Chapter 2:

The Project Management and

Information Technology
Context

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Learning Objectives
Describe the systems view of project management and how it applies to information technology
(IT) projects.
Understand organizations, including the four frames, organizational structures, and
organizational culture.
Explain why stakeholder management and top management commitment are critical for a
project’s success.
Understand the concept of a project phase and the project life cycle, and distinguish between
project development and product development.
Discuss the unique attributes and diverse nature of IT projects.
Describe recent trends affecting IT project management, including globalization, outsourcing,
virtual teams, and agile project management.

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Projects Cannot Be Run In Isolation
Even though projects are temporary and intended to provide a unique product or service, you
cannot run projects in isolation.
Projects must operate in a broad organizational environment.
Project managers need to use systems thinking:
◦ taking a holistic view of carrying out projects within the context of the organization.

Senior managers must make sure projects continue to support current business needs.

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A Systems View of Project Management
Systems: are sets of interacting components working within an environment to fulfill some
purpose.
Example: the human body is a system composed of many subsystems- the nervous system, the skeletal
system, the circulatory system, the digestive system, and so on.

A systems approach emerged to describe a more analytical approach to management and

problem solving.
Three parts include:
◦ Systems philosophy: an overall model for thinking about things as systems.
◦ Systems analysis: requires defining the scope of the system, dividing it into its components, and
identifying and evaluating its problems, opportunities, constraints, and needs.
◦ Systems management: address business, technological, and organizational issues before making
changes to systems.

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Figure 2-1. Three Sphere Model for Systems
Management

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Understanding Organizations
The four frames of organizations:
1. Structural frame: deals with how the organization is structured and focuses on different groups’ roles
and responsibilities in order to meet the goals and policies set by top management.
Ex. Should a company centralize the IT personal in one department or decentralize across several department?
2. Human resources frame: focuses on producing harmony between the needs of the organization and
the needs of the people.
Ex. Many projects need personal work of more than 80 hours a week for several months, but it conflicts with the personal lives of
those people!
3. Political frame: addresses organizational and personal policies. Politics in organizations take the form
of competition among groups and individuals for power and leadership.
Ex. The power shifts from central functions to operating units or from functional managers to project managers.
4. Symbolic frame: focuses on symbols and meanings.
Ex. Was it a good sign that the CEO came to a kickoff meeting for a project, or was it a threat?

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Organizational Structures
3 basic organization structures:
o Functional: functional managers report to the CEO.
o Project: program managers report to the CEO.
o Matrix: middle ground between functional and project structures; personnel often report to
two or more bosses; structure can be weak, balanced, or strong matrix.

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Figure 2-3. Functional, Project, and Matrix
Organizational Structures

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Table 2-1. Organizational Structure
Influences on Projects

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Organizational Culture
Organizational culture is a set of shared assumptions, values, and behaviors that characterize
the functioning of an organization.
Many experts believe the underlying causes of many companies’ problems are not the structure
or staff, but the culture.

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Ten Characteristics of Organizational
Culture
oMember identity: the degree to which employees identify with the organization as a whole
rather than with their type of job or profession.
oGroup emphasis: the degree to which work activities are organized around groups or teams
rather than individuals.
oPeople focus: the degree to which management’s decisions take into account the effect of
outcomes on people within the organization.
oUnit integration: the degree to which units or departments within an organization are
encouraged to coordinate with each other.
oControl: the degree to which rules, policies, and direct supervision are used to oversee and
control employee behavior.

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Ten Characteristics of Organizational
Culture (Cont.)
oRisk tolerance: the degree to which employees are encouraged to be aggressive, innovative,
and risk seeking.
oReward criteria: the degree to which rewards are allocated according to employee
performance.
oConflict tolerance: the degree to which employees are encouraged to air conflicts openly.
oMeans-ends orientation: the degree to which management focuses on outcomes rather than
on techniques and processes used to achieve results.
oOpen-system focus: the degree to which the organization monitors and responds to changes in
the external environment.

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Stakeholder Management
Project managers must take time to identify, understand, and manage relationships with all
project stakeholders.
Using the four frames of organizations can help meet stakeholder needs and expectations.

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The Importance of Top Management
Commitment
People in top management positions are key stakeholders in projects.
A very important factor in helping project managers successfully lead projects is the level of
commitment and support they receive from top management.
Without top management commitment, many projects will fail.
Some projects have a senior manager called a champion who acts as a key proponent for a
project.

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How Top Management Can Help Project
Managers
oProviding adequate resources
oApproving unique project needs in a timely manner
oGetting cooperation from other parts of the organization
oMentoring and coaching on leadership issues

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Need for Organizational Standards
Standards and guidelines help project managers be more effective.
Senior management can encourage:
◦ the use of standard forms and software for project management.
◦ the development and use of guidelines for writing project plans or providing status information.
◦ the creation of a project management office or center of excellence.

