Involve users or fail: An IT project case study from east Africa

Repeated surveys, and most notably those by the Standish Group, suggest that a substantial proportion of Information Technology (IT) projects fail. The literature suggests that this is in part due to a lack of user involvement in the project. The authors’ research describes the case study of a major IT system implementation project in East Africa. The paper reports on the results of both an online questionnaire and interviews with key participants. The authors’ findings suggest that the subsequent failure of this project was in large part attributable to a lack of user involvement in the definition of requirements and implementation of the system. There did not appear to be an organisational culture that recognised the significance of such participation in the project. Although there are issues of definition raised, such as the definition of success and failure, this work supports previous findings that user involvement is a key factor in IT project success and failur

Managing professions for knowledge management

In the last years, Knowledge Management (KM) studies have focused on the foundations of this \u201cnew managerial discipline\u201d. Nowadays, there is an increasing need to transform the theoretical speculations into managerial tools, and to find solutions to practical questions concerning daily KM activity. A key issue that still requires investigation regards the management of human resources devoted to KM. The paper aims at analyzing this topic by means of an in-depth investigation of the relevant experience of some leading companies. In particular it examines the problem of managing new roles and tasks for KM, the issue of developing structured KM units, and the question of evaluating KM activities. A discussion of the possible implications for research and management is carried out in the conclusions

Key Issues in the Implementation of Electronic Customer Relationship Management in the Australian Hospitality and Tourism Sector

Tourism is a dynamic part of our economy. The global hospitality and tourism industry, which blends the lodging, food, attractions, cultural, and travel industries, is the world's largest industry with $4.5 trillion in expenditures generating 212 million jobs. Dynamic market forces such as global competition, changing customer expectations, and new communication technology—combined with career challenges due to ongoing industry consolidation and corporate restructuring—mandate continuous learning and the sharing of ideas

Investigating factors affecting adoption of eCRM in the Australian service industry

© 2015 by IGI Global. All rights reserved. In order to grow and survive in a highly competitive market like the service industry, Electronic Customer Relationship Management (eCRM) has become a popular tool for Australian service organizations to attract, manage, and enhance customer relationships. However, due to increased competition and decreased product/services marketing cycle time, managing and building customer relationships have become a challenge for most service organizations. Ineffective eCRM adoption process can result in financial losses for the organizations. Hence, case studies are conducted to identify and examine potential IT costs and risk factors involved in the adoption of eCRM projects. The findings in the chapter provide senior executives with a more realistic insight into dealing with issues and challenges arising from the adoption of eCRM