The effects of optimistic and pessimistic biasing on software project status reporting

Anecdotal evidence suggests that project managers (PMs) sometime provide biased status reports to management. In our research project we surveyed PMs to explore possible motivations for bias, the frequency with which bias occurs, and the strength of the bias typically applied. We found that status reports were biased 60% of the time and that the bias was twice as likely to be optimistic as pessimistic. By applying these results to an information-theoretic model, we estimated that only about 10–15% of biased project status reports were, in fact, accurate and these occurred only when pessimistic bias offset project management status errors. There appeared to be no significant difference in the type or frequency of bias applied to high-risk versus low-risk projects. Our work should provide a better understanding of software project status reporting.     

Managing artificial intelligence projects: Key insights from an AI consulting firm

While organisations are increasingly interested in artificial intelligence (AI), many AI projects encounter significant issues or even fail. To gain a deeper understanding of the issues that arise during these projects and the practices that contribute to addressing them, we study the case of Consult, a North American AI consulting firm that helps organisations leverage the power of AI by providing custom solutions. The management of AI projects at Consult is a multi-method approach that draws on elements from traditional project management, agile practices, and AI workflow practices. While the combination of these elements enables Consult to be effective in delivering AI projects to their customers, our analysis reveals that managing AI projects in this way draw upon three core logics, that is, commonly shared norms, values, and prescribed behaviours which influence actors' understanding of how work should be done. We identify that the simultaneous presence of these three logics—a traditional project management logic, an agile logic, and an AI workflow logic—gives rise to conflicts and issues in managing AI projects at Consult, and successfully managing these AI projects involves resolving conflicts that arise between them. From our case findings, we derive four strategies to help organisations better manage their AI projects.     

Blending bureaucratic and collaborative management styles to achieve control ambidexterity in IS projects

Managing information systems (IS) projects requires what we refer to as ‘control ambidexterity’, which is the use of different types of control to meet conflicting demands. This leads to the use of contrasting styles of IS project management and creates tensions in managerial practice, neither of which are well understood. We address this theoretical gap in our understanding based on an exploratory case study of an IS implementation project in the financial services industry. Adopting the lens of management styles as a meta-theoretical perspective, we sought to address two research questions: (1) Which management style(s) do IS project managers draw upon in practice and why? (2) What kinds of tensions result for IS project managers and team members from drawing upon contrasting management styles in combination – and how do IS project managers and team members deal with these tensions? Two contrasting styles of management emerged from our data – bureaucratic and collaborative – that are drawn upon by IS project managers to achieve control ambidexterity. Furthermore, drawing upon these two different styles in combination within the confines of a single project creates tensions. We explore these tensions and present an illustrative example of how IS project managers can deal with these tensions successfully in practice. Specifically, we find that they can be dealt with effectively by a tandem of two project managers who share responsibility for managing the IS project. The findings of this study have important implications for our understanding of control ambidexterity in IS projects.     

Harmonisierung divergierender organisationaler Kulturen in ?ffentlich-privaten IT-Partnerschaften

The cooperation of public and private sector organizations is a viable option for decision makers in the public sector for improving information technology (IT) infrastructures, acquiring innovation, and increasing management know-how. Effective partnering in public?Cprivate partnerships (PPP) is difficult though, because the involved stakeholder groups have divergent interests and organizational cultures. Using institutional logics as meta-theoretical lens, this exploratory, interpretive case study analyzes an IT PPP in Germany. The results reveal public- and private-side organizational culture differences and how the partners aligned their cultural differences by the development and legitimization of a partnership norm as well as the necessary partnership practices. The case analysis also illustrates how public sector and private sector organizations succeeded with the transition of public sector and private sector employees into a partnership organization and the management of different organizational cultures.     

Telepresence in concurrent lifecycle design and construction

Construction projects usually involve transient ‘virtual organisations’ made up of members of a project team (involving several disparate disciplines) working together on the design and construction of a facility. Team members are often non-co-located, particularly at the early stages of the design process, and tend to work independently while taking decisions that affect others. The adoption of concurrent engineering principles by the construction industry is increasingly being seen as vital for reducing the problems posed by the industry's fragmentation, and enhancing its competitiveness. An important aspect of concurrent engineering in construction is the need for an effective communications infrastructure able to transmit project information between members of the project team and across all stages in the constructed facility's lifecycle. This paper describes the development of such a communications infrastructure that is based on the concept of Telepresence. The intention is to create a persistent space to support interaction between project personnel throughout the design and construction phases of projects. The paper first highlights the key communications issues that need to be addressed, introduces ‘Telepresence’ and describes an initial prototype system. The approach being adopted in the development of an advanced Telepresence environment for construction project teams is also presented. The Telepresence environment is intended to help people who cannot be together to work together.     

