Project plans and time budgets in information systems projects

The general perception which permeates project management education and practice is that planning and control are necessary prerequisites for information systems (IS) project management success. We teach that the better the plan, the better the result. Although this assumption is intuitively plausible, empirical evidence of the relationships between planning and project management success, and control and project management success is not evident. The paucity of empirical research in the field has prompted a derailed investigation into the quantitative effects of the software project plan (SPP) and of project control procedures upon time success. A survey of IS project managers was conducted which suggests that a direct relationship exists between the use of the software project plan as a control and management tool and completion of projects within time budgets. This relationship is unaffected by the comprehensiveness of the software project plan