Strategies to Control Internal Factors Affecting Information Systems Projects in Puerto Rico

Many project managers and business leaders lack effective strategies to control internal factors that affect information systems (IS) projects, which may impede leadership\u27s ability to respond to market changes. The purpose of this multiple case study was to explore strategies used by 6 purposefully selected project managers who successfully implemented information system development (ISD) projects by controlling the internal factors that affected different ISD project phases in Puerto Rico\u27s telecommunication service industry. The framework that guided this study was coordination theory. The data collection process included semistructured interviews and project documentation including business requirements, project charters, project plans, and lessons learned which also served as resources for member checking and validation to strengthen the trustworthiness of the study. Analysis of the data occurred following Yin\u27s 5 analytical steps of validating, coding, interpreting, summarizing, and generating themes. The 5 themes that emerged were top management support, clear requirements, communication, project plan, and lessons learned. Each theme corresponded to a phase of the project life cycle. Top management support and clear requirements were the top critical factors (TCF) in the initiating and planning phases. Communication and project plan were the TCF in the executing, monitoring, and controlling phases. Lessons learned were the TCF in the closing phase of the project. Implications for social change include helping IS project managers successfully implement IS projects, providing innovative services to customers, and improving an organization\u27s position so it can provide jobs and economic stability in the region in which it operates

The relationship between knowledge sharing socialisation mechanisms structural capital and organisational performance

Globalisation, increasing competition, turbulent economic environments, and technological changes have shifted the significance of traditional assets as primary resources in sustaining competitive advantage for organisations. Whilst traditional assets remain valuable, knowledge sharing has become increasingly recognised as another critically important factor. Arguably, the use of knowledge sharing mechanisms (personal socialisation and electronic socialisation) and structural capital dimensions such as network ties, network configuration, network stability, and centrality will impact organisational performance. Thus hypothetically, knowledge sharing mechanisms are likely to affect organisational performance through the mediating role of structural capital dimensions. However, the existing literature has largely overlooked the association between knowledge sharing mechanisms, structural capital and organisational performance. Subsequently, the holistic integration of the above constructs remains under-explored. As a result, this study examines the direct and indirect effects between knowledge sharing mechanisms and structural capital on organisational performance. In addition, it validates a conceptual framework and tests a range of research hypotheses. Using a hypothetic-deductive approach, a research instrument was developed based on the existing literature. The piloted research instrument was administered to a census of the UK Top 500 companies listed in the FAME database. A useable response from 167 chief executives, chief operating officers and top managers surveyed resulted in a 33.4% response rate. Multivariate analysis results indicate the internal reliability (total Cronbach Alpha values) of retained factors ranging from .72 to .90. Structural equation modelling (SEM) show adequate goodness of fit indices: CMIN/DF=1.11, NFI=.97, GFI=.91, CFI=.98, TLI=.99, and RMSEA=.03. Results demonstrate that structural capital mediates the relationship between knowledge sharing mechanisms and organisational performance: the hypotheses were confirmed. Moreover, electronic socialisation was shown to have a positive significant effect on operations performance. This study successfully validated the conceptual framework derived from a range of relevant theories. The study provides unique insights into how knowledge sharing mechanisms interacted with structural capital which leads to organisational performance: In integrating the aforementioned research constructs this study fills theoretical gaps by broadening the conceptualisation of the structural capital dimensionality and organisational performance facets. As a result, this study advances our understanding of organisational performance determinants. Accordingly, it provides managerial implications based on the results obtained. Limitations of the methodological approach and avenues for further studies are discussed

Exploring Knowledge Management Models on Information Technology Projects

One way an organization manages the knowledge of its people is in information technology (IT) projects. Organizations develop IT projects for many socially responsible reasons, including improved health care services and better community services. IT projects do not always achieve the goals of the organization when the knowledge of the stakeholders is not managed for these objectives. For this study the purpose was to address the use of knowledge management (KM) in project management (PM) to improve the success of IT projects in achieving the organizational goals. The research questions were based on KM including its tools and techniques to improve the success rate for IT projects. The conceptual framework included the project knowledge management (PKM) model, which helped identify the knowledge sharing in IT software projects for a local insurance company in Baltimore, Maryland. Interview data were collected from 26 IT project stakeholders about KM in PM. Analysis revealed 4 themes of managing knowledge in the requirement process, code development process, testing process, and the helpdesk process for the success of the IT project. Each of the 4 processes used different KM repositories and face-to-face tools. Improving the rate of successful IT projects benefits organizations and society with better products and services for lower costs. This study may affect social change by providing information for managers of other organizations about achieving success of their IT projects