Introduction
Many organizations are dependent on information technology and information systems in running the business. These information systems are often very complex and very expensive to develop, therefore organizations need a way to develop such systems in order that they can realize the benefits expected of them. The information systems must deliver the requirements of the business plan or strategy (Tansey 2002). The early stage of development of an information system is called systems analysis. An information system development project is divided up into a number of different stages. This is called the system life cycle. There are a number of different approaches to the development of computer-based information systems, but the principles behind each are similar. After a number of years in operation, business needs will have changed, so that there is a fundamental need for change and therefore the cycle will start again. By adopting this life cycle approach the project can be better managed (Tansey 2002).
Information systems are not created for their own sake. They serve or support people engaged in what for them is meaningful action. Now, when one system is thought of as serving another, it is a fundamental principle of systems thinking that in order to think carefully about, and conceptualize the system which provides the support, it is first necessary to define carefully the nature of the system served. This is necessary because how people see the system served will define what counts as support to it. The information systems needed to support a manufacturing operation will be very different if it is conceptualized as a system to optimize the use of a production facility rather than as a system to meet a market need (Currie & Galliers1999).Any information system will deliver output which is meaningful in the way the designers of the system defined, users of the system will, as autonomous human beings, still be free to assign their own meanings to it. The output from the organizational information system which consists of collated information about sales of the new product will mean different things to the managing director concerned with the company’s share price, the salesmen on the road seeking bonus payments, the production planner working on raw material requirements, and the director whose private agenda is to subvert the whole project (Currie & Galliers1999).
Information systems process the data and information in a certain company. It provides value to users through the interchange of messages. It makes information be accessible to people in an organization when such need arises. Information system is being used in different kinds of applications. One application is project management. The importance of project management is much more known in business institutions today. Organizations have realized the importance of project management and how it changes the operations of a business. Project management makes sure that needed changes can be done so that the company has a better chance of achieving its goal. The paper will discuss about the reasons that contribute to project success and the strategies to use to avoid project failure.
The risk in project management
A major concern in recent years in managing projects has been the continuing problem of dealing with risk and uncertainty. Such concerns are prompted by increasingly severe financial and legal consequences of poor risk management. The continuing budget and time overruns as well as the negative impact of poor project management on corporate image are no longer tolerated by funders or shareholders. In response to continuing failure to manage project risks, organizations are investing in more sophisticated and accurate quantitative risk management solutions. However, many of these techniques still fail to deliver the expected result (2001). The ineffectiveness of traditional quantitative risk analysis to manage projects effectively has also been highlighted by who also confirmed risk factors outside the scope of quantitative risk analysis as a contributory element to failure (2001).
Quantitative risk analysis is an extremely useful tool for assessing risk, but it can only deal with risks that have been identified. There appears to be some confusion between the concept of identification and assessment. In many cases, managers and decision makers assume that if quantitative risk analysis has been carried out then most potential risks have been addressed, and they do not engage in a critical evaluation of the procedure (2001).A good example of the lack of awareness of human factors within the risk assessment process involved an organization that dealt with nuclear processing and subsequent storage of nuclear waste. The project concerned the design and development of an appropriate repository for the waste, which had a potential for high risk to society over a substantial timescale. Within the initial phase of the project development at the design and conceptual phase, quantitative risk analysis focused on the failure rate of technological issues. No provision was made for conducting risk assessment on the project team or any other people involved in the process, except in terms of technology. One of the human factor issues related to serious conflict between members of the central project team resulting from misperceptions about roles and objectives of the project. In taking a stakeholder perspective to risk management, it is necessary to explore why the vested interest of an individual or group may be a key indicator of their likely decision-making processes, which ultimately shape their responses to the process and potential risk (2001).
Risk is an important consideration not only in business dealings but with project management as well. Risk will always be a part of business, when one doesn’t take risk he/she might not achieve his/her goals. When businesses fail the problem is not because they took the risk, the problem lies on the subsequent actions they have done after experiencing the effects of the risk. Project management involves not only proper planning but taking reasonable risks. Project managers must have the knowledge on the different risk they have to take while doing the project. Project managers need to know the consequences of the risk they take and they must have back up plans to ensure that the effects of the risk will not cause more problems for the company.
Reasons that contribute to project success
The first of factors for success is a group of External ones like government, community, general economic conditions, ecology, and so on. The second set of factors affecting the viability of project definition is that the project offers a sense of cost-benefit relationship and that the terms of the Financing of the project make sense (Earl 1998). The last factor affecting the project definition is the project’s Timing. Curiously, this aspect is often totally ignored in the project management literature which tends instead to dwell on scheduling methodologies. Timing means the pace at which the project is developed: its urgency, its phasing, and the placing of the strategic review points (Earl 1998).
The project itself must then be implemented using a range of concepts, tools, and techniques which have traditionally been thought of as the province of project management. These include matters of organizational structure responsibility and contract strategy, terms and conditions; issues of personal leadership and management style, resourcing, systems, and procedural conflict management and industrial relations, team-working, and matters of control and communication (Earl 1998). Project success can be due to external factors like assistance from the government, community, and others. It can be due to proper financing, having a sense of balance or use of appropriate timing. Project success can also be due to proper planning and wise use of strategies. Without the use of good information systems and the guidance of a good manager the factors in project success will not be enough.
Strategies to avoid project failure
In a business setting there is a chance that projects might fail. Projects are not perfect it will contain certain flaws. If these flaws merge wit forces within the environment the result would be the failure of the project. Project failure can be due to the lack of preparation or planning wherein the manager became too concentrated on the end result rather than the specifics of the project. Project failure can also be due to lack of cooperation between the manager and his subordinates. When there is no teamwork between the manager and the subordinates’ aspects of the project will not be completed. Another cause of project failure is when the manager does not take risks. The risk may have given the project a better chance for success.
Moreover a cause of project failure is the lack of alternative strategies that should be used whenever there are small problems or irregularities seen when the project is being undertaken. Lastly a cause of project failure is the inability to use the approved strategies. There are certain times that project managers fail to make use of strategies set by the organization, this results to an altered direction for the project and in the end failure of the project. To avoid project failure the best thing to do is for the project team to plan first and iron out any flaws that they know might affect the project. The project team should also foresee the problems they might face while undergoing the project. Moreover the project team should also make use of the proper strategies that is intended for the project.
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