1

WORLD CITI COLLEGES

Quezon City
GRADUATE SCHOOL

WRITTEN REPORT
IN
MBA 210 - Advanced Management Information System

Submitted By:

Marchelle Irish S. Parale

MBA 1Y1-6

Submitted To:

Dr. Marmelo V. Abante, EdD, PhD-IT, DBA(c)

Professor

October 2022
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CHAPTER 14

MANAGING PROJECTS
Course Intended Learning Outcomes:
After you’ve finished reading this information, you should be able to:
 Determine the objectives of project management, and its’ importance in developing
information systems.
 Identify the methods can be used for selecting and evaluating information systems
projects and aligning them with the firm’s business goals
 To know how firms can assess the business value of information systems
 Learn about the principal risk factors in information systems projects, and how can they
be managed.

INTRODUCTION

One of the most difficult difficulties presented by information systems is ensuring that they
provide meaningful business advantages. Information systems initiatives fail at a high rate
because businesses mistakenly assess their economic value or because enterprises fail to
manage the organizational change associated with the introduction of new technologies.
Projects to build or improve information systems require special managerial and organizational
techniques to make them effective.

I. Objectives of project management, and its importance in developing information

systems

Information systems initiatives have a relatively high failure rate. In almost every firm,
information systems initiatives take much longer and cost far more than initially projected, or the
resulting system does not function effectively. When an information system fails to fulfill
expectations or costs too much to construct, businesses may not get any value from their
investment, and the system may be unable to handle the challenges for which it was designed.
The creation of a new system must be properly controlled and coordinated, and the manner in
which a project is carried out is likely to be the most influential element impacting its result. That
is why it is critical to understand how to manage information systems initiatives and why they
succeed or fail.

Runaway Projects and System Failure

How badly are projects managed? In terms of money and time necessary to implement the
whole system stated in the system plan, private sector initiatives are often underestimated by
half. Many projects are provided with missing features (promised for delivery in later versions).
According to a McKinsey and Oxford University research, major software projects are often 66
percent over budget and 33 percent behind time. Over half of the organizations questioned by
cloud project portfolio management company Innotas in the preceding twelve months have
experienced IT project failure (Florentine, 2016).
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As illustrated in Figure 14.1, a systems development project without proper management will
most likely suffer these consequences:
• Costs that vastly exceed budgets
• Unexpected time slippage
• Technical performance that is less than expected
• Failure to obtain anticipated benefits

System developed by unsuccessful information initiatives are often not utilized as anticipated or
are not used at all. To make these systems function, users often must construct parallel manual
systems.
The system's actual design may fail to capture critical business requirements or enhance
organizational performance. Information may not be delivered fast enough to be useful, it may
be in a difficult to digest and use format, or it may reflect incorrect facts. Nontechnical business
users' interactions with the system may be too difficult and discouraging. A system's user
interface may be poorly designed. The user interface is the component of the system that end
users interact with. An online input form or data entry screen, for example, may be so
disorganized that no one wants to provide data or request information. System outputs may be
presented in a difficult-to-understand manner. Websites may discourage visitors from exploring
further if the web pages are crowded and poorly organized, if users cannot readily locate the
information they are looking for, or if accessing and displaying the web page on the user's
computer takes too long.
Furthermore, the data in the system may be very inaccurate or inconsistent. Certain fields'
information may be incorrect or confusing, or it may not be effectively arranged for commercial
needs. Because the data is missing, information essential for a certain business function may
be unavailable.

Project Management Objectives

A project is a planned set of connected operations designed to achieve a specified

business goal. Development of new information systems, augmentation of current systems, or
upgrading or replacement of the firm's information technology (IT) infrastructure are examples of
information systems initiatives.

The use of information, skills, tools, and strategies to accomplish particular goals within
budget and schedule restrictions is referred to as project management. Planning the work,
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assessing risk, estimating the resources needed to complete the work, organizing the work,
acquiring human and material resources, assigning tasks, directing activities, controlling project
execution, reporting progress, and analyzing the results are all examples of project
management activities. Project management for information systems, like other sectors of
business, must deal with five primary variables: scope, time, cost, quality, and risk.

