WHERE ARE WE HEADED WITH BENEFITS MANAGEMENT RESEARCH? CURRENT SHORTCOMINGS AND AVENUES FOR FUTURE RESEARCH

In 1996, the Cranfield benefits management (BM) process model was developed as a response to organizations´ dissatisfaction with the results of information systems and information technology (IS/IT) projects. In contrast with traditional project management dimensions, such as time, cost, and quality, BM emphasizes the need to identify, plan, realize, and review benefits, particularly by means of business changes. The extant literature presents several BM frameworks and methods, signaling its character as an evolving discipline. Despite this progress in research, most studies still report dissatisfyingly low BM adoption rates in practice. We aim to understand why BM is still rarely used in practice by classifying the literature with a multi-perspective framework. We find the BM literature rather unbalanced, as studies on how to conduct BM are common, but papers that investigate concepts such as the adoption/usage and context of BM in organizations are highly underrepresented. We conclude that the BM discipline still has open fields and white spots, and needs to gradually change direction

Planning benefits realization in a collaborative university-industry R&D funded program

This paper presents a benefits management (BM) approach adopted during the planning of a collaborative university-industry R&D funded program, named IC-HMI Program, in order to pursue benefits realization. The BM approach embraced four main phases: 'Identify expected benefits' 'Plan benefits realization' 'Pursue benefits realization' and 'Transfer and ensure benefits realization' each one comprising key activities that should be performed with a clear set of outputs to be generated. Particular focus is given to the benefits identification, and to the development of a Benefit Breakdown Structure (BBS), assuming the key role of such a formatting technique to target project benefits. It is the first and critical step in the BM process. Based on a review of literature, and the three research methods adopted during the IC-HMI case study analysis: a set of 33 benefits were identified, which can be used by professionals and academics as a checklist for benefits identification of their own initiatives. Additionally, the BBS implemented in IC-HMI program to qualify and better understand each benefit and its intrinsic properties, can be used to facilitate planning and benefits realization.FCT - Fundació Catalana de Trasplantament(SFRH/BPD/111033/2015

BUILDING THE CAPABILITY FOR BENEFITS REALISATION: LEADING WITH BENEFITS (6)

It is now 20 years since the publication of the paper that launched Benefits Management (BM), by Prof. John Ward and colleagues, and the launch of an open course on BM at Cranfield. This paper draws on recent work reflecting on the translation of BM into practice as well as a 10+ year programme of research seeking to understand how to develop the Benefits Realisation Capability of an organisation. In particular it draws on two longitudinal studies exploring the adoption of benefits-driven approaches. An important lesson is that BM needs to reflect a new mindset and is not simply another technique to add to our project management toolbox. Without a shift in mindset, BM becomes another technical, rational, approach that brings a new bureaucracy to the management of Information Technology (IT) investments when the need is speed to benefit. BM is primarily about people – about vision, engagement and motivation. It can contribute to the craft of leading change and help build an organisational change capability

The Mediating Role of Benefit Management for Sustaining the Performance of Infrastructure Projects

Benefit management is a valuable approach, promoted and supported by strategic management for maximizing organizational benefits. It has also been recognized as a means of improving project performance, though more research is needed to understand how it works. This research adds to the contemporary literature on public sector project management by studying the links between project governance, benefit management, and project performance from a developing country perspective. This study provides insights for project professionals who are working in government organizations for optimizing the benefits of investment. The study provides a reference to formulate strategies for managing and governing the performance of government-funded projects in developing countries like Pakistan. The research uses a positivist approach and quantitative design. The quantitative technique is employed to address all the aspects of the study. The structural equation modeling revealed that benefit management acted as a mediating factor in the relationship between project governance dimensions and public sector project performance. This study highlights the importance of incorporating a comprehensive benefit management approach to streamline the benefit management process by aligning projects with the organizational strategy for sustaining project performance. These findings stress the need for a comprehensive benefit management approach in improving the project performance of government-sponsored projects. The study attempts to improve the understanding of project professionals about the role and significance of benefit management, which will be helpful to get organizational support for the employees who are striving to improve the project performance in Pakistan

