x time used. + hardware, workspace, software 4. Quality: indicator of how well the end result of a project satisfy the objectives. 5. Risks: threats/problems to the success of the project. Additional cost or prolong completion, lowering the quality etc. 

3. Business Value of IS

   • Cost and Benefits
     • - Tangible benefits: can be quantified and assigned a monetary value - Intangible benefits: more efficient customer service or enhanced decision making
     • Total cost of ownership (TCO) designed to identify and measure the components o IT expenditures beyond the initial cost of purchasing and installing hardware and software.  - does not deal with benefits, complexity costs. 
   • Capital Budgeting
     • Measure of cash flows into and out of the firm.  - Payback method, return on investment (ROI), net present value, internal rate or return (IRR)  - Use to justify the use of IS
   • Real Option Pricing Model
     • - High cost and uncertainty  - ROPMs use the concept of options valuation borrowed from the financial industry. - right but not obligation to act at some future date.  - Give managers the flexibility to stage investment or test with small pilot projects to gain more knowledge about the risks and benefits 
   • Limitation on Financial Model
     • - Overlook the social and organisational dimensions of IS  - Costs of training - Costs of disruptions of introducing new systems - Benefits of more timely decisions from a new system - Enhanced employees learning and expertise

4. Managing Project Risk

   • Dimension of project risk
     • Organisational Factor
       • End-users
         • - Involvement of end users - Users and technical team might not speak the same language, different backgrounds, interests and priorities - user-designer communication gap.  - More user is involved = higher acceptance, more opportunities to hold the system according to their priorities and requirements
       • Implementation
         • refers to all organisational activities working toward the adoption, management and routinisation of an innovation.  -Change agent - redefine the configuration, interactions, job activities and power relationships of various organisational groups.  - Adjustment process
       • Management Support and Commitment
         • - If management prioritise it, backing it and commit to a new system, more likely to perceived positively by users and technical staff.  - Recognised and rewarded for the time and effort to implementation. 
       • Change Management
         • - business process reengineering projects - extensive organisational change, old system is too rooted  - fail to address employees concerns about change -> leads to fear and anxiety -> resistance.  - Mergers and acquisition -> merging different IT infrastructure. Integration need to be properly managed. 
     • Inexperience with technology
       • - Lack technical experiences => higher risks  - Technical problems due to unfamiliarity with hardware, software, database management system = more time 
     • Project Structure
       • - Detailed specifications/requirements, clear goals, straightforward -> less risk - Fluid, undefined, changing requirements -> higher risks 
     • Project Size
       • Larger the size -> Higher the risk  - High cost, more employees, longer time period, more organisational units affected - few reliable techniques to estimate The time and cost to develop large-scale IS
   • Controlling Risk Factors
     • Managing Technical Complexity
       • Internal integration tools  - leader needs heavy technical and administrative experience  - highly experience team member - More teams meetings 
     • Formal Planning and Control Tools
       • - Grant charts: lists project activities. Shows when a project starts and ends, human resources requirements.  - PERT chart: Program evaluation review technique. graphically depicts project tasks and their interrelationship. Lists specific activities and their requirement to complete certain activity for another to start. 
       • - chart the progress of the project against budgets and target Dates.  - divide projects into smaller, more manageable segments with defined measurable business results
     • Increase Users involvement and overcome Resistance
       • External integration tools: ways to link the work of the implementation team to users at all organisational levels.  - users can be an active member of a project, be A leader, take charge of installation and training  - incorporate users feedback  - User participation, user education and training, management edicts and policies and better incentives for users who cooperate.