IS Project Management

According to the recent surveys, software projects are
still failing significantly. The projects are failing due to
management related issues rather than technical issues.
Therefore, improving the quality of software project
management increases the odds of success. One of the
ways to increase the quality is the effective use of
project management tools. In this paper, we introduce
PROMOL, a formal and visual software project
management modeling lanaguage. PROMOL
distinguishes itself from other project management
tools with being visual, formal and able to address
various aspects of project management at the same
time. We also provide a simple example to illustrate the
use of modeling language.

"With the emergence of Agile Software Development technologies, the software community is expecting in a large impact on producing quality.

The main question that each new technology must pass through with success is: How much it’s worth?

This paper propose a model for determining the significance worth of quality into the most used agile methods (eXtreme programming, Scrum, Lean) inspired by the Toyota Production System(TPS).

Keywords: agile methods, software quality, Toyota production system, Extreme Programming, Scrum Methodologies, Lean Software Development."

The development of mobile applications is becoming one of the growth sectors of the local software economy. In addition to a lot of mobile users, developers also have a lot of choices in developing mobile applications. A large selection resulted in the development technology makes developer team need to invest the time to learn each platform. This was definite by the competition of mobile application development which should always be fast, efficient, and also includes as many targeted platform. This paper will focus for the beginner developer teams who want to develop or evaluate mobile applications in more nimble. In this paper, it is shown a software engineering approach called MASEF ("Mobile Application Software Engineering Framework"). MASEF will guide novice developers to develop and evaluate a mobile application development in agile way. This paper also recounts the successes and challenges in adopting MASEF at four kinds of mobile applications projects.

This article examines five common misunderstandings about case-study research: (a) theoretical knowledge is more valuable than practical knowledge; (b) one cannot generalize from a single case, therefore, the single-case study cannot contribute to scientific development; (c) the case study is most useful for generating hypotheses, whereas other methods are more suitable for hypotheses testing and theory building; (d) the case study contains a bias toward verification; and (e) it is often difficult to summarize specific case studies. This article explains and corrects these misunderstandings one by one and concludes with the Kuhnian insight that a scientific discipline without a large number of thoroughly executed case studies is a discipline without systematic production of exemplars, and a discipline without exemplars is an ineffective one. Social science may be strengthened by the execution of a greater number of good case studies.

Phronetic organizational research is an approach to the study of management and organizations focusing on ethics and power. It is based on a contemporary interpretation of the Aristotelian concept phronesis, usually as ‘prudence’. Phronesis is the ability to think and act in relation to values, to deliberate about ‘things that are good or bad for humans’ in the words of Aristotle (1976:1140a24–b12). Phronetic organizational research effectively provides answers to the following four value-rational questions, for specific problematics in management and organization studies: 1. Where are we going with this specific management problematic? 2. Who gains and who loses, and by which mechanisms of power? 3. Is this development desirable? 4. What, if anything, should we do about it?

The aim of this study is identifying CSFs of ERP implementation. ERP implementation always
deals with challenges which decrease the chances of Implementation success in practice. In order to
overcome these challenges, many researchers have applied concepts such as Change Management,
Knowledge Management, and Innovation Management to moderate and handle implementation issues;
however challenges continue to exist. Thus, we propose a new look into ERP deployment as a Technology,
made by a Developer Company, and used by a Recipient Company. In this paper, we see ERP system
implementation from a technology transfer perspective. Besides studying ERP, we review models and
success factors in Technology Transfer (TT). Then, we summarize Critical Success Factors (CSFs) that
integrate the concepts of ERP implementation and TT. A questionnaire based on these CSFs was designed
and distributed among four Iranian large companies and their ERP developers. All four of these companies
are in heavy metal industry and were implementing an ERP system at the time. Identified CSFs are validated
by using T-test, and are categorized by Exploratory Factor Analysis into five main factors. These Factors are:
Culture, Organizational Structure, Project Management, Support Activities & Training Issues, and the
Interaction between Transferor and Transferee.

