Ulrich Remus

Implementing process‐oriented knowledge management strategies

Despite growing interest about a strategic perspective on knowledge management (KM), there is still a lack of a procedure and methods to guide the implementation of KM strategies. In this paper, we review the current state of practice of KM initiatives and identify four scenarios for potentially successful KM initiatives. The majority of organizations can be described as being a knowledge management starter. In order to improve these KM initiatives and link them to business strategy, we suggest a process‐oriented knowledge management approach as a step to bridge the gap between human‐ and technology‐oriented KM. This approach is outlined with the help of the four levels of intervention: (1) strategy, (2) KM organization and processes, (3) topics/content, and (4) instruments/systems. The definition and implementation of a process‐oriented KM strategy in a large transaction bank will serve as an example to illustrate the application of our approach.

Critical success factors for implementing enterprise portals: A comparison with ERP implementations

Purpose – The goal of this paper is to discuss critical success factors (CSF) for implementing enterprise portals by comparing them with CSF for ERP implementations.Design/methodology/approach – In order to identify and rank CSF for portal implementations, the paper followed a multi‐method design, following a two‐stage approach with the first stage analyzing the state‐of‐the‐art of portal implementation by interviewing portal integrators in Germany and a follow‐up stage with a focus on CSF, thereby identifying and analyzing the CSF for portal (implementation) projects in general and across project stages. Then the findings are compared with the results of a similar study on CSF in ERP (implementation) projects.Findings – When comparing CSF for portal projects with CSF of ERP projects, some similarities were found but also some differences with respect to top management support, project management, communication, selection of the software package and business process re‐engineering.Research limitations/imp...

School leaders, ICT competence and championing innovations

The implementation of new technology is becoming more important to schools and the success of such implementations is often due to the presence of ICT champions. This article examines ICT champions to determine whether the intention to champion ICT is determined by the ICT competence of school leaders. This article, based on responses from 64 school leaders in New Zealand, reports that professional development and ICT usage are antecedents of ICT competency and that school leaders are ICT competent and willing ICT champions. These findings are contrary to existing research which has found that school leaders have poor ICT competency.

Critical Success Factors for Managing Offshore Software Development Projects

Abstract Early experiences with offshore software development (OSD) have not been consistently positive. There have been abundant media reports of various companies whose offshore projects were not able to live up to expectations. It would appear that this can be traced back to insufficient project management by the offshore project partners. In this context, some research has been carried out on the critical success factors of offshore software development projects from the perspective of U.S. clients as well as Indian and European providers. However, there is little research on these critical success factors that examines their relevance and management. This paper identifies and structures the critical success factors of offshore software development projects, and more importantly, it analyzes the relevance of the identified factors from several perspectives, such as type of company, company size, geographical location, project type, size and experience. Our findings are in particular relevant for companies in countries where English is not the first language and where OSD is still an emerging field.

A multi‐method, holistic strategy for researching critical success factors in IT projects

In the field of information systems (IS) there is an observable trend towards the use of multi‐method research. Using different research methods allows for the cross‐validation of data obtained via multiple approaches, with the potential to increase the robustness of research results. Such a multi‐method approach is applicable to a comprehensive research agenda on critical success factors, an agenda that needs to take into account not only the identification, but also the analysis and management of critical success factors. The goal of this article is to contribute new knowledge on how to carry out research on critical success factors in IS projects using a multi‐method approach. For this purpose, two research projects are presented, each a variation of the research design customized to particular circumstances. First, there is an outline of the research approach taken for a critical success factor research project in the field of portal implementation, with discussion of the strengths and weaknesses of the project. Taking into consideration these experiences, the research approach of a similar critical success factor research project in the field of offshore software development is then described. Finally, recommendations for using the multi‐method research approach in critical success factor research are presented.

