| 1. |
- Bathallath, Sameer, et al.
(författare)
-
Impediments to Effective Management of Project Interdependencies : A Study of IT/IS Project Portfolios
- 2017
-
Ingår i: Journal of Electronic Commerce in Organizations. - 1539-2937 .- 1539-2929. ; 15:2, s. 16-30
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Interdependencies between projects have come to play a more active role in the decision on IT/IS portfolios and their constituent projects. However, managing these interdependencies can be a complex task, especially when the number and degree of interdependencies among projects are high. In times of uncertainty, unexpected challenges can seriously disrupt projects and, consequently, their interdependencies. This may threaten the project portfolio from achieving its final goal. The study aims to investigate the difficulties associated with managing project interdependence along the development cycle of the project portfolio. The study was conducted using a qualitative approach and semi-structured interviews with managers from four leading organizations in Saudi Arabia. The findings reveal three main categories of factors that increased the difficulty of managing project interdependencies in large IT/IS project portfolios: insufficient understanding of human responsibilities in the whole portfolio, unpredictability of the environment, and technology barriers and constraints.
|
|
| 2. |
- Bathallath, Sameer, et al.
(författare)
-
Investigating the Sources of Difficulties in Managing Project Interdependencies : A Study of IT/IS Project Portfolios
- 2016
-
Ingår i: Proceedings of the 9th IADIS International Conference Information Systems 2016. - : IADIS Press. - 9789898533500 ; , s. 71-82
-
Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Interdependencies between projects can take a major role in IT/IS project portfolios. However, managing these interdependencies can be a difficult task, especially when the number and diversity of projects grow large in scale. In times of unexpected events, extra management efforts are inevitable for treating the subsequent effects on the projects and their interdependencies, and for maintaining high-performance portfolios. Complexity is also a concern for managers, and a growing complexity level may threatens the project portfolio from achieving its final goal. This paper investigates the managerial issues and difficulties in handling project interdependencies. For a closer look at these interdependencies and to gain more understanding of the problem area, a qualitative study was conducted based on semi-structured interviews with managers from four leading organizations in different industries in Saudi Arabia. The findings reveal three main sources of difficulty in managing project interdependencies in IT/IS project portfolios: 1) Insufficient understanding of human responsibilities in the whole portfolio, 2) Environmental change and 3) Technological constraints.
|
|
| 3. |
- Bathallath, Sameer, et al.
(författare)
-
Managing project interdependencies in IT/IS project portfolios : a review of managerial issues
- 2016
-
Ingår i: International Journal of Information Systems and Project Management. - 2182-7796 .- 2182-7788. ; 4:1, s. 67-82
-
Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- Adequately managing project interdependencies among diverse and simultaneous projects is deemed critical for successful implementation of project portfolios. The challenge is significant because it may entail managing a complex network of project interdependencies that keeps changing over time. The present study investigates the managerial challenges that may undermine effective management of project interdependencies in IT/IS project portfolios. The investigation is based on evidence from reviewing relevant literature and documented studies associated with managing project interdependencies. The main contribution of this study is to discuss three managerial challenges of project interdependencies in project portfolios. We discuss the challenges from three perspectives: types of interdependencies; patterns of interaction in interdependencies; and cost/benefit impact of project interdependencies.
|
|
| 4. |
- Bathallath, Sameer, et al.
(författare)
-
Project interdependency management in IT/IS project portfolios : from a systems perspective
- 2016
-
Ingår i: Procedia Computer Science. - : Elsevier BV. - 1877-0509. ; 100, s. 928-934
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Capitalizing on inter-project interdependencies is widely accepted as being crucial for Information Technology/Information Systems (IT/IS) project portfolio success. However, handling these interdependencies becomes a source of increased management complexity as project portfolios get larger, increasingly diverse, and are much influenced by their environments. This then can lead to less predictable situations regarding the portfolio performance as a whole. Though there are many methods available for optimally selecting projects and cross-checking possible synergies and interdependencies among the projects in the portfolio, it remains unclear how one can gain control over the complexity of managing these interdependencies. In this study, we address the problem of handling many project interdependencies that continuously change and develop within a large IT/IS project portfolio. We found that the existing methods for selecting and managing the projects within a portfolio do not focus enough on how interdependencies can disrupt the balance of the whole project portfolio system. To tackle the problem, we propose a systemic approach using the Viable System Model to enhance the way that these interdependencies can be effectively managed in view of the overall portfolio system. We suggest that the Viable System Model, as a supplement to traditional IT/IS project portfolio management approaches, is recursively applied to diagnose and manage the complexity of project interdependencies within IT/IS project portfolios.
|
|
| 5. |
- Bathallath, Sameer, et al.
(författare)
-
The Viable System Model for Diagnosing and Handling IT-Project Interdependencies in Large Portfolios
- 2018
-
Ingår i: International Journal of Information Technology Project Management. - 1938-0232 .- 1938-0240. ; 10:1, s. 72-87
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Adequately considering project interdependencies has shown to be a determinant of how successful IT/IS project portfolios are managed. However, this can be especially troublesome since there is no universal way to handle many project interdependencies that continue to change over time due to environmental uncertainty or unexpected decisions. This can seriously disrupt portfolio performance. In this article, the authors used the systems perspective to address the problem of managing multiple IT-project interdependencies in complex IT/IS portfolio environment. In particular, the authors propose using the cybernetic model Viable System Model to facilitate thinking and reasoning concerning the difficulty of managing IT-project interdependencies. To validate their approach and to ensure the appropriateness of it, the authors used real-world problem situations drawn from multiple case studies conducted in four leading organizations in Saudi Arabia. The findings support that the Viable System Model can be applied to assist in diagnosing and handling of IT-project interdependencies.
|
|
| 6. |
- Nyfjord, Jaana, et al.
(författare)
-
Conventions for Coordinating Large Agile Projects
- 2014
-
Ingår i: Agile Methods. - Cham : Springer. - 9783319143583 - 9783319143576 ; , s. 58-72
-
Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- There is no universal way to coordinate Agile teams in large development projects because they have unique challenges. This suggests that the best way to coordinate the teams is to ask them how they want to be managed given a set of constraints. This requires particular communication and negotiation skills in the leadership team, which we discuss in this article. We describe the skills as a set of conventions, founded on the argument that every organization is a complex adaptive system and should therefore be analyzed from multiple system perspectives. We investigate scientific models for managing complexity and evaluate their usefulness through qualitative interviews with 14 managers in large private and public organizations in Saudi Arabia. We conclude that a set of proposed conventions could facilitate coordination by functioning as a supportive context enabling managers to apply various system perspectives simultaneously.
|
|
