Keld Pedersen

The post mortem paradox: a Delphi study of IT specialist perceptions

While post mortem evaluation (PME) has long been advocated as a means of improving development practices by learning from IT project failures, few organizations conduct PMEs. The purpose of the study is to explain this discrepancy between theory and practice. This paper integrates findings from a Delphi study of what experienced practitioners perceive as the most important barriers to conducting PMEs with insights from organizational learning theory. The results suggest that there are critical tensions between development practices and learning contexts in many organizations, and adopting PMEs in these cases is likely to reinforce organizational learning dysfunctions rather than improve current development practices. Based on these findings, we argue that the PME literature has underestimated the limits to learning in most IT organizations and we propose to explore paradoxical thinking to help researchers frame continued inquiry into PME and to help managers overcome learning dysfunctions as they push for more widespread use of PMEs.

Itil Implementation: Critical Success Factors A Comparative Case Study Using The Bpc Framework

Abstract This article examines critical success factors for the implementation of an IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL)1. It uses a case study methodology grounded in Business Process Change (BPC) theory to compare a successful ITIL implementation with an unsuccessful one. Data was collected by conducting interviews at various levels in two organizations. The study identifies several critical success factors related to ITIL implementation and compares these factors with factors identified by previous research in order to highlight areas that need specific attention when implementing ITIL.

Knowledge creation and sharing in a systems development project

Systems development projects are complex collaborative efforts in which actors create and share knowledge across organisational boundaries and over time. We know, however, little about how knowledge is created and shared in systems development projects and how adopted development approaches shape knowledge management practices. This research draws upon concepts from knowledge management and organisational learning to investigate the complex dynamics between knowledge creation and sharing in a systems development project. Based on an analysis of both quantitative and qualitative data from the project, the research shows that the adopted approach rely on simplified notions of knowledge creation and sharing that do not take into account the dynamic relationships between the two, and neglect the factors that facilitates or inhibits them. These findings suggest important lessons on how to balance knowledge creation and sharing in systems development and they suggest that we need to critically rethink contemporary approaches to systems development.

IT portfolio decision-making in local governments: Rationality, politics, intuition and coincidences

Abstract IT project portfolio management (IT PPM) has evolved into a significant area of research interest, but we know little about IT PPM practices in public sector organizations. Therefore this article investigates decision-making processes in the IT PPM practices of local governments, and discusses how these practices match the normative advice proposed by the IT PPM literature. We rely on decision-making theories together with case-studies of four Danish local governments. We find that politics, intuition and coincidence play a crucial role in IT PPM decision-making, while technical rationality (as proposed by the IT PPM literature) plays a minor role. Our account also reveals how the decision-making practices create IT portfolio problems and in some aspects is considered to have a negative impact on the outcome of e-government investments. Our analysis and previous research into decision-making allows us to argue that implementing textbook-IT PPM is difficult because it relies on decision-making ideals that are incompatible with organizational contexts and individual behavior in these organizations. Instead of radically changing decision-making styles, the organizations might be better off improving IT PPM practice within the boundaries of their existing decision-making styles, and the IT PPM literature might improve support for practitioners by incorporating other decision-making styles besides technical rationality.

Managing Uncertainty and Conflict in IT Project Portfolio Management

Abstract Maximizing the outcome of IT project investments has been a major concern for years. Several approaches have been suggested one of them being Project Portfolio Management (PPM). Even though PPM offers valuable techniques for aligning IT project portfolios with organizational needs and maximizing the outcome of project portfolios, practitioners find it difficult to implement. Our research suggests one of the reasons being the fact that PPM builds upon classic rational ideals about decision-making in organizations that are hard to realize and in some aspects counterproductive for non-routine decision-making. Especially, we focus on the importance of incorporating mechanisms that deal with uncertainty and conflict during portfolio decision-making, and on the importance of identifying and understanding dysfunctional decision- making patterns as part of improving PPM practice. Reducing the reliance on classic rational decision-making ideals and incorporating other decision-making styles more aligned with decision-making practices in organizations might ease PPM implementation and improve the outcome of systematic PPM efforts. The research is based upon a multisite case study from public sector organizations attempting to improve their PPM capabilities.

