Information Technology Project Management

Jack T. Marchewka is an associate professor, the Barsema Professor of Management Information Systems, and the director of the Business Information Technology Transfer Center (BITTC) at Northern Illinois University. He received his Ph.D. from Georgia State University's department of Computer Information Systems in 1994 and was a former faculty member at Kennesaw State University. Prior to entering academia, Dr. Marchewka was a vice president of MIS for a healthcare company in Atlanta, Georgia. Dr. Marchewka has taught a number of courses at both the undergraduate and graduate levels and has been a guest lecturer at the Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University in the Netherlands. His articles have appeared in journals such as Information Resources Management Journal, Information Technology & People, Journal of International Information Management, and Journal of Informatics Education and Research.

Preface xiii

About the Author xviii

Chapter 1 The Nature of Information Technology Projects 1

Introduction 1

What Is a Project? 2

Project Attributes 2

What Is Project Management? 4

Projects, Programs, and Portfolios 4

Project Management and Information Technology 5

The State of IT Project Management 7

Why Many Projects Fail 8

Improving the Likelihood of Success 10

The Purpose of this Book 12

Chapter Summary 12

Review Questions 13

Husky Air—Pilot Angels 14

Husky Air Assignment 15

The Martial Arts Academy—School Management System 16

Quick Thinking—Involving the User 19

Quick Thinking—FAA Nextgen Air-Traffic Control Project 20

Case Studies 20

Bibliography 23

Chapter 2 Project Methodologies and Processes 24

Introduction 24

The Project Life Cycle 25

The Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK®) 27

Project Management Knowledge Areas 27

Project Processes 28

Project Management Process Groups 29

PRINCE2® 31

PRINCE2® Processes 31

PRINCE2® Themes 32

PRINCE2® Principles 33

The Systems Development Life Cycle (SDLC) 34

The PLC and the SDLC 35

Implementing the SDLC 35

Waterfall 36

Agile Systems Development 38

What Is Agile? 38

Some Commonly Used Agile Methods 40

Waterfall versus Agile? 41

Learning Cycles and Lessons Learned 42

Chapter Summary 46

Review Questions 48

Husky Air—Pilot Angels Assignment 50

Martial Arts Academy (MAA) Assignment 51

Quick Thinking—Learning from Failure 53

Quick Thinking—Doing Agile or Being Agile? 54

Case Studies 55

Bibliography 58

Chapter 3 Measurable Organizational Value and the Business Case 59

Introduction 59

Measurable Organizational Value (MOV) 60

The MOV and Project Objectives 61

Developing the MOV 62

The Business Case 67

What Is a Business Case? 67

Developing the Business Case 68

Project Selection and Approval 76

The IT Project Selection Process 76

The Project Selection Decision 76

Chapter Summary 77

Review Questions 77

Husky Air Assignment—Pilot Angels 78

The Martial Arts Academy (MAA)—School Management System 80

Quick Thinking—Measuring the Immeasurable 83

Quick Thinking—The Elevator Pitch 83

Case Studies 84

Bibliography 89

Chapter 4 Project Planning: The Project Infrastructure 91

Introduction 91

Project Governance 92

The Project Team 94

The Project Manager 94

The Project Team 95

The Organization and Project Planning 96

The Functional Organization 96

The Project Organization 99

The Matrix Organization 100

Procuring External Project Resources 101

Procurement Planning 102

Contracts Between Sellers and Buyers 103

The Project Environment 105

The Project Charter 105

What Should Be in a Project Charter? 106

Project Identification 106

Project Stakeholders 107

Project Description 107

Measurable Organizational Value (MOV) 107

Project Scope 107

Project Schedule 107

Project Budget 108

Quality Standards 108

Resources 108

Assumptions and Risks 108

Project Administration 108

Acceptance and Approval 109

References 109

Terminology 109

Chapter Summary 110

Review Questions 111

Husky Air Assignment—Pilot Angels 112

The Martial Arts Academy (MAA)—School Management System 113

Quick Thinking—The Project Sponsor 114

Quick Thinking—Projects as Social Networks 114

Case Studies 115

Bibliography 119

Chapter 5 Project Planning: Scope and the Work Breakdown Structure 120

Introduction 120

The Triple Constraint 121

Defining and Managing Project Scope 122

Plan Scope Management 123

Collect Requirements 123

Define Scope 123

The Scope Boundary 123

The Statement of Work (SOW) 124

The Scope Statement 124

Project-Oriented Scope 125

Product-Oriented Scope 125

Validate Scope 128

Control Scope 128

Scope Change Control Procedures 129

The Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) 130

Work Packages 131

Deliverables and Milestones 131

Developing the WBS 132

Project Estimation 134

Guesstimating 134

Delphi Technique 134

Time Boxing 135

Top-Down Estimating 135

Bottom-Up Estimating 136

Poker Planning 136

Chapter Summary 138

Review Questions 139

Husky Air Assignment—Pilot Angels 140

The Martial Arts Academy (MAA)—School Management System 141

Quick Thinking—Sinking a Project 142

Quick Thinking—More People = More Problems 143

Quick Thinking—Politics and Estimates 143

Case Studies 144