FIVE MAJOR VARIABLES OF PROJECT MANAGEMENT FOR I.S

Scope of a project dictates what work is or is not included. For example, the scope of a
project for a new order processing system may contain new modules for entering orders
and transferring them to production and accounting, but no modifications to associated
accounts receivable, manufacturing, distribution, or inventory management systems.
Project management outlines all of the work necessary to properly finish a project and
should guarantee that the scope of a project does not exceed what was initially planned.

Time is referred to as the quantity of time necessary to accomplish the job. The length of
time necessary to finish main components of a project is often determined by project
management. Each of these elements is further subdivided into activities and tasks.
Project management attempts to identify the amount of time needed to accomplish each
activity and to develop a timetable for finishing the work.

Cost is determined by multiplying the time necessary to accomplish a project by the cost
of human resources required to finish the project. The cost of hardware, software, and
office space is also included in the cost of information systems projects. Project
management creates a budget for the project and keeps track of continuing project
spending.

Quality is a measure of how well the outcome of a project meets the management
goals. The success of information systems initiatives is generally measured by increased
organizational performance and decision making. Quality also considers the new
system's accuracy and timeliness of information, as well as its simplicity of use.

Risk refers to prospective difficulties that might jeopardize a project's success. These
possible issues might prohibit a project from reaching its goals by raising time and
expense, decreasing the quality of project deliverables, or preventing the project from
being finished at all.
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II. Methods can be used for selecting and evaluating information systems projects and
aligning them with the firm’s business goals.

Companies are often provided with a variety of initiatives aimed at fixing problems and
boosting performance. There are significantly more ideas than resources for system initiatives.
Firms will need to prioritize initiatives that will provide the most value to the company. Obviously,
project selection should be guided by the firm's overall business plan.

Management Structure for Information Systems Projects

Figure 14.2 depicts the components of a big corporation's management structure for
information technology initiatives. It aids in ensuring that the most vital tasks are prioritized.

The corporate strategic planning group and the information systems steering committee
are at the top of this organization. The corporate strategy planning group oversees designing
the firm's strategic plan, which may need the creation of new systems. This group will often
have devised objective metrics of corporate performance and will select to fund IT initiatives that
will significantly enhance one or more key performance indicators. The firm's board of directors
reviews and discusses these performance metrics.
The top management group in charge of system development and operation is the
information systems steering committee. It is made up of department leaders from both the end-
user and information systems sectors.
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The steering committee analyzes and approves system plans for all divisions, works to
coordinate and integrate systems, and is sometimes involved in the selection of particular
information systems initiatives. This group is also well-versed in the key performance metrics
chosen by higher-level management and the board of directors.
A project management group comprised of information systems managers and end-user
managers in charge of managing individual information systems projects supervises the project
team. An individual system project is directly accountable for the project team. It is made up of
systems analysts, end-user business professionals, application programmers, and maybe
database specialists. The project team's skill mix and size are determined by the nature of the
system solution.

Linking Systems Projects to the Business Plan

Organizations must build an information systems strategy that supports their entire
business plan and incorporates strategic systems into top-level planning to identify the
information systems initiatives that will bring the greatest business value. The plan acts as a
road map for system development, outlining the reasoning, the status of present systems, future
innovations to consider, the management strategy, the implementation plan, and the budget.
(see Table 14.1).
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The strategy includes a declaration of company objectives as well as details on how

information technology will help those goals be met. The study outlines how particular system
initiatives will accomplish broad objectives. It specifies precise goal dates and milestones that
may subsequently be utilized to assess the plan's success in terms of how many objectives
were really met within the time range indicated in the plan. The plan outlines the important
management choices, technological, and organizational changes that must be implemented.
Firms will need to inventory and record all of its information system applications, IT
infrastructure components, and long- and short-term information needs in order to plan
efficiently. Managers should aim to identify the decision improvements that would give the most
added value to the company for initiatives where the benefits require enhanced decision
making.
They should then establish a set of measures to assess the benefit of more fast and
accurate decision-making information.
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Portfolio Analysis

Portfolio analysis may be used to assess different system projects once strategic
studies have decided the general direction of system development. Portfolio analysis includes
an inventory of all the organization's information systems projects and assets, including
infrastructure, outsourced contracts, and licenses. This portfolio of information systems
investments, like a financial portfolio, has a certain risk and reward profile to the company (see
Figure 14.3).