Control Configuration and Control Enactment in Information Systems Projects: Review and Expanded Theoretical Framework

The control of information systems (IS) projects is a key activity for deployment of information technology (IT) resources and ultimately for value creation through IT. For the last 20 years, research on IS project control has grown to cover a wide range of aspects and issues, including control modes, amounts, and portfolios, control in internal and outsourced settings, and control antecedents, consequences, and dynamics. There is an important theoretical and practical impetus for this research, since the nature of IS projects creates specific and challenging conditions for control, and since control research in neighboring disciplines often neglects temporary endeavors such as projects. In this study, we provide a systematic review and synthesis of the literature and develop an expanded theoretical framework for IS project control with supporting conjectures. Our review reveals that existing research primarily studies the contextual antecedents and performance consequences of control modes and amounts, and thus focuses on control portfolio configurations (what). In contrast, prior research largely neglects control enactment, that is, how the controller interacts with the controllee to put the portfolio of controls into practice. Our expanded framework points to the importance of studying control portfolio configurations and control enactment (in terms of control style and control congruence) in combination, in order to better understand IS project control effectiveness. Expanding the toolbox of concepts available to IS researchers, our framework helps resolve existing research gaps and inconsistencies, and opens up new avenues for future research on the control of IS projects.

Exploring the Dynamics behind Knowledge Management Challenges: An Enterprise Resource Planning Case Study

The conductor of this case study uses causal mapping to show that external changes to an enterprise resource planning project can trigger a chain reaction, resulting in weak performance of key knowledge management activities such as knowledge capture, sharing, and integration. Management decisions responding to these changes may lead to knowledge dilemmas that can trigger unwanted dynamic behavior, finally causing project drift. This research extends existing knowledge on knowledge management challenges by emphasizing the need to reveal the dynamics behind how knowledge management challenges unfold over time.

The Effective Promotion of Informal Control in Information Systems Offshoring Projects

As firms increasingly engage in interorganizational information systems (IS) projects, including IS offshoring projects, the challenge for client firms of effectively exercising control across organizational boundaries becomes critical. Although the importance of informal controls (clan and self-control) in this context has been recognized, prior research has focused primarily on formal controls. Consequently, our understanding of the use of clan and self-control in interorganizational IS projects is scarce, and partly inconsistent or contradictory. This study focuses the client’s role in promoting informal controls in interorganizational projects involving distant client–vendor relationships as well as the effectiveness of such controls. We use matched-pair survey data from 86 IS offshoring projects involving client and vendor relationship managers. Our results show an interesting pattern: while clan control is considerably more difficult to promote than self-control in client–vendor project relationships, only clan control has a direct positive impact on project performance. Moreover, formal control modes, national cultural values, and project context factors moderate both the promotion and the effectiveness of informal controls. Our study’s main contributions lie in establishing the relevance of the distinction between informal control given and received, and the importance of the client’s role in promoting informal controls.

To coerce or to enable? Exercising formal control in a large information systems project

In virtually every information systems (IS) project, control is exercised on multiple hierarchical project levels. For example, senior managers exercise control over project team leaders, who in turn exercise control over distinct groups of project team members. Most prior studies have exclusively focused on one specific controller-controllee dyad. As a result, there is little understanding of how IS project control is exercised across different hierarchical levels. To close this research gap, we conducted a case study of a large IS project at a major engineering firm. Our study helps enrich the traditional mode-based typology of control with the dimension of control style, that is, the distinction between enabling and coercive control. Our research contributes novel insights to the IS control literature in three ways: (1) we find that the senior management level and the project management level differ in the use of control style but not in the use of control modes, (2) we identify several factors that influence the choice of a particular control style, and (3) we find that senior managers can influence project activities on lower levels by implementing controls that can be readily emulated by project leaders as well as transmitted through hierarchical levels with little distortion.

Wirtschaftlichkeit von Unternehmensportalen (Economic Valuation of Enterprise Portals)

Zusammenfassung Mittlerweile erkennen immer mehr Unternehmen, dass Portalprojekte enorm komplex, zeit- und kostenintensiv sind. Kosten und Nutzen, um ein Unternehmensportal aufzubauen und zu betreiben, sollten daher sorgfältig abgewägt werden. Häufig fehlen jedoch genaue Kennzahlen, die detailliert die Wirtschaftlichkeit einer Portalinvestition darstellen. Ziel des Artikels ist daher die Analyse der relevanten Faktoren, die Gegenstand einer Wirtschaftlichkeitsbetrachtung von Unternehmensportalen sind. Dazu werden Vorgehen zur Wirtschaftlichkeitsanalyse, sowie wesentliche Faktoren bzgl. des Nutzens, der Kosten und des Risikos bei der Implementierung eines Unternehmensportals, strukturiert nach den wesentlichen Portaltypen B2E und B2C diskutiert.