Realizing e-government benefits with minimal capabilities

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to increase our understanding of the requirements for public sector organizations to implement benefits realization practices. The research compares benefits realization practices as suggested by the literature with actual practice with the goal of identifying both insufficiencies in the current literature and challenges in practice that must be overcome to improve the current situation. Design/methodology/approach The case study approach is used to study benefits realization across national and local government organizations. Findings Five major challenges that are not dealt with by existing literature were identified: benefits realization requires not just organizational capabilities, but also inter-organizational capabilities; coordination of benefits realization across organizational units, local and central government and across internal organizational levels is both essential and very challenging; managing benefits realization includes much more than integrating benefits realization practices in IT projects; different benefits realization practices are needed at central government level, local management level and case worker level; and different uses of technology require different levels of benefits realization capabilities and different practices. The case also illustrates that under certain conditions, organization can actually realize significant improvements with limited benefits realization capabilities: When IT is used not to change but to fully automate processes, the reliance on formal benefits realization practices is decreased. Research limitations/implications The findings are based on a single case. Originality/value There is only little empirical research studying benefits realization in a public sector context. Furthermore, the research studies benefits realization from an organizational process perspective, and not from the perspective of IT projects.

E-government transformations: challenges and strategies

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate how to analyse the possibilities for e-government transformations in public sector organisations and how these possibilities can be improved. Design/methodology/approach The research constructs a model based on a literature review that focusses on the pressure that drives transformations, on the challenges transformations face and on the abilities needed for overcoming these challenges. The resulting model is subsequently used to analyse a successful case and to identify the keys to success in terms of the strategies used to transform. Findings The possibilities for transformation depend on the organisational and contextual configuration (a public sector organisation and the context it operates in) which is more or less supportive of transformations. The configuration can be characterized by the pressure to transform, the challenges that must be overcome and the abilities to do so. There are some basic conditions that impact the possibilities for making the configuration more supportive of transformations: the interest of powerful stakeholders, the degree of publicness, the possibilities for changing the configuration are path dependent and the factors that matter for the possibilities for transformation are interrelated and might be governed by different authorities which make it difficult to manage and change them. When improving the possibilities for transformation in a configuration, the pressure can be increased, transformations can be made easier to accomplish by reducing challenges and by providing more support and abilities might be developed to better overcome the challenges. Transformation is accomplished through an interplay between actions that improve and exploit the configuration. Research limitations/implications The findings are based on a single case. Practical implications The public sector should find the balance between making transformations easier and increasing capabilities. The lessons from this research suggest that a more balanced strategy focussing more on eliminating the contextual and organisational challenges that make these projects so complex and providing more support might be a better investment than just aiming to increase project level capabilities. Social implications Just as practice might benefit from changing the balance between increasing project level capabilities and making transformation easier, e-government research might improve its relevance by changing the balance between suggesting new approaches and researching the basic conditions for the exploitation of IT in public sector organisations. While the essence of public sector organisations in some cases makes transformations very challenging, there are still factors that might be improved upon through research. Originality/value Previous research has established knowledge about transformational challenges and solutions. Based on this knowledge this research constructs a model that can be used to systematically analyse the possibilities for success, and strategies for dealing with these challenges are suggested.

Transforming government service: the importance of dynamic capabilities

The Danish government has defined an ambitious e-government strategy aiming to increase both citizen centricity and the efficiency of government service production and delivery. This research uses dynamic capability theory to compare a highly successful and a less successful e-government program both aiming at realising this strategy by reengineering back office processes and implement one-stop shopping. The research contributes to the e-government literature by identifying key differences between the two cases in terms of dynamic capabilities, by identifying the importance of the organisational context for the level of organisational transformation, by illustrating the relevance of the dynamic capability perspective within e-government research and practice, and thereby providing a better foundation for future similar e-government programs.

Software Thinking Improvement Learning Performance Improving Lessons

SPI paradigm is dominated by improvement based on quantitative process metrics. The assumption behind this research is that improvement should be based, not just on insight in quantitative data about development processes, but also on insight in how developers think about system development: Software is developed by people, and it is the developers’ perceptions, experience and thinking about system development that guides their behavior. The present research develops an approach based on causal maps and counterfactual thinking that supports developers in learning from individual system development projects. The research adds to the body of knowledge concerning management and learning in system development practice.