Presenting functors on many-sorted varieties and applications

This paper studies several applications of the notion of a presentation of a functor by operations and equations. We show that the technically straightforward generalisation of this notion from the one-sorted to the many-sorted case has several interesting consequences. First, it can be applied to give equational logic for the binding algebras modelling abstract syntax. Second, it provides a categorical approach to algebraic semantics of first-order logic. Third, this notion links the uniform treatment of logics for coalgebras of an arbitrary type T with concrete syntax and proof systems. Analysing the many-sorted case is essential for modular completeness proofs of coalgebraic logics.     

Information systems project escalation: a reinterpretation based on options theory

Escalation of commitment is a well-known phenomenon whereby individuals and organizations continue to invest in what appear to be losing courses of action. Traditional theories of escalation implicitly assume the phenomenon is dysfunctional and results from flawed, or irrational, decision-making. Some have argued, however, that the phenomenon results from equivocal information concerning a particular course of action and does not necessarily represent a flawed or irrational decision process. To shed light on this distinction, we examine prior theories of escalation and introduce a reinterpretation of the phenomenon based on options theory.To provide a context for our discussion, we examine information systems (IS) project escalation. While escalation is a general phenomenon, IS investments represent a particularly appealing context of study for several reasons. First, investments in information technology represent a significant and growing fraction of total capital expenditures for most organizations. Second, IS projects exhibit certain characteristics which create ambiguity and may cause them to be especially susceptible to escalation.Our analysis suggests that traditional theories of escalation behavior give an incomplete picture because they do not provide a mechanism for distinguishing warranted from unwarranted escalation. Thus, traditional theories provide little explanation for those situations in which escalation behavior is economically prudent. Failure to consider the value of real options means that the perceived benefits of a project are lower than the actual benefits, meaning that managers are apt to reject or prematurely cancel projects that would in fact be economically beneficial to pursue.This paper applies options theory to show that some projects that might otherwise be viewed as cases of unwarranted escalation, actually involve situations in which escalation is warranted. The options theory perspective offers new theoretical insights that challenge the traditional assumptions and yet complement existing theories regarding escalation behavior.     

Understanding e-government failure in the developing country context: a process-oriented study

This research aims to investigate the underlying process-based causes of e-government failure. Through the lens of actor-network theory, this paper presents a process-oriented study of the failure of Thailand’s Smart ID Card project. Adding to the extant knowledge on e-government failures that attributes this phenomenon to internal and external factors, this paper argues that the reason the project failed was a cumulative process of failure to create and maintain the actor-network. Policy implications for developing countries to efficiently manage their e-government initiatives are given, such as adopting an open principle in setting e-government project objectives and initiating the actor-network; implementing the e-government target in stages based on prepared environment; allowing an e-government system to evolve according to the degree of readiness in the information and communications technology (ICT) system design, implementation and local adoption; and including large, nationwide projects as part of a national informatization strategy.     

A milp bi-objective model for static portfolio selection of R&;D projects with synergies

This paper presents a multi-objective MILP model for portfolio selection of research and development (R&D) projects with synergies. The proposed model incorporates information about the funds assigned to different activities as well as about synergies between projects at the activity and project level. The latter aspects are predominant in the context of portfolio selection of R&D projects in public organizations. Previous works on portfolio selection of R&D projects considered interdependencies mainly at the project level. In a few works considering activity level information the models and solution techniques were restricted to problems with a few projects. We study a generalization of our previous model and show that incorporating interdependencies and activity funding information is useful for obtaining portfolios with better quality. Numerical results are presented to demonstrate the efficiency of the proposed approach for large models.     

分析广东省气象局中心机房搬迁之注意事项

通信机房搬迁是气象信息网络运行维护工作中一项重难点工程,特别是在保证各个气象业务、信息系统运行的连续性下进行整体搬迁。该文对平日气象信息网络管理工作的各个要点进行研究,并阐述该要点在通信机房搬迁中的应用,提出机房搬迁中的注意事项。体现气象信息网络日常管理工作的重要性。     

Context-adaptive agility: managing complexity and uncertainty

At Landmark Graphics, we have worked with various software practices and processes and over the last several years have begun to better comprehend some of the guidelines that define "barely sufficient" for our software projects. One thing has become quite apparent: what's barely sufficient for one project can be insufficient for another yet overly bureaucratic for another. As we looked at our project history, we found that two primary attributes influenced the type of process we used: complexity and uncertainty. To better quantify these attributes, we devised a scoring model and plotted each project's results on a four-quadrant graph. We have developed an approach to help determine what process practices are "barely sufficient" for any given project. We start with a core set of common practices. Then, depending on complexity and uncertainty, we can recommend additional practices. By identifying these project drivers, we can provide earlier guidance to project teams so that they can start with a process that's close to appropriate.     

Collaborative e-Government: impediments and benefits of information-sharing projects in the public sector

Information-sharing projects are becoming increasingly important in both public and private organizations. Generally, organizations base their decision to move forward with an information-sharing project on the project's expected benefits such as better services, operational savings, and increased program effectiveness. Clearly, potential impediments particular to the government environment could limit the attainment of benefits, jeopardizing the project's business case and even the project itself. Yet, we know very little about how users’ perceived impediments affect a project's expected benefits in collaborative digital government initiatives. Using data from six public sector information-sharing projects, this paper reveals how some managerial and cultural impediments (e.g., control-oriented management) limit perceptions of expected benefits. Surprisingly, political impediments were not found to significantly affect the expectations of benefits. Additionally, the paper provides managers with specific advice on how to better understand users’ perceptions and expectations. The paper should be of interest to both academicians and practitioners who are interested in government information technology implementation, in general, and collaborative e-Government, in particular.     