Web applications and particularly Web
based Information Systems are very popular due to
several reasons. The main reason is the ability to
update and maintain them without distributing and
installing software on thousand of client computers.
This paper describes the main stages of the
development process and mainly requirement analysis
and database design. Such kind of system will provide
students with the opportunity to choose among more
projects, to work with different specialists in other
conditions, in international teams, in different
environments and to have more opportunities for their
future professional realization.

The Aalborg Project may be interpreted as a metaphor of modern politics, modern administration and planning, and of modernity itself. The basic idea of the project was comprehensive, coherent, and innovative, and it was based on rational and democratic argument. During implementation, however, when idea met reality, the play of Machiavellian princes, Nietzschean will to power, and Foucauldian rationality-as-rationalization resulted in the fragmentation of the project.

At the same time that case studies are widely used and have produced canonical texts, it may be observed that the case study as a methodology is generally held in low regard, or is simply ignored, within the academy. For example, only 2 of the 30 top-ranked U.S. graduate programs in political science require a dedicated graduate course in case study or qualitative methods, and a full third of these programs do not even offer such a course. In contrast, all of the top 30 programs offer courses in quantitative methods and almost all of them require training in such methods, often several courses. In identifying this paradox of the case study’s wide use and low regard, Gerring rightly remarks that the case study survives in a “curious methodological limbo,” and that the reason is that the method is poorly understood. In what follows, we will try to resolve Gerring’s paradox and help case study research gain wider use and acceptance.

About Book: Management Information System refers to a system that provides information to support managerial functions like planning, organizing, staffing, directing and controlling; collects information in a systematic and a routine manner which is in accordance with a well defined set of rules; as well as includes files, hardware, software and operations research models of processing, storing, retrieving and transmitting information to the users.

To sustain in this competitive globalised village, this book provides a brief insight into Management Information System to help the current and future executives as well as managers at all levels of management to work efficiently for an effective output in the organization. The discussion includes the Strategic IS, types of MIS and MIS in functional areas of Business along with various Managerial Systems, MIS Development Models, SRS, Security Issues and Ethics for Managerial knowledge. With many years of industrial and academic experience, the book has been developed to help the undergraduate students, graduate students, researchers, academicians and even managers for a better insight into the Management Information System.

Project Management Information Systems (PMIS) should provide project managers with decision making support for planning, organizing and controlling projects. Most project managers are dissatisfied with the information produced by PMIS. Based on a survey among 101 project managers the interactions between six factors related to PMIS information quality and usage and their effect on decision making are examined in a multi project environment. Using structural equation modeling, new insights were gained in these complex relationships. Results indicate that the use of a project management information system is advantageous to project managers, while no adverse effects were observed due to project and information overload. PMIS information quality is positively related to quality of the decisions, satisfaction of project managers with PMIS and use of PMIS information. Simultaneous handling of multiple projects causes project managers to extend conclusions about the information quality for one project to all projects at hand.

In this paper we argue that the use of the communicative theory of Jürgen Habermas in planning theory is problematic because it hampers an understanding of how power shapes planning. We posit an alternative approach based on the power analytics of Michel Foucault which focuses on ‘what is actually done’, as opposed to Habermas’s focus on ‘what should be done’. We discuss how the Foucauldian stance problematises planning, asking difficult questions about the treatment of legitimacy, rationality, knowledge and spatiality. We conclude that Foucault offers a type of analytic planning theory which offers better prospects than does Habermas for those interested in understanding and bringing about democratic social change through planning.

This article presents results from the first statistically significant study of cost escalation in transportation infrastructure projects. Based on a sample of 258 transportation infrastructure projects worth US$90 billion and representing different project types, geographical regions, and historical periods, it is found with overwhelming statistical significance that the cost estimates used to decide whether such projects should be built are highly and systematically misleading. Underestimation cannot be explained by error and is best explained by strategic misrepresentation, that is, lying. The policy implications are clear: legislators, administrators, investors, media representatives, and members of the public who value honest numbers should not trust cost estimates and cost-benefit analyses produced by project promoters and their analysts.

