Importance and management of IT project stakeholders

Information technology project success rates remain low despite increased investments in information systems and their importance for contemporary organisations. Both research and practice suggest that stakeholders play a key role in ensuring the successful delivery of projects. The success or failure of a project is significantly influenced by a combination of the stakeholders' needs, and the ability and readiness of the project manager to effectively coordinate and manage these aspects. This research sought to explore and understand the importance and management of IT project stakeholders. A mixed-method approach, using thematic analysis and descriptive statistics was followed. Semi-structured interviews, along with a survey questionnaire, were conducted with a selected sample of IT project managers and IT managers, from various sectors. Results of this study indicate that the project team, technical expert, subject matter expert, and the project sponsor are considered the most important stakeholders on IT projects. Furthermore, the results indicate that supplier/vendor, customer/client and project team are considered to be the stakeholders that cause the most uncertainty and problems on IT projects. Lastly, the results of this study indicate that failure to identify one or more stakeholders on an IT project can have a potential negative impact on overall project delivery. Key themes were also identified which provide context to the results of the findings. The results of this research will prove beneficial to IT project managers as it will assist in providing insight into which stakeholders require greater focus regarding stakeholder management, thereby working toward improving IT project delivery results

Método de avaliação via benchmarking do processo do desenvolvimento enxuto de produtos

Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Centro Tecnológico. Programa de Pós-Graduação em Engenharia de ProduçãoO objetivo dessa Tese é estruturar um método de benchmarking voltado para o desenvolvimento enxuto de produtos. Independentemente do setor que as organizações vêm atuando, alguns problemas são comuns - barreiras de comunicação, inexistência de um PDP estruturado de forma enxuta, controles falhos, entregas que excedem o prazo planejado - enfim, na grande parte desperdícios de conhecimento e informação. Uma das formas bem sucedidas de tratar esses problemas é através da abordagem (enxuta), que atua constantemente na redução dos desperdícios, para entregar valor ao cliente. A partir do diagnóstico foi possível propor um conjunto de ações para que o processo de desenvolvimento de produtos de cada empresa possa ser estruturado de uma forma enxuta, melhorando a competitividade. O trabalho foi conduzido por meio de Survey e estudos de casos com grandes empresas que desenvolvem produtos e estão no Brasil, tendo como base a lacuna na literatura da inexistência de indicadores para diagnosticar quão enxuto são os processos de desenvolvimento de produtos considerando os princípios e práticas da abordagem enxuta. Após a revisão bibliográfica sobre os temas desenvolvimento enxuto de produtos e benchmarking, foram definidas métricas e as etapas do método. Num primeiro momento o método foi testado através de uma Survey com as 500 maiores empresas em vendas do Brasil. Após, para um refinamento maior do método, o mesmo foi aplicado em 12 empresas dos setores da autoindústria, bens de capital, têxtil, eletroeletrônico e metalúrgico. A contribuição principal do trabalho é um método simples, útil e replicável, que possui um conjunto de indicadores mensuráveis e representação gráfica identificando as práticas enxutas do desenvolvimento de produtos, assim como um guia estruturado para a implantação das melhorias que permita empresas de diferentes ramos serem comparadas em nível nacional e também no mercado internacional. Os resultados apontaram de forma quantitativa que as empresas estão implementando a abordagem enxuta no PDP de forma isolada ou sistêmica através das categorias - Processo, Gestão, Estrutura, Pessoas, Produto, Cliente, Fornecedor e Desperdícios.The purpose of this thesis is to develop a lean product development benchmarking. Regardless of the industry organizations have been working, some problems are common - communication barriers, lack of a structured PDP lean controls failed, deliveries that exceed the planned period - indeed, in much waste of knowledge and information. One of the successful ways of addressing these problems is through the approach (lean), which acts constantly in reducing waste, to deliver customer value. From the diagnosis was possible to propose a set of actions for the process of developing products of each company can be structured in a lean, improving competitiveness. The work was conducted through Survey and case studies with large companies that develop products and are in Brazil, based on the gap in the literature of the lack of indicators to diagnose how lean processes are product development considering the principles and practices the lean approach. After reviewing the literature on the topics of lean product development and benchmarking, metrics were defined and the steps of the method. Initially the method was tested by a Survey of 500 companies with sales in Brazil. After, for further refinement of the method, the same was applied to 12 companies in the sectors of autoindustry, capital goods, textiles, electronics and metallurgy. The main contribution of this work is a simple, useful and replicable method, which has a set of measurable indicators and graphical representation identifying the practices of lean product development, as well as a structured guide for the implementation of improvements that will allow companies from different branches are compared nationally and also internationally. The results showed quantitatively that companies are implementing lean in PDP isolated or systemic across categories - Process, Management, Structure, People, Product, Customer, Supplier and Wastes

Managing requirements in ICT companies

Abstract Purpose: Requirements management has become a challenge for new product development (NPD) as products are getting increasingly complicated and customer segments more fragmented. The purpose of this paper is to provide new ideas for improving requirements management in the information and communications technology (ICT) sector. Design/methodology/approach: A qualitative interview study is carried out in the ICT sector to clarify the current challenges in requirements management. The results of the interview study are analysed using a benchmark from the automotive industry. This benchmark is chosen, as the automotive industry is a developed business sector that has streamlined its business processes, including its requirements management. Findings: The paper shows how ICT can benefit from the experience of the car industry on issues such as managing customer needs throughout the NPD process, overflow of data and communicating requirements with suppliers. Research limitations/implications: Using another sector as a benchmark is not a straightforward process and results cannot be directly copied. Fresh ideas are, however, obtainable when a well‐developed benchmark is used and results are applied flexibly. Deeper analysis on individual areas indentified here might be interesting topics for further study. Practical implications: The paper shows that managers in the ICT sector should pay more attention to their requirements management and serving the needs of internal customers. The requirements management of the Japanese automotive industry is a potential source for improvement initiatives. Originality/value: The paper provides new perspectives for the requirements management of the ICT sector by benchmarking the Japanese automotive industry