Because many new information systems (IS) projects involve business process reengineering, project managers need the necessary skills to manage development projects and organizational change. These concepts are inter-related. The MIS 2000 curriculum calls for them to be taught as a single course. The purpose of this paper is review the fundamental principles of project management and change management and show how these concepts can be integrated and taught in this IS course. The paper first presents a broad overview of current project management and change management trends and practices and then provides guidance for developing an integrated IS project and change management course

Jurison, Jaak

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Integrating Project Management and Change Management in an IS Curriculum

Association for Information SystemsAIS Electronic Library (AISeL)AMCIS 2001 Proceedings Americas Conference on Information Systems(AMCIS)December 2001Integrating Project Management and ChangeManagement in an IS CurriculumJaak JurisonFordham UniversityFollow this and additional works at: http://aisel.aisnet.org/amcis2001This material is brought to you by the Americas Conference on Information Systems (AMCIS) at AIS Electronic Library (AISeL). It has been acceptedfor inclusion in AMCIS 2001 Proceedings by an authorized administrator of AIS Electronic Library (AISeL). For more information, please contactelibrary@aisnet.org.Recommended CitationJurison, Jaak, "Integrating Project Management and Change Management in an IS Curriculum" (2001). AMCIS 2001 Proceedings. 437.http://aisel.aisnet.org/amcis2001/4372001  Seventh Americas Conference on Information Systems 2293INTEGRATING PROJECT MANAGEMENT AND CHANGEMANAGEMENT IN AN IS CURRICULUMJaak JurisonGraduate School of BusinessFordham Universityjurison@fordham.eduAbstractBecause many new information systems (IS) projects involve business process reengineering, project managersneed the necessary skills to manage organizational change. The purpose of this tutorial is to familiarize theparticipants with the fundamental principles of project and change management and show how these conceptscan be integrated and taught in a graduate level IS course. The tutorial presents a broad overview of currentproject management and change management trends and practices and provides guidance for developing anIS project and change management course.IntroductionBusiness firms today are developing new information systems that help them redesign and transform their business  processes.In essence, information systems are becoming powerful instruments for organizational change as evidenced by the widespreadadoption of various types of enterprise-wide information systems. This means that the core competencies for IS project managersmust change. While the traditional project management skills are still essential, the management of organizational change isbecoming an equally important skill.This new focus on change management is clearly recognized in the Model Curriculum for the Graduate Degree Programs inInformation Systems (Gorgone et al., 2000), which lists Project and Change Management as one of the core courses for an MSdegree program in Information Systems. IS Project ManagementProject management emerged over the years as a major new form of management to deal with the complexities of technology andknowledge-based teamwork in organizations facing rapidly changing business environments. Project Management Institute (PMI)defines it as "the application of knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to project activities in order to meet or exceed stakeholderneeds and expectations from a project." Project management  is particularly important in information systems because most ISwork is organized as projects. The traditional purpose of project management is to provide focus for using the resources to achieve a specific objective. In short,the fundamental objective of project management is to "get the job done," to reach the objectives within time, cost, andperformance. These three variables are the critical project dimensions that require continuous project management attention. In the current business environment, project management must also focus on a fourth dimension: good client relations. Theultimate measure of project success is the client. If in the process of meeting the three critical dimensions the manager or theproject staff alienate the client, the project has failed. A project can be considered a success only if the client, whether it is a groupof internal users or a client in another company, is satisfied with the results. That means that the project team's responsibility isto assure that the system works satisfactorily after it is delivered (Frame, 1995).Tutorials2294 2001  Seventh Americas Conference on Information SystemsClient interaction is particularly important for IS projects. As an increasing number of new IS projects become more strategic andinvolve business process reengineering, management of stakeholder expectations and organizational change is becoming animportant and integral part of project management. A detailed treatment of IS project management, written from a managerial rather than from a technical point of view, can be foundin the Communications of the AIS (Jurison, 1999).IS Implementation and Change ManagementA major challenge for which many project managers are ill prepared for is the implementation phase of an information system.McKearsie and Walton (1991) define IT implementation as a set of three subtasks:• Designing the IT system and organization that will operate it• Developing enabling human resources policies • Managing the implementation processThey conclude that the full potential of IT can only be realized if its implementation is accompanied with appropriate changesin the organization, business processes, and human resource practices. One of the key features of IT is its ability to integratevarious business functions, crossing organizational boundaries, changing perceptions of power and status, and the way peoplework. People often view new systems as a threat to their established positions and interests. IT requires people at all levels in theorganization to change their behavior significantly. Such a change can lead to resistance if the system implementation is poorlymanaged. In short, effective IS implementation is a task of managing