Each information systems project is unique in terms of risks and advantages. (Section
14-4 discusses the elements that raise the risks associated with system initiatives.)
Firms would attempt to increase the return on their IT asset portfolios by balancing the
risk and return from system investments. Although there is no optimum profile for all
organizations, information-intensive sectors (for example, banking) should have a few high-risk,
high-benefit initiatives to guarantee that they remain technologically current. Firms in non-
information-intensive sectors should prioritize initiatives with high benefits and low risk.
Of course, systems with high benefit and minimal danger are the most ideal. These
provide quick rewards with little risk. Second, high-benefit, high-risk systems should be
investigated; low-benefit, high-risk systems should be avoided completely; and low-benefit, low-
risk systems should be reviewed for the potential of rebuilding and replacing them with more
desired, higher-benefit systems. Management may use portfolio analysis to establish the ideal
balance of investment risk and return for their companies, balancing riskier high-reward
initiatives with safer lower-reward ones. Firms that link portfolio analysis with business strategy
have a higher return on IT assets, greater alignment of IT investments with business goals, and
better organization-wide coordination of IT expenditures (Jeffrey and Leliveld, 2004)
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Scoring Models

A scoring model may help in project selection when several factors must be addressed.
It applies weights to different system characteristics and then computes weighted totals. Using
Table 14.2, the company must choose between two different enterprise resource planning
(ERP) systems. The criteria that decision makers will use to assess the systems are listed in the
first column. Typically, these criteria are the outcome of long deliberations within the decision-
making group. The consensus on the criteria used to grade a system is sometimes more
essential than the score itself.

According to Table 14.2, this organization places the most emphasis on capabilities for
sales order processing, inventory management, and warehousing. Table 14.2's second column
provides the weights that decision makers assigned to the choice criteria. Columns 3 and 5
represent the proportion of criteria that each alternative ERP system can meet for each function.
The score of each vendor is determined by multiplying the percentage of criteria satisfied for
each function by the weight assigned to that function. ERP System B receives the highest
overall rating.
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As with all “objective” techniques, there are many qualitative judgments involved in using the
scoring model. This methodology necessitates the use of professionals who are conversant with
both the challenges and the technology. It's a good idea to run the scoring model multiple times
with different criteria and weights to determine how sensitive the output is to acceptable
changes in criteria. Scoring models are often used to validate, justify, and support judgments
rather than as the ultimate arbiters of system selection.

III. How can firms assess the business value of information systems?

Even if a systems project supports a firm’s strategic goals and meets user
information requirements, it needs to be a good investment for the firm. The value of systems
from a financial perspective essentially revolves around the issue of return on invested capital.
Does a particular information system investment produce sufficient returns to justify its costs?

Information System Costs and Benefits

Table 14.3 provides some of the most prevalent system costs and advantages.
Tangible benefits may be measured and monetary value ascribed. Intangible benefits, such
as improved customer service or decision making, are difficult to quantify but may lead to
quantitative profits in the long term. Transaction and clerical systems that eliminate labor and
save space always offer greater quantifiable, real advantages than management information
systems, decision-support systems, and computer-aided collaborative work systems.

The notion of total cost of ownership (TCO) was introduced in Chapter 5, and it is
intended to identify and quantify the components of information technology expenditures that go
beyond the initial cost of acquiring and installing hardware and software. TCO analysis, on the
other hand, gives just a portion of the information required to assess an information technology
investment since it often does not address benefits, cost categories such as complexity costs,
and "soft" and strategic aspects addressed later in this section.
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Capital Budgeting for Information Systems

To estimate the advantages of a certain project, you must first analyze all of its
expenses and benefits. Obviously, any initiative where the costs outweigh the advantages
should be rejected. However, even if the benefits surpass the costs, more financial analysis is
needed to assess if the project represents a satisfactory return on the firm's invested cash.
Capital budgeting models are one of various ways for calculating the value of long-term capital
investment projects.
Capital budgeting methods depend on cash flow metrics into and out of the company;
capital projects create such cash flows. The investment cost for information systems initiatives
is an immediate financial outflow caused by hardware, software, and personnel costs. In later
years, the investment may result in further financial expenditures that are offset by cash inflows
from the investment. Increased sales of more items generate cash inflows (for reasons such as
new products, higher quality, or increasing market share) to lower manufacturing and operating
expenses The difference between cash withdrawals and cash inflows is used to calculate an
investment's financial value. Once the cash flows have been calculated, there are various
possible ways for evaluating different projects and deciding on an investment.
The payback technique, the accounting rate of return on investment (ROI), net present
value, and the internal rate of return are the primary capital budgeting approaches for analyzing
IT investments (IRR). In the Learning Tracks for this chapter, you may learn more about how
these capital budgeting methods are used to justify information system investments.