Effects-Driven IT Improvement: Pursuing local post-implementation opportunities

Many opportunities for benefitting from information technology (IT) are not discovered until IT systems are in operational use. The realization of these benefits depends on local efforts that cannot presume top-management support but must themselves generate the innovation potential necessary to improve system use. To facilitate such local efforts, we propose effects-driven IT improvement. It consists of iteratively specifying, realizing, and evaluating the usage effects pursued with a system. We describe the effects-driven process and illustrate it with three real-world cases. On this basis, we discuss its contributions toward local benefits realization at the post-implementation stage. Our overarching contribution is to provide a means of operationalizing and packaging improvement initiatives in a manner that combines local and lightweight experimentation with the data-driven realization of meaningful effects. The three cases illustrate that the effects-driven process can reopen the window of opportunity for benefits realization, result in learning that calls for respecifying the pursued effect, and render evaluation data almost superfluous because the local actors are confident that the effect is substantial and real. In addition, local initiatives to improve system use may create the momentum, evaluation infrastructure, and benefits documentation necessary to pave the way for further improvements. However, these potentials come with challenges, which we also discus

Benefits management : lost or found in translation

It is now about 25 years since the emergence of Benefits Management (BM), but hitherto it has had limited impact on project management and even less on general management practices. This is despite evidence that a focus on benefits improves the success rate of projects and programmes. One of the areas for research to explain the limited uptake concerns the spread of knowledge on BM and its adoption by organisations. The theoretical lens of translation is used to examine this issue, which focuses on the processes through which management ideas spread and influence management practice. The global development of BM is traced to identify the changes in translation processes over time and the current geographical patterns of usage. This analysis is used in conjunction with the limited evidence available on translation processes at the level of the organisation to identify key factors for the impact of BM in the future

Benefits realisation in post-implementation development of ERP systems

Abstract. Complex applications, like Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems, that significantly influence organisational performance and business strategies, are the most challenging in terms of identifying and managing expected benefits. ERP systems can generate benefits from variety of underlying factors, but systems do not provide benefits on their own. In this, formal benefits realisation practices can be highly effective. The existing ERP research has largely focused on ERP implementations leaving the post-implementation phase to lesser attention. Nevertheless, the work does not end there, but continues with post-implementation activities which aim to ensure also the future benefits from the ERP systems. Motivated by the insufficient research regarding benefits realisation in post-implementation development of ERP system, this study aimed to identify how organisations manage benefits realisation in post-implementation phase of ERP systems, what challenges they might face and how the benefits realisation is ensured. It was also the purpose to find out what tools or methods organisation use in this. This study was a revelatory embedded single-case study with positivist approach. Qualitative data was collected from interviews and documents supported by data from the ERP system. This study is revelatory, because access was gained to the Case organisation’s data to study phenomenon inaccessible previously. The data was analysed inductively allowing patterns and concepts to arise and the findings were evaluated through theoretical lenses. The aim of all the chosen methods was to get rich, in depth understanding of the phenomenon. It is argued that this study has created in-depth understanding of circumstances and challenges of benefits realisation in post-implementation development of ERP system providing window to phenomenon largely unstudied before. It was identified that old and evolved business processes, which are further complicated by workarounds, can be unfamiliar to Information Technology (IT) and business managers responsible of ERP development making it largely difficult to identify all benefits. Moreover, when subsidiaries are unable to identify new benefits on their own and the benefits further vary from one subsidiary to another, the complexity increases further. These unique characteristics, that surround ERP post-implementation development, require modified approach to benefits realisation practices. This is the main contribution of this study

Benefits Realization Management: Nível de maturidade no contexto Português

Num mercado cada vez mais competitivo, a importância da seleção e execução dos projetos adequados para cada organização é crucial para assegurar a sua performance. Benefits Realization Management surge como uma resposta para as organizações conseguirem selecionar e implementar os seus projetos e colherem os benefícios resultantes da sua execução. Nesse sentido, procurámos compreender qual é o nível de maturidade da Gestão de Benefícios no contexto organizacional português e averiguar quais são as principais barreiras e elementos impulsionadores destas práticas. Através do nosso estudo, verificámos que o foco dos gestores de projeto são os derivables do projeto em detrimento dos benefícios que se pretendem alcançar, levantando-se a hipótese de tal se dever a uma aparente falta de comunicação entre os stakeholders do projeto. Ademais, conseguimos recolher indícios que apontam no sentido de existir uma ausência de articulação entre estratégia, projetos e benefícios que se pretendem atingir no sector público português.In an increasingly competitive market, the importance of selecting and executing the appropriate projects for each organization is crucial to ensure its performance. Benefits Realization Management emerges as an answer for organizations to be able to select and implement their projects and achieve the benefits resulting from their execution. In this regard, we sought to understand the maturity level of Benefits Management in the Portuguese organizational context and to identify the main barriers and driving elements of these practices. Through our study, we verified that the focus of project managers is the project's derivables rather than the benefits that are intended to be achieved, raising the hypothesis of an apparent lack of communication among the project's stakeholders. Furthermore, we were able to collect evidence that points to the absence of interconnection between strategy, projects and benefits that is aimed for in the Portuguese public sector

