Mixing Methodologies for Information Systems Development and Strategy: A Higher Education Case Study

2000 ◽  
Vol 51 (5) ◽  
pp. 542 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Clarke ◽  
B. Lehaney
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Information Systems ◽  
Systems Development ◽  
Information Systems Development

scholarly journals Principals Agents and Prisoners: An Economical Perspective on Information Systems Development Practice

10.28945/3041 ◽  
2006 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karlheinz Kautz ◽  
Bjarke Nielsen
Keyword(s):  
Information Systems ◽  
Systems Development ◽  
Information Systems Development ◽  
Research Approach ◽  
Price Structure ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Development Practice

Information systems development takes place within an economical context. However, the economical conditions, which shape systems development in practice, are hardly researched. In this paper we are investigating the question how a given price structure influences systems development projects. Our analysis is based on a multi case study and a Grounded Theory inspired research approach. Our work is informed by economic theories, which deal with the relationship of suppliers and customers and their mutual dependency. We thus apply principal-agent theory and economic game theory in form of the prisoner’s dilemma. As a result we provide three interlinked models for understanding the impact of pricing structure on systems development practice. The main elements of these models are pricing structure, risk distribution and price level, and opportunistic behavior. We discuss how these elements are interrelated and examine their impact on information systems development in practice.

Questioning the Key Techniques Underlying the Iterative and Incremental Approach to Information Systems Development

2010 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 15-29 ◽  
Author(s):  
Angus G. Yu
Keyword(s):  
Information Systems ◽  
Side Effect ◽  
Systems Development ◽  
User Participation ◽  
Academic Community ◽  
Information Systems Development ◽  
Incremental Development ◽  
Successful Design ◽  
Key Techniques

The iterative and incremental development (IID) approach is widely adopted in information systems development (ISD) projects. While the IID approach has played an important role the management of many ISD projects, some of the key techniques have not received critical appraisal from the academic community. This paper aims to fill the gap and examines three such techniques through a case study. First of all, the gap between the theory of user participation and the reality of user’s lack of real influence on design and development is explored. The author proposes the concept of “participatory capture” to explain the side effect of user participation. Secondly, the assumption that evolutionary prototyping converges to a successful design is questioned. Thirdly, the side effect of the timeboxing technique is considered. The paper suggests that the IID approach represents the learning approach as categorized in Pich et al. (2002) and it might be ineffective in dealing with the significant uncertainties in ISD projects.

scholarly journals Dealing with unpredictable risk - The influence of external factors on information systems development and implementations

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Ettiene Esterhuizen
Keyword(s):  
Risk Factors ◽  
Risk Management ◽  
Project Management ◽  
Information Systems ◽  
Systems Development ◽  
Information Systems Development ◽  
Management Processes ◽  
Huge Impact ◽  
Risk Processes

<p>Organisations and especially Government departments develop information systems for their own specific needs, due to this Government departments invests a great deal in information systems development and implementation projects. The intention is to save on cost and develop information systems according to their needs and requirements. Unfortunately such projects are vulnerable and subject to a range of risks.  This case study identifies the risk factors involved in information systems development and implementation projects and the risk processes that are in place to mitigate against those risk factors. Furthermore the case study investigates an information systems development and implementation project where four legacy systems were to be merged into one newly developed system. The project was interrupted when an organisational merger resulted in the loss of key members of the governance board and the project team, either through redundancy or being allocated other responsibilities within the organisation. This exposed the project to unpredictable risk which caused the project to head down the path of possible failure.  The case study outlines the project plan, what actually happened and what according to the interviewed participants happened during the project. It is clear that the risk management processes wasn't followed and that wrongful decisions were made during the organisational merger. Unpredictable risks as a result of the merger and the decision to continue the project required a strong governance board, proper project management, proper risk management and the execution of the risk management processes. The lack of governance and project management had a huge impact on the project while the loss of expertise and knowledge added to the risk profile which resulted in further complications to the project. It’s during these situation that a strong governance board and proper project management is needed to make those critical decisions and steer the project towards success.</p>

Conflict and Politics and Information Systems Failure

2003 ◽  
pp. 104-134 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leoni Warne
Keyword(s):  
Information Systems ◽  
Research Study ◽  
Systems Development ◽  
Information Systems Development ◽  
Success Rates ◽  
Power Politics ◽  
It Managers ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Systems Failure

Managing the power, politics and organizational conflict inherent in information systems is increasingly recognized as being of critical importance to successful information systems development. The focus of this chapter is the extent to which conflict among participants in an information systems development may be said to contribute to project failure. The chapter describes a research study that explores the nature of conflict in an information systems development and the extent to which conflict may be perceived to impact on the successful progress of a project. In particular, the study was designed to determine which type of conflict (i.e., conflict between which type of stakeholders) may pose the most risk to an information systems development and to determine to what extent conflict can be said to be a contributing factor to information systems failure. The study was structured into three distinct stages. The first stage was a major case study conducted to explore the nature of conflict in a prematurely terminated information systems development and to probe the extent to which conflict was perceived to pose a risk to information systems projects. The second stage involved surveying IT Managers to test the wider applicability of the case study findings. The third and final stage involved developing a predictive model of conflict showing the relative weighting of each of the variables investigated, using logistic regression. The most significant outcome of the study was that information systems developments can be detrimentally affected by the impact of conflict among users who have commissioned or will use the system. Managing and resolving conflict in an information systems environment is clearly a difficult, challenging and time-consuming exercise, but the findings of this research study suggest that the rewards, in terms of higher success rates, should be worth the commitment.

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