Factors of Successful Management of Information Systems Development Projects

The tradition on IS research has established the so called iron triangle , the three dimensions that characterize the project management success (PMS) if it is delivered on time, within the budget and according to specifications. However, less attention has been given to the continuum characterized by deviations from the baseline from each of these three dimensions. This paper draws on the definition of the PMS continuum and analyzes four potential factors that may influence PMS: team, project manager, project, and portfolio. We develop hypotheses and test them in a hierarchical linear regression using a sample of 899 IS projects of a leading bank, collected between January, 2014 and December, 2015. Besides proposing and discussing a new continuous PMS indicator, we identify factors that influence IS PMS positively (project size, duration, postponement, and project manager formal power) and negatively (team size and team allocation dispersion). The results suggest guidance of team members’ allocation

Aligning flexibility with uncertainty in software development arrangements through a contractual typology

Purpose The purpose of this study is to identify a typology of procurement contracts in the context of software development projects that allows firms to align design flexibility with design uncertainty at the project level. The theoretical lenses of contract theory and software engineering are used to explain why the five archetypes in the proposed typology provide gradually increasing levels of design flexibility and to develop hypotheses about the associations between design flexibility and a set of project cost dimensions. Design/methodology/approach The hypotheses are tested with objective contractual data from 270 software development contracts entered into by a leading international bank over a period of three years. Findings Data analysis confirms the existence of the proposed typology and shows that design flexibility is negatively associated with control and positively associated with coordination, trust, duration and price. Research limitations/implications Although the findings are based on the contracting practices of a single, albeit sophisticated, organization, they shed light on the ability of firms to align flexibility with uncertainty at the onset of new projects by taking advantage of nuanced contractual mechanisms to produce a broader set of contractual archetypes. Originality/value This paper is the first in the outsourcing literature to analyze a nuanced contractual typology in software development projects through the perspectives of both contract theory and software engineering

Governance considerations for seeker–solver relationships: a knowledge‐based perspective in crowdsourcing for innovation contests

The need to solve innovation problems and insource knowledge has led to an increasing number of organizations engaging in crowdsourcing activities and subsequently establishing working relationships with winning solution providers. Using a knowledge‐based view and the problem‐solving perspective, we develop a theoretical framework suggesting how specific innovation problem attributes (i.e. the decomposability, formulation and search space of the problem) influence the governance decision (unilateral vs. bilateral) of seekers to manage the relationship with winning solvers. We empirically analyse the framework using 582 challenges broadcast on the NineSigma crowdsourcing platform. Our results indicate that problem attributes – the formulation and search space of the problem – have a positive effect on seekers’ preference towards unilateral governance structures. However, we did not find any empirical confirmation of the effect that the decomposability of the innovation problem has on seekers’ preference towards unilateral governance structures. This study offers several contributions to the crowdsourcing literature, and also has important implications for managers of organizations aiming to insource knowledge through crowdsourcing for innovation contests

Who Gets the Job? Synthesis of Literature Findings on Provider Success in Crowdsourcing Marketplaces

Background: Over the past decade, crowdsourcing marketplaces — online exchange platforms which facilitate commercial outsourcing of services — have witnessed a dramatic growth in the number of participants (service providers and customers) and the value of outsourced services. Deciding about the most appropriate provider is a key challenge for customers in crowdsourcing marketplaces because available information about providers may be incomplete and sometimes irrelevant for customer decisions. Ineffective information impedes many service providers to develop long-term relationships with customers, obtain projects on a regular basis and survive on crowdsourcing marketplaces. Previous studies have investigated the impact of a range of factors on customers’ choice decisions and providers’ success, given the important role of customer–provider relationship development for long-term success on crowdsourcing marketplaces. Method: This paper reviews the literature of crowdsourcing marketplaces with the aim of developing a comprehensive list of factors that influence customers’ choice decisions and providers’ success. Results: We found 31 conceptually distinct profile information components/factors that determine customers’ choices and providers’ business outcomes on crowdsourcing marketplaces. Conclusion: We classified these 31 factors into five major categories: 1) prior relationship between a customer and a provider or a customer’s invitation, 2) providers’ bidding behavior, 3) crowdsourcing marketplace or auction characteristics, 4) providers’ profile information, and 5) customer characteristics. The main factors in each category, associated considerations, related literature gaps and avenues for future research are discussed in detail

The Association between Success Center Utilization and a Technical College’s Student Retention

This study was conducted to examine the association between the Student Success Center and student retention at a South Carolina technical college. Recognizing the low retention rates of technical colleges in South Carolina and nationally, the college opened a Student Success Center in 2012; however, an analysis of the center’s effect on retention rates had not been conducted. With a better understanding of this relationship, the college can plan for future use of the center to strengthen retention. The key research question was focused on the association between Student Success Center attendance and student retention using an ex post facto design involving two dichotomous variables: attendance at the Student Success Center and retention over 3 years. A sample of 18,712 students was drawn from archival data maintained by the college to compare students who used the center and those who did not use the center, excluding transfer students and middle college students. Frequency percentage statistics were generated for the two dichotomous categorical variables in the study: center utilization and retention. Chi-square analysis with Yates correction was used to test for a significant association between the two variables. Findings showed evidence of a statistically significant association between center utilization and retention, χ2 (1) = 162.23, p \u3c 0.0001, indicating that student engagement with the Student Success Center contributed to resiliency as reflected in student retention. Therefore, this study contributed to research on the association between student support services for community college students and student retention, encouraging social change by strengthening practical solutions to the challenges faced by these students

Coordinating crowdfunded innovation projects in the cryptocurrency sector through narratives

Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) are innovation projects that serve as a crowdfunding mechanism. This study discusses the need to examine how cryptocurrencies are created, particularly through ICOs. ICO projects are described as radical, multistakeholder innovation projects that involve communicating potential value and use of cryptocurrency between project teams and crowdfunders through whitepapers and YouTube videos. The study aims to identify useful dictionaries containing active signals and cues used in successfully crowdfunded ICO narratives from project teams (Marketer Generated Content) and crowdfunders’ comments (User Generated Content). The literature review highlights three gaps: a lack of understanding the effectiveness of specific signals/cues and crowdfunders' trust, a lack of diversification in signal/cue specific constructs, and a lack of understanding of positive tone signals/cues in the ICO context. The study tests the use of specific signals and cues. It does so with dictionaries that have been validated for academic studies in Marketer Generated Content (MGC) and then correlates with their use in User Generated Content (UGC) in ICOs. The study collected and analysed textual data on 20 ICOs through YouTube video transcripts, comments, and whitepapers, and used Computer Aided Text Analysis (CATA) software and customised digital dictionaries. The analysis aimed to identify patterns of cues/signals in project and crowdfunder narratives. The selection of the dictionaries was based on their relevance to the signals/cues being measured and bundled into constructs for analysis using CATA software. Overall, the study shed light on the coordination practices of ICOs, identifying the dictionaries that suit ICOs, and test and confirm hypotheses using signalling theory to address the gaps in the literature. The finding was that positive signals and cues from the project instigator’s whitepapers and video-transcripts have been used in crowd conversations in YouTube comment-sections, but much less so negative ones. Eight useful academic dictionaries have been identified. This study can be extended to other studies to explore further the issue of narrative coordination of innovation projects, but it also contributes to practitioners with practical application in an effort to coordinate ICO crowdfunding