Limitations of Financial Models

The traditional focus on the financial and technical components of an information system
tends to neglect the social and organizational dimensions of information systems, which may
have an impact on the underlying costs and benefits of the investment.
Many companies' information system investment decisions fail to account for the costs of
organizational disruptions caused by new systems, such as the cost of training end users, the
impact of users' learning curves for a new system on productivity, or the time managers must
spend overseeing new system-related changes. Intangible gains from a new system, such as
improved staff learning and expertise, may also be ignored in a standard financial study.

IV. The principal risk factors in information systems projects, and how can they be
managed.

In Chapter 8, we covered the issue of information system hazards and risk assessment. In
this chapter, we outline the various risks associated with information systems projects and
demonstrate how to successfully manage them.

Dimensions of Project Risk

The size, breadth, degree of complexity, and organizational and technological components
of systems vary greatly. Because they entail a considerably greater degree of risk than others,
certain system development initiatives are more likely to produce the difficulties listed above or
to be delayed. Project size, project structure, and the amount of technical knowledge of the
information systems personnel and project team all determine the level of project risk.
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 The project's size. The bigger the risk, the larger the project (as represented by the
dollars invested, the size of the implementation crew, the time given for execution, and
the number of organizational units involved). Because very large-scale system projects
are complicated and difficult to regulate, their failure rate is 50 to 75 percent greater
than that of other projects. The organizational complexity of the system—how many
units and organizations utilize it and how much it impacts business processes—as well
as technical characteristics such as the amount of lines of program code, project
duration, and budget—all contribute to the complexity of large-scale systems projects.
Furthermore, there are few accurate methods for calculating the time and cost of
developing large-scale information systems.
 The project's structure. Some initiatives are more organized than others. Because
their needs are clear and simple, outputs and procedures may be simply established.
Users are clear on what they want and what the system should do; there is essentially
little chance of users altering their views. Such initiatives are much less risky than those
with relatively vague, fluid, and continually changing needs; outputs that cannot be
readily resolved due to users' shifting notions; or users who cannot agree on what they
want.
 Experience with technology. If the project team and information system workers lack
the necessary technical skills, the project risk increases. If the team is inexperienced
with the hardware, system software, application software, or database management
system suggested for the project, it is extremely possible that technical difficulties may
arise or that the project will take longer to finish due to the requirement to learn new
skills.

Although the difficulty of the technology is one risk factor in information systems projects,
the other risks are primarily organizational in nature, dealing with the complexity of information
requirements, the scope of the project, and how many parts of the organization will be affected
by a new information system.

Change Management and the Concept of Implementation

The implementation or modification of an information system has a significant behavioral

and organizational influence. Changes in the definition, access, and use of information to
manage an organization's resources often result in changing distributions of authority and
control. Internal organizational change produces resistance and protest, perhaps leading to the
collapse of an otherwise effective system.
A substantial proportion of information systems initiatives fail because the organizational
transformation process around system development was not appropriately handled. Careful
change management is required for successful system development.

The Concept of Implementation

To successfully manage the organizational change associated with the introduction of a new
information system, you must assess the implementation process. All organizational efforts
aimed at the acceptance, administration, and routinization of an innovation, such as a new
information system, are referred to as implementation. The systems analyst acts as a change
agent throughout the implementation phase. The analyst not only creates technical solutions,
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but also reimagines the configurations, interactions, job activities, and power dynamics of
distinct organizational groupings. The analyst serves as the spark for the whole change
process, ensuring that all parties involved embrace the changes brought about by a new
system. The change agent interacts with users, mediates conflicting interest groups, and
ensures that the organization's adaptation to such changes is complete.