This paper reviews the problems, approaches and analytical models on project control systems and discusses the possible research extensions. We focused on literature in Earned Value Analysis (EVA), optimization tools, and the design of decision support systems (DSS) that will contribute to helping project managers in planning and controlling under uncertain project environments. The review reveals that further research is essential to develop analytical models using EVA metrics to forecast project performance. It also suggests that DSS should be model driven, function as early warning systems and should be integrated to commercial project management software

"Despite the vast amount of information regarding project communications management, the Project Management Body of Knowledge does not include a method of tracking conversations between project stakeholders by the project manager. In order to improve communications, communication tools should be implemented by organizations (Loo, 1995). A method such as a communications log should be included as a communication tool in the Project Management Body of Knowledge. (PMBOK® Guide).

This article explores the use of a communications log (CL) as a communication tool for tracking project- related conversations for improved project communications management as well as instructions of how to set-up an online communications log, some guidelines for use, and some suggestions as to where the communications log would most appropriately be incorporated into the PMBOK® Guide. The contribution of this article is to further the field of project communications management by considering the use of a communications log as a tool for increased communicational effectiveness.


"The Communications Log: A Communication Tool for Improved Project Communications Management by Christopher M. Bell, CAPM is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.""

ABSTRACT
The Principle objective of this project was to establish the major causes of delays in projects implementation in the construction industry in Kenya. The study delimited itself my limiting the scope into the roads maintained /constructed by the KeNHA in the coast region of Kenya. This was deeply looked at by taking into account four major objectives that included: to establish the extent to which construction project financing influence the delay of construction projects in the road sector, to investigate the extent to which construction project planning influence the delay of construction projects in the road sector, to find out the extent to which contractor’s experience influences the delay of construction projects in the road sector, and ,to investigate the extent to which supervision of work influences the delay of construction projects in the road sector. The study employed a survey research design, since it was an in depth investigation of an individual group of respondents. The questioners were used as the main source of gathering information from selected 55 respondents that cut a cross categories like constrictors, surveyors, engineers and many more. These questionnaires were emailed to some respondents; others were dropped and picked later while some were administered by research assistants. Questionnaires were sorted out, data keyed in into the SPSS for analysis. This information then was presented by use of frequency tables. From the hypothesis testing using the Chi-Square, the calculated Chi-Square values were found to be greater than the critical value of 9.488 thus the alternative hypotheses were adopted in all the four cases as per the objectives. Recommendations for further studies have been included in the last chapter (chapter five).

The challenges that health organisations face today is to get better organisational performance, reliable information, faster quality services at prices that should be affordable to the entire population. To fulfil this important goal, health organisations require more comprehensive and integrated approaches such as, but not limited to, optimise their available resources, eliminate inefficiencies and achieve the planned benefits from investments in Information Systems and Technology (IS/IT). Healthcare organisations must improve their management practices and internal procedures to answer the increasing demand of managers, health professionals and the public in general, for more and better information. Health organisations adopt a patient-centred care approach and invest massively in IS/IT, hoping that these investments will improve medical care and patient needs. The main objective of our research is to analyse how the Organisational Maturity affect IS/IT Project Success in Healthcare and if that success is enhanced by using Project Management practices. There is evidence that there is a direct relationship between these variables and that Project Management practices can mediate it, helping to increase the effectiveness of IS/IT projects. Furthermore, the application of the Project Management practices can also improve confidence that the results of these investments meet stakeholders’ expectations, both by the benefits accomplishment and by adding a perceived value to organisations. This study develops and validates an instrument to analyse the data collected from a survey to professionals’ perceptions about the IS/IT Project Success in Healthcare organisations. The results confirm that Project Management has a mediating effect on the relationship between Organizational Maturity and success of IS/IT projects and higher levels of Organisational Maturity will generate more successfully IS/IT projects, although the presence of the mediator Project Management can, in specific situations, affect negatively the correlation between Organisational Maturity and IS/IT Project Success.