Bibliography 147

Chapter 6 Project Planning: The Schedule and Budget 149

Introduction 149

Developing the Project Schedule 151

Gantt Charts 151

Project Network Diagrams 153

Critical Chain Project Management (CCPM) 157

Project Management Software Tools 159

Developing the Project Budget 161

The Baseline Plan 163

The Kick-Off Meeting 164

Chapter Summary 164

Review Questions 166

Husky Air Assignment—Pilot Angels 166

The Martial Arts Academy (MAA)—School Management System 167

Quick Thinking—Planning versus the Plan 168

Quick Thinking—The Map is Not the Territory 168

Case Studies 169

Bibliography 172

Chapter 7 Managing Project Risk 173

Introduction 173

Create a Risk Plan 176

Identify Risks 176

A Project Risk Identification Framework 176

Applying the Project Risk Identification Framework 178

Other Tools and Techniques 179

Analyze Risk 182

Qualitative Approaches 183

Quantitative Approaches 186

Discrete Probability Distributions 186

Continuous Probability Distributions 186

Develop Risk Strategies 191

Monitor and Control Risk 193

Respond and Evaluate Response to Risk 193

Chapter Summary 194

Review Questions 196

Husky Air Assignment—Pilot Angels 197

The Martial Arts Academy (MAA)—School Management System 197

Quick Thinking—Send in the Reserves 198

Quick Thinking—Risky Management 199

Case Studies 200

Bibliography 204

Chapter 8 Managing Project Stakeholders and Communication 205

Introduction 205

Stakeholder Analysis 206

The Informal Organization 206

Stakeholders 206

Stakeholder Analysis 206

Monitoring and Controlling the Project 207

The Project Communications Plan 209

Project Metrics 211

Burn-Down Chart 213

Earned Value 213

Analyzing Current Performance 216

Forecasting Project Performance 218

Reporting Performance and Progress 222

Information Distribution 222

Chapter Summary 223

Review Questions 224

Husky Air Assignment—Pilot Angels 225

The Martial Arts Academy (MAA)—School Management System 227

Quick Thinking—Projects as Social Networks 228

Quick Thinking—Communication and Mentoring 229

Case Studies 230

Bibliography 233

Chapter 9 Managing Project Quality 234

Introduction 234

Quality Philosophies 237

Craftsmanship 237

Scientific Management 238

The Total Quality Management (TQM) Gurus 238

Process Capability and Maturity 240

The Project Quality Management Plan 242

Quality Philosophies and Principles 242

Quality Standards, Processes, and Metrics 244

Quality Assurance 245

Quality Control 247

Continuous Improvement: Learn, Mature, and Improve 251

Chapter Summary 251

Review Questions 252

Husky Air Assignment—Pilot Angels 253

The Martial Arts Academy (MAA)—School Management

System 253

Quick Thinking—Why Do We Accept Low-Quality Software? 254

Quick Thinking—OPM3® 254

Case Studies 255

Bibliography 259

Chapter 10 Leading the Project Team 260

Introduction 260

Project Leadership 261

Some Modern Approaches to Leadership 261

Leadership Styles 263

Emotional Intelligence 264

Ethics and Leadership 265

Ethical Leadership 266

Some Common Ethical Dilemmas in Projects 268

Making Sound Ethical Decisions 269

Teams and Leadership 270

Multicultural Projects 272

The Challenges of International Projects 272

Understanding Diversity 273

Chapter Summary 274

Review Questions 275

Husky Air—Pilot Angels 275

The Martial Arts Academy (MAA)—School Management System 276

Quick Thinking—Leadership and Listening 277

Quick Thinking—Sitting Ducks 277

Case Studies 278

Bibliography 281

Chapter 11 Managing Organizational Change, Resistance, and Conflict 282

Introduction 282

The Nature of Change 284

Change Has an Impact 284

Change Is a Process 285

Change Can Be Emotional 286

The Change Management Plan 287

Assess Willingness, Readiness, and Ability to Change 287

Develop or Adopt a Strategy for Change 289

Rational-Empirical Approach 289

Normative-Reeducation Approach 290

Power-Coercive Approach 290

Environmental-Adaptive Approach 291

Implement the Change Management Plan and Track Progress 291

Evaluate Experience and Develop Lessons Learned 292

Dealing with Resistance and Conflict 292

Resistance 292

Conflict 293

Chapter Summary 295

Review Questions 295

Husky Air Assignment—Pilot Angels 297

The Martial Arts Academy (MAA)—School Management System 298

Quick Thinking—It’s Not Easy Going Green 299

Quick Thinking—Cross-Functional and Multicultural Teams 299

Case Studies 300

Bibliography 305

Chapter 12 Project Completion 306

Introduction 306

Product Release or System Implementation 307

Direct Cutover 307

Parallel 308

Phased 308

Project Closure 310

Project Sponsor Acceptance 312

The Final Project Report 312

The Final Meeting and Presentation 313

Administrative Closure 313

Project Evaluation 314

Individual Performance Review 314

Project Close-Out (Postmortem) Review 315

Project Audit 316

Evaluating Project Success—The MOV 316

Chapter Summary 317

Review Questions 318

Husky Air Assignment—Pilot Angels 319

The Martial Arts Academy (MAA)—School Management System 319

Quick Thinking—Killing a Project 320

Quick Thinking—The Post-Implementation Audit 320

Case Studies 321

Bibliography 324

Appendix: An Introduction to Function Point Analysis (Available online at www.wiley.com/college/marchewka)

Index 325