The Role of End Users

High degrees of user involvement and management support are often beneficial to
system installation. Participation of users in the design and operation of information systems
offers various advantages. First, if users are significantly engaged in system design, they have
more opportunity to shape the system to their priorities and business objectives, as well as
greater influence over the result. Second, since they were active participants in the change
process, they are more likely to respond favorably to the final system. Better solutions result
from incorporating user knowledge and experience.
The interaction between users and information systems professionals has long been a source of
contention in information system implementation attempts. Users and information systems
professionals often come from diverse backgrounds, have different interests, and prioritize
different things. The user-designer communication gap is what it's called. Divergent
organizational loyalties, problem-solving techniques, and languages result from these variances.
For example, information systems experts often have a very technical, or machine, perspective
to issue solutions. They seek attractive and sophisticated technological solutions that optimize
hardware and software efficiency at the price of usability or organizational effectiveness. Users
choose technologies that are designed to solve business issues or make organizational
activities easier. Both groups' attitudes are often so diametrically opposed that they seem to be
speaking in separate languages.

Table 14.4 displays the common concerns of end users and technical professionals (information
systems designers) surrounding the establishment of a new information system. Communication
issues between end users and designers are a key cause of user requirements not being
successfully integrated into information systems and users being pushed out of the
implementation process.
When there is a significant divide between users and technical experts, and when both
groups continue to pursue distinct objectives, systems development initiatives are extremely
likely to fail. Users are often pushed away from the project under such circumstances. Users
conclude that the whole project should be left in the hands of the information experts alone
since they cannot understand what the technicians are saying.
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Management Support and Commitment

If an information systems project has the support and commitment of management at all
levels, it is more likely to be seen favorably by both users and technical information services
workers. Both groups will feel that their involvement in the development process will be given
more attention and importance. They will be acknowledged and rewarded for their dedication to
implementation. Management support also guarantees that a systems project obtains the
budget and resources to succeed. Furthermore, in order to be properly implemented, any
changes in work habits and procedures, as well as any organizational realignments associated
with a new system, need managerial support. If a management deems a new system a priority,
his or her subordinates are more inclined to treat it as such. According to the Project
Management Institute, actively involved executive sponsors are the most important factor in
project success (Kloppenborg and Tesch, 2015; Project Management Institute, 2017).

Change Management Challenges for Business Process Reengineering, Enterprise

Applications, and Mergers and Acquisitions

Given the challenges of innovation and implementation, it is not surprising that

enterprise application and business process reengineering (BPR) projects have a very high
failure rate. These projects typically require extensive organizational change and may require
replacing old technologies and legacy systems that are deeply rooted in many interconnected
business processes. According to many surveys, 70% of all business process reengineering
efforts fail to provide the promised advantages. Similarly, even after three years of labor, a
substantial number of corporate systems fail to be completely built or to achieve the aims of
their users.
Poor implementation and change management techniques that failed to address workers'
worries about change have harmed several enterprise application and reengineering projects.
Dealing with fear and anxiety throughout the organization, overcoming key manager resistance,
and changing job functions, career paths, and recruitment practices have all posed greater
challenges to reengineering than the difficulties companies faced in visualizing and designing
breakthrough changes to business processes. All enterprise applications need tighter
cooperation across several functional divisions as well as significant business process
transformation (see Chapter 9).
Mergers and acquisitions projects have a similar failure rate. The organizational
characteristics of the merging organizations, as well as their IT systems, have a significant
impact on mergers and acquisitions. Combining the information systems of two separate firms
frequently necessitates significant organizational transformation and the management of
complicated system initiatives. If the integration is not effectively managed, businesses may end
up with a jumbled mess of inherited legacy systems created by aggregating the systems of one
company after another. Without a successful systems integration, the promised advantages of
the merger cannot be realized, or, worse, the combined firm cannot properly execute its
business activities.

Controlling Risk Factors

For certain types of implementation difficulties, many project management, requirements

collecting, and planning methodologies have been established. Strategies for ensuring that
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users play suitable roles throughout the implementation phase, as well as for managing the
organizational change process, have also been developed. Not every part of the implementation
process is readily controllable or plannable. However, recognizing probable implementation
issues and implementing appropriate remedial techniques may improve system success.
The first step in managing project risk is to identify the type and level of risk that the
project faces. Implementers may then handle each project with the appropriate tools and risk
management methodologies. Not all hazards are foreseen in advance, but most are with skilled
project management. Frequent communication and a collaborative culture will aid project teams
in adapting to unforeseen problems (Browning and Ramasesh, 2015; Laufer et al., 2015;
McFarlan, 1981).