This article presents the theoretical and methodological considerations behind a research method which the author calls ‘phronetic planning research’. Such research sets out to answer four questions of power and values for specific instances of planning: (1) Where are we going with planning? (2) Who gains and who loses, and by which mechanisms of power? (3) Is this development desirable? (4) What, if anything, should we do about it? A central task of phronetic planning research is to provide concrete examples and detailed narratives of the ways in which power and values work in planning and with what consequences to whom, and to suggest how relations of power and values could be changed to work with other consequences. Insofar as planning situations become clear, they are clarified by detailed stories of who is doing what to whom. Clarifications of that kind are a principal concern for phronetic planning research and provide the main link to praxis.

One common and essential characteristic of a project, is that it is a temporary endeavor, to achieve certain outcomes (deliverables) and to help achieve organizational/stakeholders’ objectives, with defined beginning and end. Methodologies applied in projects, tends to directly influence the efficiency and effectiveness of project outcomes. Consequently, affecting the cost, quality, scope, time and outcomes. Mistakes happens regardless of the methodology applied. The first rule in project management is that “Nothing goes as you plan” (Firend, Al. R., 2019).

Methodology is defined as “strictly defined combination of logically related practices, methods, and processes that determine how best to plan, develop, control and deliver a project throughout the continuous implementation processes until successful completion and termination.” (MyManagementGuide). There are numerous definitions of methodology in project management. However, there is a shared fundamental principle across all definitions.  That is, methodology in project management helps project managers direct the project, and keep it in track. Methodology help organizations to achieve outcomes that aligned with strategic objectives. This is especially true when considering that projects are expensive, changing and time consuming in nature.

All projects have three main components that a Project Manager (PM) constantly struggle with; cost, time, and quality. Various approaches to project methodology are the means of organizing and directing projects.  These components are limitations that shape projects in the form of outcomes, deadlines and resources. As such, choosing the right methodology help achieve desired objectives and set outcomes in a most efficient and effective manner. There are six common types of project management methodologies. Each part will be discussed with explanation of its sub-parts.

This body of work is written while working in California’s Silicon Valley as project manager, and teaching project management to MBA students. The intent of this work is to clarify the various methodologies applied in project management and simply these concepts to those learning project management, and to those studying it. A study on critical success factors has been included at the end of this book to illustrate the importance of culture and the role cultural values play in defining project successes and failures for the benefit of the reader.

Megaproject Planning and Management: Essential Readings contains the seminal articles from the growing body of research on megaproject planning and management along with an original introduction by the editor, Bent Flyvbjerg. The leading and most cited authority in the field, Flyvbjerg has used crowdsourcing and 25 years of experience to cherry-pick from several hundred articles and books the writings that define the field. This volume will be an indispensable source for those wishing to speak with authority about how megaprojects are prepared, delivered, and fought over. The target audience is students, academics, practitioners, and media pundits alike, as well as communities affected by megaprojects.

