08-07-2014, 02:47 PM
Ten Concepts for an eBusiness Collaborative Project Management Framework
Ten Concepts for an eBusiness.pdf (Size: 241.86 KB / Downloads: 46)
Abstract
Theory and frameworks that apply to ebusiness projects undertaken within a single
authority are inadequate when organizations need to collaborate. Collaboration
demands additional management effort. Project management needs to coordinate the
three levels of participating organizations, virtual teams and representatives. Three
project lifecycle management functions, which relate to collaboration formation,
initiative development, and the take-up and implementation of ebusiness, create extra
management challenges. Project management needs to focus on four “meta factors”
derived from the critical success factors used by practitioners and identified by
researchers. These “meta factors” are motivation, capability, communication and
coordination. This summary paper proposes that these ten concepts (three levels, three
lifecycle management functions and four “meta” factors) need to be addressed in a
theoretical framework capable of supporting effective management of ebusiness
collaborative projects, providing an understanding of outcomes and reducing failure
Introduction
Awareness of the strategic benefits of information and communication technology (ICT)
across multiple organizations, industries and national borders is spreading. As a result
increasing numbers of ebusiness1 projects are initiated as “collaborative projects”.
eBusiness has strategic importance to government and business internationally. eBusiness
is considered so important it is measured by national statistics organizations using
standard indicators developed by the OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and
Development) (de Graaf & Muurling, 2003; OECD, 2001). Provided ebusiness
implementation is successful, benefits include increased international competitiveness,
reduced costs, improved profitability, and enhanced quality of service. Additional
Definitions
An ebusiness collaborative project is “a project undertaken by a group of independent
organizations, with no single authority, that have made a commitment (whether formally
or informally, and with or without equity sharing) to work together to develop and
implement an ebusiness initiative in order to achieve mutually agreed outcomes”
(Cameron, 2004; Cameron & Clarke, 1996). With current ICT this normally implies use
of the internet or some other electronic network (eg Virtual Private Network).
"Collaboration is an interactive, constructive, and knowledge-based process, involving
multiple autonomous and voluntary participants employing complementary skills and
assets, with a collective objective of achieving an outcome beyond what the participants'
capacity and willingness would allow them individually to accomplish" (Hartono &
Holsapple, 2004). Collaboration is a process that goes on within an ebusiness project.
Although many of the characteristics mirror those of other business collaborations,
ebusiness collaborative projects differ because of the project management context. The
collaborating participants aim to develop ebusiness initiatives and implement complex
ICT across trading and value chains, comprising diverse organizations, within a given
timeframe. This goal imposes specific management challenges not associated with other
types of collaboration. If systems are integrated and processing is automated, business
operations and practice are transformed (Cameron, 1993; Clarke, 1994b; Hirst &
Robertson, 1997). A typical ebusiness collaborative project involves developing and
implementing industry wide standards for electronic messages for use throughout and
across trading chains.
All ebusiness projects are “boundary spanning” (Emmelhainz, 1990; Kinni, 1994) but
many are undertaken within a single organization (eg business to consumer
implementations involving web-based transaction processing). Some ebusiness projects
are based on compliance and not collaboration. Organizations may participate because of
regulatory and buyer-supplier relationships. In collaborative projects each participating
organization is a volunteer and normally a separate legal entity. Independence and
authority is not relinquished.
eBusiness projects differ from other ICT projects because they include integrating diverse
data, IT systems, architectures, protocols and standards across disparate organizations.
The ICT used for ebusiness is an add-on to existing technology (Lyytinen & Damsgaard,
2001). Organizations are required to interface their internal ICT systems and interoperate
with partners via communications infrastructures that often include the internet. The
nature of the ICT involved means that ebusiness cannot be implemented without
cooperative effort
The Business Problem
The problem with all ebusiness projects is the high failure rate. Comparable statistics are
not available, but industry sources estimate the failure rate of ebusiness projects to be as
high as 80% of all projects initiated. The failure rate for ebusiness collaborative projects
in Australia is thought by practitioners (interviewed in 2004) to be as high as 90% of all
projects initiated (Cameron, 2004). eBusiness project failure is frequently caused by
inadequate project management processes and lack of essential project management skills
(Fear & Barnett, 2003; NOIE, 2002).