Managing Technical Complexity

Internal integration tools help projects with difficult and sophisticated technologies to
master. The success of such initiatives is determined by how effectively they can handle their
technological complexity. Project managers must have extensive technical and administrative
expertise. They must be able to foresee difficulties and foster positive working relationships
within a mostly technical team. The team should be led by a manager with extensive technical
and project management expertise, and team members should be highly experienced. Team
meetings should be held on a regular basis. Technical skills or experience that are not
accessible internally should be obtained from outside the company.

Formal Planning and Control Tools

For recording and monitoring project plans, large projects benefit from the use of formal
planning tools and formal control technologies. Gantt charts and PERT charts are the two
most used ways for recording project plans. A Gantt chart shows project activities as well as
their start and finish dates. The Gantt chart depicts the time and length of various activities in a
development project, as well as their human resource needs (see Figure 14.4). Each activity is
shown as a horizontal bar with a length proportionate to the time necessary to finish it.
Although Gantt charts illustrate when project activities begin and conclude, they do not
highlight task dependencies, how one work is impacted if another is late, or how tasks should be
prioritized. PERT charts can very handy here. PERT is an acronym for "Program Evaluation and
Review Technique," which was established by the United States Navy in the 1950s to oversee
the Polaris submarine missile program. A PERT chart illustrates project tasks and their
interrelationships visually. As shown in Figure 14.5, the PERT chart specifies the individual
activities that comprise a project as well as the tasks that must be completed before a certain
activity may begin.
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A PERT chart
depicts a project as a
network diagram with
numbered nodes
(circles or rectangles)
representing project
tasks. Each node is
labeled with a number
and displays the job, its
length, the start date,
and the end date. The
orientation of the
arrows on the lines
indicates the job
sequence and which
activities must be
accomplished before
beginning another. The
tasks in nodes 2, 3, and 4
in Figure 14.5 are not
reliant on each other
and may be completed
concurrently, but each
is dependent on the
completion of the first
job. PERT charts for
complicated projects
may be difficult to
comprehend, thus
project managers often
use both methods.

These project management strategies may assist managers in identifying bottlenecks

and determining the effect of difficulties on project completion timelines. They may also assist
system developers in breaking down large projects into smaller, more manageable chunks with
specified, quantifiable business outcomes. Standard control procedures may effectively trace
the project's progress against budgets and target dates, allowing deviations from the plan to be
identified.
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Increasing User Involvement and Overcoming User

Projects with limited structure and numerous unknown needs must completely
incorporate users at all phases. Users must be mobilized to support one of several alternative
design possibilities while remaining loyal to a single design. External integration tools are
methods of connecting the activities of the implementation team to users at all organizational
levels. Users, for example, may become active members of the project team, take on leadership
responsibilities, and oversee installation and training. The implementation team may
demonstrate its responsiveness to users by immediately responding queries, integrating user
input, and demonstrating their readiness to assist.
Participation in implementation efforts may not be enough to overcome user opposition
to organizational change. The system may have varied effects on different users. While some
users may embrace a new system because it offers improvements, they perceive to be helpful
to them, others may reject similar changes because they feel the changes are damaging to their
interests. Users may opt to avoid using a system if it is voluntary; if it is obligatory, resistance
may manifest in higher mistake rates, disruptions, turnover, and even sabotage. As a result, the
implementation strategy must not only promote user engagement and involvement, but it must
also address the problem of counter implementation. Counter implementation is a deliberate
approach used to prevent the implementation of an information system or an innovation in an
organization. User engagement (to elicit commitment as well as enhance design), user
education and training, management edicts and rules, and improved incentives for cooperating
users are some strategies for overcoming user resistance. The new system may be made more
user-friendly by upgrading the end-user interface. Users will be more cooperative if
organizational issues are addressed prior to implementing the new technology.
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Designing for the Organization

Because the goal of a new system is to enhance the performance of the organization,
information systems projects must specifically address how the organization will change when
the new system is implemented, including the installation of mobile and online apps. Changes in
job duties, organizational structure, power relationships, and the work environment, in addition
to procedural changes, should be thoroughly prepared. Areas where people interact with the
system deserve specific attention, with a focus on ergonomics. The interplay of humans and
machines in the workplace is referred to as ergonomics. It takes into account work design,
health problems, and the end-user interface of information systems. The organizational factors
that must be considered while developing and implementing information systems are listed in

Table 14.5.
Even though systems analysis and design activities are required to include an
organizational effect study, this topic has historically been overlooked.
An organizational impact analysis describes how a proposed system would affect the
organization's structure, attitudes, decision making, and operations. To effectively integrate
information technology into the organization, detailed and properly documented organizational
impact evaluations must be prioritized in the development effort.