change.Because change management issues are largely behavioral and organizational, many managers who have advanced to projectmanagement positions through a technical career path are not well prepared to deal with these issues. To be effective, they mustbe aware of the people and organizations that are affected by the potential change in the work patterns, power balance, culture,and conflicts of interest. Project managers must also understand the basic theories in change management and be able to applythem in a business setting.The fundamental concepts in organizational change that are relevant to IS implementation are:• The Lewin-Schein framework of social change• Organizational alignment model • Innovation diffusion theory • Resistance theories The Lewin-Schein three-stage model of social change is the most widely used framework for describing IT-enabled organizationalchange. The fist stage, unfreezing, creates a climate for change. The next stage is change - this is the phase where the system isintroduced and change takes place. In the final stage, refreeze, the system is institutionalized (Lewin, 1947).The fundamental concept in the organizational alignment model is that effective implementation requires alignment of thetechnology and the organization. All basic components of an organization, strategy, structure, management processes, andindividuals and their roles, are interrelated and must be brought into alignment with the new technology to realize the full potentialof a new system (McKersie and Walton, 1991; Benjamin and Levinson, 1993).Innovation diffusion theory (Rogers, 1983) is appropriate for systems that cannot be mandated by management but must beadopted on a voluntary basis by those who use them. The major components of the theory are:• S-shaped adopter distribution• Innovativeness and adopter categories• Individual adoption process• Perceptual characteristics of the innovation• Diffusion networks and opinion leadersResistance theories deal with the causes of resistance and counterimplementation issues and offer guidance for strategies toovercome them (Keen, 1981; Markus, 1983).Jurison/Project Management and Change Management2001  Seventh Americas Conference on Information Systems 2295Implementation research suggests that the most critical problems are not technical, but are related to organizational and managerialissues. It indicates that implementation outcome is influenced mostly by user involvement and influence, the level of managementsupport, the level of complexity and risk of the project, and the management of the implementation process.Integrating Project Management and Change ManagementThe primary focus of an IS project and change management course still has to have a strong focus on project managementprinciples: organizing, planning, scheduling, budgeting, monitoring and  controlling. The control aspect should encompass notonly schedules and budgets, but configuration and quality control should be given equal consideration. The role of the user over the system life cycle and change management issues need to be integrated throughout the course. In fact,the whole system development process can be treated as a planned organizational change. The role and importance of keystakeholders, which has grown more central in recent project management literature, should be introduced early and reinforcedthroughout the course. The need for an influential project champion, prototyping and piloting to determine user needs, and gettingearly feedback are other important topics that warrant strong emphasis. The most effective method of teaching these concepts is through the use of case studies. A number of cases are available fromthe Harvard Business School on IS project management and as well as on change management. Shorter cases can be found eitheron-line or in print form in professional journals (e.g. CIO, Computerworld). The list of topics covered in the tutorial presentation is outlined in the Appendix.ReferencesBenjamin, R.I. and Levinson, E. "A Framework for Managing IT-Enabled Change," Sloan Management Review, (34:4) Summer1993, pp. 23-33.Frame, J.D. The New Project Management: Tools for an Age of Rapid Change, Corporate Reengineering and Other BusinessRealities, Revised edition, San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers, 1995.Jurison, J. "Software Project Management: A Manager's View," Communications of AIS, 2, Article 17 September 1999,http://cais.isworld.org/articles/2-17/.Keen, P.G.W. "Information Systems and Organizational Change," Communications of the ACM, (24:1) January 1981, pp. 24-33.Lewin, K. "Frontiers in Group Dynamics," Human Relations (1) 1947, pp. 5-41.Markus, M.L. "Power, Politics, and MIS Implementation," Communications of the ACM, (26:6) June 1983, pp. 430-444.McKersie, R.B. and Walton, R.E. "Organizational Change," in Scott Morton, M.S. (ed.) The Corporation of the 1990s:Information Technology and Organizational Transformation, New York: Oxford Press, 1991, pp. 244-277.Gorgone, J., Gray, P., Feinstein, D., Kasper, M., Luftman, J.N., Stohr, E.A., Valachich, J.S. and Wigand, R.T. MSIS 2000, ModelCurriculum and Guidelines for Graduate Degree Programs in Information Systems, Communications of the Association forInformation Systems, 3, Article 1, January 2000.Rogers, E.M. Diffusion of Innovations, 3 rd Ed., New York, The Free Press.Tutorials2296 2001  Seventh Americas Conference on Information SystemsAppendix: Tutorial Outline1. Introduction and overview• The changing role of project management• Key dimensions of project management• Project  life cycle2. Project Organization• Project environment, stakeholders• Project management skills• Project team design3. Project planning• Scheduling• Cost estimating methods and budgeting• Risk assessment, contingency planning4. Project control• Cost and schedule control• Performance and quality control• Change control5. Project leadership• Communications• Motivation, team building6. Organizational change• Organizational change process• IS role in organizational change• Implementation challenges• Dealing with resistance• Organizational influences on project success7. Suggested case studies and reference material for a typical IS project and change management course.

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Integrating Project Management and Change Management in an IS Curriculum

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