L09 - IS Projects

Question 1

Definition Project

Answer 1

A project is a temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product, service, or result. The temporary nature of projects indicates that a project has definite beginning and end.

Question 2

Project Characteristics

Answer 2

Projects are typically used to drive change and create value at the same time, e.g., as response to undesirable situations.

Question 3

Project Characteristics:

Projects drive change in organizations

Answer 3

• A project’s aim is to move an organization from one state to another state in order to achieve a specific objective
• The organization’s state before its project begins is referred to as the current state
• The desired result driven by the project is called the future state

Question 4

Project Characteristics:

Projects enable business value creation

Answer 4

• Benefit that the results of a specific project provide to its stakeholders
• Projects are undertaken at all organizational levels (single individual or group from single or multiple organizational unit
• A deliverable is a unique and verifiable product, result or capability to perform a service.

Question 5

Selected Issues in Software-Related Projects

Answer 5

• Requirements Issues: Unrealistic project goals, uncontrolled scope creep with no allowance for such in plan
• Estimating Issues: Inappropriate schedule, no process to re-estimate when the project changes, no reasonableness checks
• Quality Issues: Trying to test in quality rather than a process that implements quality throughout
• Poor Team Productivity: High rework (doing the same thing multiple times due to issues with the initial work)
• Project Management Issues: Lack of planning, earned value, impact of changes and issues
• Cultural Issues: Hiding the bad news

Question 6

Project Management Definition

Answer 6

Project management is the application of knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to project activities to meet the project requirements.

Question 7

The Triple Constraint of Project Management

Answer 7

• Cost: Budget cuts, bad estimation, external shocks
• Time: Project resources unavailable, bad estimation, project dependencies
• Scope: Additional features, bad requirements, “scope creep”

Question 8

Phases of a Project

Answer 8

Project management requires permanent interaction between monitoring and other project processes. Output of one process an input to another process or is a deliverable of the project.

Question 9

1. Project charter

Answer 9

Formally authorizes a project and provides a direct link between the projects and the organization’s strategic objectives. It documents initial requirements that satisfy the stakeholder’s needs and expectations and follow the 3Cs: clear, concise, consensus.

Framework

Question 10

2. Project Management Plan

Answer 10

Milestone Planning
• Prerequisite: Project specific, time critical events and Milestone events
• Description: Deadlines fixed in tables and the project is steered with high amount of energy

List of dates
• Prerequisite: List of work packages, start and end dates
• Description: Introduces sequence, estimate effort, dependencies emerge

Gantt-chart (Slide ~ 16)
• Prerequisite: List of work packages, start and end dates, timetable with time scale
• Description: Visualization via proportional bars, explicit dependencies

PERT chart (event-based) (Slide ~ 18)
• Prerequisite: List of work packages, start and end dates, additional restrictions
• Description: Visualization of work packages, dependencies of work packages, critical path

Question 11

A Project’s Critical Path

Answer 11

A critical path generally is the sequence of scheduled activities that determines the duration of the project. It is the longest path through the project.

A delay of activities on the critical path directly impact the planned project completion date.

Especially in challenging project situations project managers have to determine activities on the critical part.

Based on the critical path activities can be prioritized and a clear guidance can be given to the project team. Example Slide ~ 22

Question 12

3. Project Deliverable:

Scope Validation

Answer 12

Formal acceptance of project’s scope. One accepts the deliverables of the completed project. Scope verification is to check deliverables against the agreed scope of the project.

Question 13

3. Project Deliverable:

Control Quality

Answer 13

Formal acceptance of deliverables’ quality. Quality control is primarily concerned with correctness of the deliverables and ensures to meet the quality requirements specified for the deliverables.

Question 14

4. Project Closure and Documentation

Answer 14

To finalize a project all activities and documents need to be closed and archived. The following activities are necessary for administrative closure:

• Satisfy completion or exit criteria for the project
• Transfer the project’s products, services, or results to production
• Collect project or phase records and audit project success or failure
• Gather lessons learned and archive project information for future use

Question 15

Adoption & Use of IS

Answer 15

• The implementation & use of IS has several characteristics and components.
• Latest research highlights socio-technical factors
• Failure often due to underestimated importance of strategic clarity, project planning and change management
• Adoption & use are fundamental to create value with IS

Question 16

What happens on the Individual Level?

Answer 16

• Users need to accept technology on an individual level
• Acceptance leads to adoption and usage of a new technology
• Acceptance is a process of modifying existing conditions in an effort to achieve alignment
• Without acceptance and adoption, the IS implementation likely fails

Question 17

How Do Humans Use and Accept Technology?

Answer 17

• Productivity-increasing IT has to be used to unfold value
• Research in technology usage has a long IS history
• Models describe how users come to accept and use a technology

Technology Acceptance Model (Davis 1989), Technology Acceptance Model 2.0 (Venkatesh & Davis 2000) leading to the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (Venkatesh et al. 2003)

Question 18

TAM

Answer 18

The Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) follows a behavioral belief-based explanation approach for use.

Framework

Question 19

UTAUT: Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology

Answer 19

Framework

Performance Expectancy: The degree to which an individual believes that using the system will help him or her to attain gains in job performance.

Effort Expectancy: The degree of ease associated with the use of the system.

Social Influence: The degree to which an individual perceives that important others believe he or she should use the new system.

Facilitating Conditions: The degree to which an individual believes that an organizational and technical infrastructure exists to support use of the system.