ABSTRACT
The Integrated Financial Management Information system (IFMIS) is a computerized budgeting, accounting and reporting system used by Kenyan Government to plan and use its financial resources more efficiently and effectively. The purpose of this study was to identify factors that influence effective implementation of an integrated financial management information system (IFMIS) in the management of project funds. The study was guided by five objectives that seek to; find out how organizational management, technical challenges, necessary human capacity and resources, management commitment and adequacy of training influence the implementation of IFMIS in the government funded projects. The objectives also formed the themes in literature review. A descriptive research design was adopted for the study. In the study stratified random sampling was used in accordance to the characteristics the elements in the population possess. The research targeted officers involved in the project management, project planning, ICT and the other people involved directly in public funded projects and planning departments. The target population was 10320. The study sampled 100 respondents with 50% being implementation officers and 50% being direct beneficiaries. A pilot study was conducted to check the instruments reliability and validity and the instruments were found to be valid and reliable. Data was collected using a structured questionnaire which was administered personally, via e-mails, enumerators and pick them after they had been filled. Data was coded and analyzed using the SPSS. The coded data was analyzed by use of descriptive statistics comprising of frequency tables. The hypothesis was tested by use of Chi Square. The findings showed that the organizational arrangements have not been taken into account effectively especially the legal and the structural arrangement both bureaucratic and departments arrangements. This has greatly influenced the implementation of IFMIS negatively in the county. Technical challenges have been found to influence the implementation of IFMIS projects. Management played a significant role in implementing the IFMIS projects though the staff felt the management did not offer support. Human capacity and capital resources availability like proper remuneration allocations and availability of adequate training has a significant influence in the implementation of IFMIS. It is the personnel that determine the direction of projects and this to great extent is tied to their experience and skills development. Based on the findings of the study, the researcher recommended that: the organizational managements should be structured in a manner that makes it possible for the adoption, integration and use of the Integrated Financial Management Information Systems in the public funded projects. Much should be done by eliminating/lessening the technical challenges that face both the employees and management in implementing the IFMIS in the county. The managers should be having the positive attitude by providing the required resources, increasing the number of meetings that are to monitor the implementation of the projects and reward those employees who have integrated the projects. Human capacity development and capital resources availability should be doubled in every time the IFMIS projects are meant to be touched on. Qualified personnel and available qualified personnel will increase the rate at which the projects are implemented.

Back cover text: If the new fin de siècle marks a recurrence of the real, Bent Flyvbjerg’s Rationality and Power epitomizes that development and sets new standards for social and political inquiry. The Danish town of Aalborg is to Flyvbjerg what Florence was to Machiavelli: a laboratory for understanding the real workings of power, and for grasping what they mean to our more general concerns of social and political organization. Politics, administration, and planning are examined in ways that allow  a rare, in-depth understanding. The reader witnesses, firsthand, the classic and endless drama which defines what modernity and democracy are and can be.

The objective of this research paper is to provide
information regarding structural implementation of a Project
management office. This Paper discusses PMO’s structure such
as Characteristics Features, Roles, Functions, Challenges,
Benefits, Governance Mechanism and Form Structure.

Back cover text: Megaprojects and Risk provides the first detailed examination of the phenomenon of megaprojects. It is a fascinating account of how the promoters of multi-billion dollar megaprojects systematically and self-servingly misinform parliaments, the public and the media in order to get projects approved and built. It shows, in unusual depth, how the formula for approval is an unhealthy cocktail of underestimated costs, overestimated revenues, undervalued environmental impacts and overvalued economic development effects. This results in projects that are extremely risky, but where the risk is concealed from MPs, taxpayers and investors. The authors not only explore the problems but also suggest practical solutions drawing on theory, experience and hard, scientific evidence from the several hundred projects in twenty nations and five continents that illustrate the book. Accessibly written, it will be the standard reference for students, scholars, planners, economists, auditors, politicians and interested citizens for many years to come.

The article first describes characteristics of major infrastructure projects. Second, it documents a much neglected topic in economics: that ex ante estimates of costs and benefits are often very different from actual ex post costs and benefits. For large infrastructure projects the consequences are cost overruns, benefit shortfalls, and the systematic underestimation of risks. Third, implications for cost–benefit analysis are described, including that such analysis is not to be trusted for major infrastructure projects. Fourth, the article uncovers the causes of this state of affairs in terms of perverse incentives that encourage promoters to underestimate costs and overestimate benefits in the business cases for their projects. But the projects that are made to look best on paper are the projects that amass the highest cost overruns and benefit shortfalls in reality. The article depicts this situation as ‘survival of the unfittest’. Fifth, the article sets out to explain how the problem may be solved, with a view to arriving at more efficient and more democratic projects, and avoiding the scandals that often accompany major infrastructure investments. Finally, the article identifies current trends in major infrastructure development. It is argued that a rapid increase in stimulus spending, combined with more investments in emerging economies, combined with more spending on information technology is catapulting infrastructure investment from the frying pan into the fire.