Exploring the relationship between software project duration and risk exposure: A cluster analysis

Software projects often fail. Thus it is important to find ways to ensure a successful outcome. One significant area is a better understanding of the relationship between the software project duration and risk exposure, as this helps project managers with pertinent information to be effective in managing risky projects. We addressed this need by adopting a cluster analysis technique to provide managers with insight into effective planning and control of their projects. The results not only revealed that risk exposures associated with user, requirement, planning & control and team risk dimensions were affected by project duration, but also showed how to manage software risks effectively through observing trends in the risk components. Based on our findings, project managers can adopt appropriate attitudes, skills, and practices to deal with risky areas more effectively rather than just identifying those software risks with which project managers should be concerned.     

Using Hypermedia to Improve Safety in Underground Metropolitan Transportation

One of the main concerns in the organization and management of public transportation is passenger safety before an emergency. This is even more critical in the case of subway transportation, where risks are higher in the case of fire. Handling a critical emergency is a stressing task, in which large amounts of information must be used in order to make the right decision in a very short time.In this paper, we describe a pioneering application of hypermedia technology consisting of the integration of all the information needed to handle emergencies in a large hypermedia document. It reduces the response time remarkably by integrating text, graphics, sound, video and 3D models in a user-friendly interface. The authors and the Safety Office of Metro Valencia, the public transportation company of Valencia, developed it jointly between 1998 and 2000. We outline some of the technical decisions made during the project, as well as some of the lessons learned concerning the development of large hypermedia projects.     

Improving communication barriers for on-site information flow: An exploratory study

On-site information management is an important issue. Since the lack of on-site information impacts project management, this study focuses on the improvement of on-site information flow. When activity workers report on-site activity information, activity managers can understand the status of on-site activities. This procedure forms the flow of on-site information from the activity workers to the activity managers. By examining a material management case study, this study found that communication barriers affected the on-site information flow, even though several types of information technology were used at the construction site. For improving the communication barriers, this study developed an exploratory system through integrating both wireless and speech technologies. The exploratory system achieved two-way speech communication between the activity workers and operation devices. Information interdependence, human–machine collaboration, and the relationship of project participants were also enhances. In summary, the findings of this study are useful for similar issues in project management.     

Status quo and open challenges in vision-based sensing and tracking of temporary resources on infrastructure construction sites

Modern construction projects require sufficient planning and management of resources to become successful. Core issues are tasks that deal with maintaining the schedule, such as procuring materials, guaranteeing the supply chain, controlling the work status, and monitoring safety and quality. Timely feedback of project status aids project management by providing accurate percentages of task completions and appropriately allocating resources (workforce, equipment, material) to coordinate the next work packages. However, current methods for measuring project status or progress, especially on large infrastructure projects, are mostly based on manual assessments. Recent academic research and commercial development has focused on semi- or fully-automated approaches to collect and process images of evolving worksites. Preliminary results are promising and show capturing, analyzing, and documenting construction progress and linking to information models is possible. This article presents first an overview to vision-based sensing technology available for temporary resource tracking at infrastructure construction sites. Second, it provides the status quo of research applications by highlighting exemplary case. Third, a discussion follows on existing advantages and current limitations of vision based sensing and tracking. Open challenges that need to be addressed in future research efforts conclude this paper.     

An exact method for scheduling of the alternative technologies in R&D projects

A fundamental challenge associated with research or new product development projects is identifying that innovative activity that will deliver success. In such projects, it is typically the case that innovative breakthroughs can be achieved by any of several possible alternative technologies, some of which may fail due to the technological risks involved. In some cases, the project payoff is obtained as soon as any single technology is completed successfully. We refer to such a project as alternative-technologies project and in this paper we consider the alternative-technologies project scheduling problem. We examine how to schedule alternative R&D activities in order to maximize the expected net present value, when each technology has a cost and a probability of failure. Although a branch-and-bound algorithm has been presented for this problem in the literature, we reformulate the problem and develop a new and improved branch-and-bound algorithm. We show using computational results that the new algorithm is much more efficient and outperforms the previous one.     

Managing risks in IT projects: an options perspective

Organizations are making large investments in information technology (IT) projects. However, many are risky and are often considered runaway, because they do not meet original expectations of cost, time, or benefits. Effective management of risks in IT projects is therefore extremely important. This paper emphasizes the need to differentiate between risks that can be resolved by action and risks that require hedging. It presents a framework for understanding and hedging risks in IT projects based on the finance literature on real options. This framework can be used to understand and justify project management decisions. The insight provided by this framework is consistent with practical managerial decisions in IT project management.