Australian practitioners report that currently formal project methods are often not used for
collaborative projects because they are considered inappropriate for use by multiple
organizations when there is no single authority. In many formal methods the amount and
type of documentation required is not practical for use by all participants (eg small
business). Larger participants may already use a variety of methods. Assumptions
incorporated into the processes (eg “sign offs” required at the completion of activities) are
not valid for collaborative projects. Some ebusiness collaborative projects are “managed”
on an “ad hoc” basis (Cameron, 2004). Only 31% of the 67 Australian Information
Technology onLine (ITOL) funded projects studied, had established clear written
agreements delineating roles and responsibility, and 17% did not document processes
even though they were required to report to government (McGrath & More, 2002).
Characteristics of eBusiness Collaborative Projects
eBusiness collaborative projects combine the complexity associated with other forms of
collaboration with the challenges of ebusiness projects. In addition, the project lifecycle
differs from that of other ICT and ebusiness projects because of the need to initiate and
establish the collaboration and then maintain it throughout the development phases of the
project until the take up and implementation across the trading and/or value chain is
complete.
Critical Success Factors
CSFs are activities, processes and behaviours that need to be addressed by project
management in order to achieve successful project outcomes (Esichaikul & Chavananon,
2001). The author therefore reviewed the CSFs reported in the literature in order to
identify concepts that need to be addressed to manage collaborative ebusiness projects
successfully. It is acknowledged that the list of CSFs may not be complete.
The majority of CSFs identified in Step 3 relate to participants (Allen et al., 2000;
Cameron, 1996; Cameron & Jeacle, 1995; Clarke, 1994a, 1994b, 1997; Emmelhainz,
1990; Esichaikul & Chavananon, 2001; Fear & Barnett, 2003; Gossain, 2002; Gregor &
Elliot, 2002; Gregor & Menzies, 2000; McGann & Lyytinen, 2002; McGrath & More,
2002; NOIE, 2002; Schware & Kimberley, 1995; Shiels et al., 2003; SuperEC, 2000-3;
van der Heijden, 2000). At the participant level the CSFs, discipline (eg business) and
the meta factor to which they related, are:
Conclusions
Inadequate project management processes and lack of essential project management skills
are one cause of the high failure rate of ebusiness collaborative projects. Collaboration
management issues are not well understood within the ebusiness project context. The
collaboration process requires additional research aimed at providing guidance for
management and helping to reduce failure.
The literature search, case study investigation, and review of “best practice” have
identified ten concepts (three levels, three lifecycle management functions and four
“meta” factors) that need to be addressed in a theoretical framework for managing
ebusiness collaborative projects. The author used the ten concepts to assess the
completeness of the theories and frameworks applied to ebusiness collaborative projects.
The resulting gap analysis provides focus for researchers and indicates additional
opportunities for research.
Identification of the characteristics of ebusiness collaborative projects provides
practitioners and researchers with new insight into why the additional management
complexity of ebusiness collaborative projects occurs. In addition to managing the
challenges arising from the lack of single authority, the boundary spanning environment
of ebusiness projects and the voluntary nature of participation, project management needs
to coordinate the three levels comprising participating organizations, virtual teams and
representatives and their complex interactions. The impacts of these characteristics on the
project (eg on decision-making) identified in this research have important implications for
practitioners who need to ensure appropriate management processes are adopted. For
researchers the findings imply the levels of participant, team and representative all need
to be considered.
The “eBusiness Collaborative Project Lifecycle TM ” developed by the author reveals a
distinctive lifecycle. The description of this lifecycle contributes to practitioner and
researcher understanding of how and why the management functions, which relate to
collaboration formation, initiative development, and the take-up and implementation of
ebusiness across a trading or value chain, vary in emphasis throughout the project. There
is a need to focus on managing the collaboration as well as on the project activities.
The author’s distillation of four meta factors (motivation, capability, communication and
coordination or MC3) from the numerous critical success factors used by practitioners and
identified by research advances practice. Project management can use these meta factors
to monitor project “health” throughout the ebusiness collaborative project lifecycle. They
provide practical guidance to practitioners seeking to avoid failure.
And finally, the ten concepts enabled the author to conclude that, with the addition of
theory from other disciplines identified in subsequent research, aspects of existing theory
and frameworks can be utilised to develop a theoretical framework capable of supporting
effective management and providing an understanding of the outcomes of ebusiness
collaborative projects.