Gevinstrealisering i offentlige digitaliseringsprosjekter – planlegging og forankring

Gevinstrealisering er et tema som mange har meninger om, mer eller mindre berettiget. Det er også et emne som mange synes å streve med, og som få gir uttrykk for å utmerke seg innenfor. Denne studien har hatt som ambisjon å belyse gevinstrealisering som fenomen, og særlig bidra til kunnskap rundt den viktige planleggingsfasen, samt forankring og hvorledes prosjektene jobber strukturert og etterrettelig med arbeidet. Gevinstrealiseringsplaner har vært nøkkeldokumenter for denne studien. Problemstillingen som har ligget til grunn for studien er «Hva kjennetegner gevinstplanlegging innenfor digitaliseringsprosjekter i offentlige sektor – fra planlegging til realisering?». Det er utarbeidet fire delspørsmål som har supplert problemstillingen. Studien er gjennomført som et dokumentstudium, med innslag av case-metodikk. Det er valgt ut fire statlige digitaliseringsprosjekter som har fungert som case eller eksempler. Essens fra disse digitaliseringsprosjektene har avslutningsvis vært egenskap for en «cross case» analyse, hvor særlige trekk er fremhevet og tolket i lys av aktuell teori. Det er særlig Cranfield modellen og Statens anbefalte prosjektmetodikk, Prosjektveiviseren, som har vært teoretiske fundament i arbeidet. Studien har både hatt til intensjon å bidra med kunnskap som bekrefter teoretiske anbefalinger, og med det kan være til god hjelp for praktikere, eller for akademikere som ønsker å bygge videre på denne studien. Det er flere funn i studien som kan være relevant for både nye studier, samt i praktisk prosjektarbeid. Herunder at digitaliseringsprosjektene med fordel bør ha et løpende forhold til gevinstarbeidet. Vurderinger rundt mål og gevinster bør ikke utføres som en «engangsøvelse» i begynnelsen av et prosjekt, men snarere bli tatt opp til vurdering med jevne mellomrom. Estimerte variabler kan endre seg, og nye interessenter kan tilkomme underveis. Dette bør dokumenteres på en hensiktsmessig måte, slik at andre kan ettergå de vurderingene som er gjort. I tillegg gir det beslutningstakere en mulighet til å justere kursen, øke ressurspådraget eller tilpasse på annen måte. Det anbefales at planverket kjennetegnes av et fornuftig detaljnivå, slik at det for ettertiden er mulig å sette seg inn i vurderinger som er gjort. Gevinstarbeidet, og prosjektene som sådan, bør videre forankres på et hensiktsmessig ledernivå, for å sikre forankring og legitimitet. Det som kjennetegner de utvalgte digitaliseringsprosjektene er at mye av dette er på plass, men at det også er registrert et potensiale rundt flere av disse momentene.Realization of benefits is a topic on which many people have opinions, more or less justified. It is also a subject that many seem to struggle with, and that few express their ability to excel in. The aim of this study has been to shed light on profit realization as a phenomenon, and in particular to contribute to knowledge about the important planning phase, as well as anchoring, and how the projects work in a structured and orderly way. Benefitrealization plans have been key documents for this study. The problem that has formed the basis of the study is "What characterizes profit planning within digitization projects in the public sector - from planning to realization?". Four sub-questions have been prepared which have supplemented the case. The study has been carried out as a document study, with an element of case methodology. Four government digitization projects have been selected which have served as cases or examples. In conclusion, the essence of these digitization projects has been characteristic of a "cross case" analysis, where special features are highlighted and interpreted in the light of current theory. In particular, the Cranfield model and the Norwegian government's recommended project methodology, the Project Guide, have been the theoretical foundations of the work. The study has both intended to contribute knowledge that confirms theoretical recommendations, and with that can be of great help to practitioners, or to academics who wish to build on this study. There are several findings in the study that may be relevant for both new studies and practical project work. Including that the digitization projects should advantageously have an ongoing relationship with the profit work. Assessments around goals and gains should not be carried out as a "one-off exercise" at the beginning of a project, but rather be taken up for assessment at regular intervals. Estimated variables may change, and new stakeholders may be added along the way. This should be documented in an appropriate way, so that others can follow the assessments that have been made. In addition, it gives decision-makers an opportunity to adjust the course, increase the resource allocation or adapt in other ways. It is recommended that the planning work is characterized by a reasonable level of detail, so that it is possible for the future to become familiar with the assessments that have been made. The for-profit work, and the projects as such, should further be anchored at an appropriate management level, to ensure anchoring and legitimacy. What characterizes the selected digitization projects is that much of this is in place, but that potential has also been registered around several of these aspects