1

IT Project Portfolio Management: Vertical and Horizontal Work Design Problems in

a Public Organization 

2

Thanks and welcome to Dr. Per Svejvig and Dr. Shegaw Mengiste

Overview

3

Discussion Analysis

Research process

Research questions

Contributions

Introduction

PhD

- Basis assumptions- Engaged Scholarship - Three cycles of engagement

Theoretical frame

- Five concepts from work design theory

- Use of the five concepts

- Concept map - Recommendations - Each research question's

contribution to the IS literature

- Definitions - Is this IS? - Practical problem (in local governments)- Research gab

(RQ1) how does a public organization design IT PPM, (RQ2) what problems are caused by this design, (RQ3) and what changes can be recommended to improve IT PPM?

4

Introduction

IT Project Portfolio Management (IT PPM)

• Analogy: IT PPM is like team management in professional cycling - it focuses on the team’s overall strategy and allocation of resources. (Fonstad and Robertson 2006).

5

Introduction

Information Systems characteristics:

(1) IT PPM consists of vertical and horizontal mechanisms, linking different stakeholders from the business part and the and IT part of the organization (Fonstad and Robertson 2006).

(2) IT PPM is interrelated with portfolios of IT applications, and portfolios of IT Infrastructure (Kumar et al. 2008).

(3) IT PPM consists of IT projects, which I define as: the implementation or modification of a business unit’s access to information using technical media such as computers, cables or phone switches (Bonham 2005).

6

Introduction

*

Digital initiatives from the Danish government:

• Increased amount of digitalization initiatives during the last 30 years

• “the greatest digital leap so far”

(Regeringen 2011).

Cost cuts in the local governments budgets of historical dimensions:

Budgets are 6 billion d.dk below the level in 2009 14.000 fulltime jobs in are abolish during 2011

(KL’s Økonomiske Sekretariat 2012).

A Practical problem 98 Danish local governments

Pressure

Pressure

7

Introduction

Norlan and McFarlan (2005)

Local governments

Der er bred enighed om at det er strategisk vigtigt at udvikle nye IT systemer og services

Antal indbyggere

I høj grad

I nogen grad

I mindre grad

Slet ikke

40.000 37 47 11 5

40.001-100.00

0

42 55 3 0

Over 100.00

0

80 20 0 0

DISIMIT 2012 (n=55)

Danish Local governments go towards an more offensive mode in IT PPM?

8

Introduction

Local government of Newport

9

Introduktion

From an Information Systems perspective

• Call for more knowledge regarding the vertical and horizontal mechanisms connecting organizations strategy to the local IT projects (Fonstad and Robertson 2006)

 • Lack of empirical research identifying what IT PPM related

problems a real life organization experiences. Most IT PPM research gives precedence to theory (Hansen and Kræmmergaard 2011), and will at worst ignore real life IT PPM problems.

 • IT PPM practices suggested by the literature do not fit the

reality of local governments. (Pedersen and Hansen 2010; Hansen 2011; Pedersen and Nielsen 2012). *

10

Research questions

(RQ1)How does a public organization design IT PPM, (RQ2) what problems are caused by this design, (RQ3) and what changes can be recommended to improve IT PPM?

11

Research framework

12

Research process

Basic assumptions:

• Research must contribute to practice as well as research otherwise we (in IS) will lose credibility in the long run (Van de Ven 2007).

• Engaging in empirical reality increase the likelihood that research provides relevant results (Van de Ven 2007)

• Analogy – like the work of a miner digging for valuable metal. The miner will never find all the valuable metal below the surface. But the amount of days used on working in the mine and careful planning at night, will increase the likelihood of valuable finding (Kvale 1994).

13

Research process

14

Research process

Cycle of engagement

Period Empirical evidence

1 November 2010to May 201

Interviews of nine IT project managers,Interview of six IT executivesCollection of 35 documentsThree observation studies

2 August 2011 toJanuary 2012

Re-interviews of the six IT executivesRe-interview of an IT project managerInterview of one IT managerInterview of tree vice directorsOne workshop involving the six IT executives Collection of 38 documents

3 March 2012 to June 2012

Three interviews of the Central Unit’s IT executive One workshop involving the organization’s IT executives

15

Analysis

Concept 1: Vertical division of work:

16

Analysis

Level Authority Knowledge ResourcesPolitical organization

Authority to take major decisions regarding the organization’s strategic direction

IT PPM considered as less relevant

Allocate money resources via budgets

Director level Authority to take major decisions regarding major initiatives in the administrative organization

Large knowledge regarding most important strategic IT projects

Allocates resources via approving recommendation

IT executive level

Authority as a level 3 executives

Knowledge regarding content in IT PPM and how IT PPM can be improved

Most of IT executives’ resources are bound to maintaining the current systems

IT project level No authority without steering group

Lack of knowledge regarding IT project management is pronounced in unit based projects

Internal resources are held by units and subunits

Concept 1: Vertical division of work:

17

Analysis

Concept 2: Horizontal division of work:

Archer and Ghasemzadeh 2007

18

Analysis

Phase Seven key IT PPM tasks Main actors

Pre selection Development of IT strategies IT groups

Development of methodology IT groups

Selection Pre screening and individual project analysis IT project teams

Portfolio selection Level of directors

Post selection IT Project development IT project teams

IT project evaluation IT project teams

Concept 2: Horizontal division of work:

19

Research framework

20

Analysis

Concept 3: Hierarchical decomposition problems

Hansen and Kræmmergaard (2012a; 2012b)

21

Analysis

Hansen and Mengiste (2012)

Concept 4: Modularity problems:

22

Analysis

Concept 5: Complex network problems:

23

Research framework

24

Discussion

25

Discussion

Recommendations to address Hierarchical decomposition problems

Hansen and Kræmmergaard (2012b)

26

Discussion

Hansen and Mengiste (2012)

Recommendations to address modularity problems

27

Discussion

Recommendations to address complex network problems

(Cummings 2009)

28

Discussion

Recommendations to address complex network problems

29

Contributions

(RQ1)How does a public organization design IT PPM

• Shows how vertical linking mechanisms, as emphasized by Fonstad and Robertson (2006), not only consist of funding reviews, reward systems, strategy boards: I find that authority, knowledge and resources can be divided across hierarchical levels

• Shows how horizontal linking mechanisms, as emphasized, by Fonstad and Robertson (2006) demands coordinate between units, not only coordination between IT and business units

30

Contributions

(RQ2) what problems are caused by this design?

• My research takes an more empirical driven approach to identify problems (searching in three fundamental problem areas).

•

My research is in contrast to the more normative advises from maturity and decision models in the IT PPM literature

31

Contributions

(RQ3) what changes can be recommended to improve IT PPM?

• The IT PPM principles suggested by the literature does not fit the reality of Danish public organizations (Pedersen and Hansen 2010; Hansen 2011).

• I agree with Verhoef (2002) that use of more formalized mechanisms in IT PPM in an public organization is beneficial But I find that IT PPM is more that rational mechanisms, and therefore differs from the assumption by Verhoef (2002), that organizational stakeholders, like stock-brokers can apply friction-free marked mechanisms to select the most beneficial portfolio of IT projects.

• Thus I follow Hansen and Kræmmergard (2011), arguing that more research must be put on real life problems and conflicting interests, to provide more solid recommendations to improve IT PPM in a public organization