Sociotechnical Design

Incorporating sociotechnical design approaches into information systems projects is

one method of tackling human and organizational challenges. Designers provide distinct sets of
technical and social design solutions. The social design plans investigate various workgroup
organizations, task distribution, and the design of individual occupations. The technological
solutions presented are contrasted with the recommended societal solutions. For the final
design, the option that best fits both social and technological goals is chosen. The ensuing
sociotechnical design is supposed to result in an information system that combines technical
efficiency with sensitivity to organizational and human demands, resulting in increased work
satisfaction and productivity.
Some of these project management tactics are shown in the Interactive Management Session,
which illustrates how ConocoPhillips implemented a new access control system.
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Project Management Software Tools

The project management process is aided by commercial software products that

automate many parts of project management. Project management software often includes
tools for creating and organizing tasks, allocating resources to tasks, setting start and end dates
for tasks, measuring progress at both the individual and team levels, and simplifying task and
resource adjustments. Many include communication, collaboration, and social features in
addition to automating the development of Gantt and PERT charts.
Some of these tools are enormous, complex systems for managing very large projects,
distant work groups, and business activities. These high-end tools can manage a vast number
of tasks, activities, and complex connections. Microsoft Project is the most extensively used
project management tool today, although there are alternative lower-cost options for smaller
projects and small organizations. Many project management software are now cloud-based,
allowing project team members to access project management tools and data from any location.
The Interactive Session on Technology highlights some of the cloud-based Microsoft Project
Online features.
While project management software assists businesses in tracking individual projects,
the resources assigned to them, and their expenses, project portfolio management software
assists organizations in managing project portfolios and their dependencies among them.
Managers may use project portfolio management software to compare proposals and projects to
budgets and resource capacity levels in order to find the appropriate mix and sequencing of
projects to accomplish the organization's strategic objectives.

ASSESSMENT

TEST 1: Multiple Choice

INSTRUCTION: Choose the correct answer
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1. This refers to the application of knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to achieve
specific targets within specified budget and time constraints
a) Accounting Management
b) Project Management
c) Capital budgeting methods
d) Total Quality Management
2. Defined as any project that grossly exceeds budget and time targets but yet has
failed to produce an acceptable deliverable.
a) Runaway Projects
b) Good Projects
c) Risk
d) Scope
3. Without proper management, a systems development project takes longer to
complete and most often exceeds the allocated budget.
The resulting information system may not be able to demonstrate any benefits to the
organization.
a) Both statements are correct
b) Both statements are incorrect
c) The first statement is correct and the second statement is incorrect
d) The first statement is incorrect and the second statement is correct
4. A planned series of related activities for achieving a specific business objective.
a) Project
b) Goal
c) Vision
d) Target
5. It is the process of reviewing or assessing the elements of the entire portfolio of
securities or products in a business.
a) Portfolio Analysis
b) Risk Analysis
c) Cost Analysis
d) Value Analysis

6. The bigger the project—in terms of funds invested, implementation staff size,
implementation duration, and organizational units affected—the higher the risk.
Very large-scale systems projects have a failure rate that is 50 to 75 percent higher
than that for other projects because such projects are complex and difficult to control.
a) Both statements are correct
b) Both statements are incorrect
c) The first statement is correct, and the second statement is incorrect
d) The first statement is incorrect, and the second statement is correct

7. It is the lists project activities and their corresponding start and completion dates.
a) Gantt chart
b) PERT chart
c) Pie Chart
d) Bar Chart
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TEST 2: Enumeration
8. Enumerate the five major variables of Project Management For I.S
9. What 3 factors that influenced the level of Project Risk
TEST 3: Essay
10. Why project management, is important in developing information systems?
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References
Management Information Systems. (2020). In e. a. K. Laudon, Managing the Digital Firm
(p. Chapter 14). Pearson.