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Project Phases and the Project Life Cycle
A project life cycle is a collection of project phases that defines:
◦ what work will be performed in each phase.
◦ what deliverables will be produced and when.
◦ who is involved in each phase.
◦ how management will control and approve work produced in each phase.

A deliverable is a product or service produced or provided as part of a project.

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More on Project Phases
In early phases of a project life cycle:
◦ resource needs are usually lowest.
◦ the level of uncertainty (risk) is highest.
◦ project stakeholders have the greatest opportunity to influence the project.

In middle phases of a project life cycle:

◦ the certainty of completing a project improves.
◦ more resources are needed.

The final phase of a project life cycle focuses on:

◦ ensuring that project requirements were met.
◦ the sponsor approves completion of the project.

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Figure 2-4. Phases of the Traditional Project
Life Cycle

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Product Life Cycles
Products also have life cycles.
The Systems Development Life Cycle (SDLC) is a framework for describing the phases involved in
developing and maintaining information systems.
Systems development projects can follow:
◦ Predictive life cycle: the scope of the project can be clearly articulated and the schedule and cost can be
predicted.
◦ Adaptive Software Development (ASD) life cycle: requirements cannot be clearly expressed, projects
are mission driven and component based, using time-based cycles to meet target dates.

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Predictive Life Cycle Models
oWaterfall model: has well-defined, linear stages of systems development and support.
oSpiral model: shows that software is developed using an iterative or spiral approach rather than
a linear approach.
oIncremental build model: provides for progressive development of operational software.
oPrototyping model: used for developing prototypes to clarify user requirements.
oRapid Application Development (RAD) model: used to produce systems quickly without
sacrificing quality.
oAgile software development has become popular to describe new approaches that focus on
close collaboration between programming teams and business experts.

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Figure 2-5. Waterfall and Spiral Life Cycle
Models

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Agile Software Development Model

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The Importance of Project Phases and
Management Reviews
A project should successfully pass through each of the project phases in order to continue on to
the next.
Management reviews, also called phase exits or kill points, should occur after each phase to
evaluate the project’s progress, likely success, and continued compatibility with organizational
goals.

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The Context of IT Projects
IT projects can be very diverse in terms of size, complexity, products produced, application area,
and resource requirements.
IT project team members often have diverse backgrounds and skill sets.
IT projects use diverse technologies that change rapidly. Even within one technology area,
people must be highly specialized.

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Recent Trends Affecting IT Project
Management
1. Globalization :the process by which businesses or other organizations develop international
influence or start operating on an international scale.
2. Outsourcing: Outsourcing is when an organization acquires goods and/or sources from an
outside source. Offshoring is sometimes used to describe outsourcing from another country.
3. Virtual teams: A virtual team is a group of individuals who work across time and space using
communication technologies.
4. Agile project management

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1. Globalization
Issues
◦ Communications
◦ Trust
◦ Common work practices
◦ Tools

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2. Outsourcing
Organizations remain competitive by using outsourcing to their advantage, such as finding ways
to reduce costs.
Their next challenge is to make strategic IT investments with outsourcing by improving their
enterprise architecture to ensure that IT infrastructure and business processes are integrated
and standardized.
Project managers should become more familiar with negotiating contracts and other
outsourcing issues.

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3. Virtual Teams
Advantages
oIncreasing competiveness and responsiveness by having a team of workers available 24/7.
oLowering costs because many virtual workers do not require office space or support beyond
their home offices.
oProviding more expertise and flexibility by having team members from across the globe working
any time of day or night.
oIncreasing the work/life balance for team members by eliminating fixed office hours and the
need to travel to work.

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3. Virtual Teams (cont.)
Disadvantages
oIsolating team members.
oIncreasing the potential for communications problems.
oReducing the ability for team members to network and transfer information informally.
oIncreasing the dependence on technology to accomplish work.
oTeam processes, trust/relationships, leadership style, and team member selection.

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4. Agile Project Management
Agile means being able to move quickly and easily, but some people feel that project
management does not allow people to work quickly or easily.
Early software development projects often used a waterfall approach. As technology and
businesses became more complex, the approach was often difficult to use because
requirements were unknown or continuously changing.
Agile today means using a method based on iterative and incremental development, in which
requirements and solutions evolve through collaboration.
Agile Makes Sense for Some Projects, But Not All!

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Chapter Summary
Project managers need to take a systems approach when working on projects.
Organizations have four different frames: structural, human resources, political, and symbolic.
The structure and culture of an organization have strong implications for project managers.
Projects should successfully pass through each phase of the project life cycle.
Project managers need to consider several factors due to the unique context of information
technology projects.
Recent trends affecting IT project management include globalization, outsourcing, virtual teams,
and Agile.

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