Business Faculty Publications

Title

Exploiting Organizational Knowledge In Developing IS Project Cost and Schedule Estimates: An Empirical Study

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

7-31-2007

Publication Title

Information & Management

Keywords

Information Systems

Disciplines

Business | Management Information Systems

Abstract

Project management is vital to the effective application of organizational resources to competing demands within and across projects. The effective application of project management, however, is predicated upon accurate estimates of the project budget and schedule. This study assesses primary and supporting activities that exploit knowledge within an organization's memory to develop project schedule durations and budgets. The study further assesses the subsequent impact of predictability on project success. Two hundred and sixteen survey responses from IT professionals with project management responsibilities were analyzed. Results found use of the primary activities of using parametric estimating techniques (use of formal models), bottom-up estimating techniques (formulating estimates at the task level), and the support activities of team reliance, realistic targets, and professional experience all impact the predictability of estimates for project cost and duration. Predictability in turn was found to directly impact project success with regards to meeting cost and duration objectives. While use of analogous estimating techniques (using similar previous projects) was not found to be useful for project managers with more experience, it was used by project managers with less experience in determining predictability.

DOI

10.1016/j.im.2007.06.002

Volume

44

Issue

6

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