Title :
Understanding the nature and extent of IS project escalation: results from a survey of IS audit and control professionals
Author :
Keil, Mark ; Mann, Joan
Author_Institution :
Dept. of Comput. Inf. Syst., Georgia State Univ., Atlanta, GA, USA
Abstract :
Runaway IS projects continue to be reported regularly in the trade press, but surprisingly little is known about: (1) how widespread the problem actually is, and (2) the factors that cause it to occur. Many runaway IS projects appear to represent what can be described as escalating commitment to a failing course of action. A survey of Information Systems Audit and Control Association (ISACA) members was undertaken in order to understand more about the prevalence of IS project escalation and the factors that cause it. The results are startling: escalation occurs in 30-40% of IS projects, and projects that escalate are rarely completed and implemented successfully. What is more, escalation appears to be caused by a combination of project management as well as psychological, social and organizational factors
Keywords :
auditing; information systems; professional aspects; project management; software management; escalating commitment; failing course of action; information systems auditing; information systems control professionals; information systems project escalation; organizational factors; project completion; project management; psychological factors; runaway projects; social factors; survey; Companies; Control systems; Costing; Costs; Educational institutions; Information systems; Investments; Management information systems; Project management; Psychology;
Conference_Titel :
System Sciences, 1997, Proceedings of the Thirtieth Hawaii International Conference on
Conference_Location :
Wailea, HI
Print_ISBN :
0-8186-7743-0
DOI :
10.1109/HICSS.1997.661582
