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A tentative model for it outsourcing

  • Authors: Muka, Jean‐Paul , Marnewick, Carl
  • Date: 2017
  • Language: English
  • Type: Conference proceedings
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10210/231945 , uj:23643 , Citation: Muka, J.P. & Marnewick, C. 2017. A tentative model for it outsourcing. International Association for Management of Technology IAMOT 2017 Conference Proceedings.
  • Description: Abstract: Outsourcing projects involve many stakeholders, including clients who transfer the operational responsibility of their business processes, and a vendor who accepts that responsibility. IT outsourcing applies when the transferred responsibilities are limited to IT‐related processes. Outsourcing clients seek to leverage on potential efficiency provided by the vendor, whereby the vendor delivers the same intended business results at a cheaper cost. Vendors potentially achieve these efficiencies through better subject matter expertise and economies of scale. Clients outsource processes considered nonstrategic while strategic processes are managed in‐house. Once a client decides to outsource ITrelated processes, the outsourcing strategy takes the form of one or more of five delivery models. This article portrays a proposed model for successful IT outsourcing. This model assists the outsourcing professional in navigating through the various steps of the outsourcing life span with a clearer awareness of likely causes and potential remedies applicable to the outsourcing strategy on any given outsourcing project.
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Achieving strategic benefits from business IT projects : the critical importance of using the business case across the entire project lifetime

Adapting IT management for effective IT strategy leadership

  • Authors: Langa, Mthandeni , Marnewick, Carl
  • Date: 2017
  • Subjects: Information technology - Management , Strategic planning
  • Language: English
  • Type: Conference proceedings
  • Identifier: http://ujcontent.uj.ac.za8080/10210/373894 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/231957 , uj:23644 , Citation: Langa, M. & Marnewick, C. 2017. Adapting IT management for effective IT strategy leadership. International Association for Management of Technology IAMOT 2017 Conference Proceedings.
  • Description: Abstract: This article argues that the lack of consistent information technology (IT) and organisational strategies heightens the proclivity to cancel IT initiatives. Organisational strategy loosely conveys a compounded perspective pertaining to business and organisational strategies. The combination of these strategies logically hinge on efficient enterprise IT integration concepts contextualising conceptual links between their respective architectures to best suit prevailing business and socioeconomic needs. However, an effective socioeconomy demands contextual strategic management of IT, aligned with geopolitical and other factors affecting the nature of IT, to optimise the applied context of principles of governance and management. Strategic management of IT is alleviated by the concept of levels of abstraction inherent in the principle of separation of concerns. Hence the strategic use of the concept in ‘opinion’ formulation within the paradigm of a sociotechnical system design, development and management. Accordingly, optimal business performance demands that business and IT leadership and management develop mechanisms to establish symbiosis between governance and management principles, glued together by an adaptive enterprise‐wide standard architecture. There is therefore a contended need to integrate IT, processes and strategies. This demands that business and IT professionals possess an interdisciplinary and a multidisciplinary set of competencies. The perceived set of competencies supposedly help professionals to effectively navigate the interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary nature of information technology management (ITM). Thus the ensuing sociotechnical system constructs represent the challenge imposed by the journey to purposefully adapt ITM for effective IT strategy leadership for a competitive economic system. The research used an advanced mixed research methodology embedding quantitative methods in a qualitative study...
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Agile as an enabler towards innovation-based organisational transformations

  • Authors: Tshabalala, Mothepane M. , Marnewick, Carl
  • Date: 2021
  • Subjects: Innovation , Strategy , Agile
  • Language: English
  • Type: Article
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10210/488283 , uj:44478 , Citation: Tshabalala, M.M. & Marnewick, C., 2021, ‘Agile as an enabler towards innovation-based organisational transformations’, South African Journal of Information Management 23(1), a1309. https://doi. org/10.4102/sajim. v23i1.1309 , DOI: https://doi. org/10.4102/sajim. v23i1.1309 , ISSN: (Online) 1560-683X, (Print) 2078-1865
  • Description: Abstract : Background: Organisations must respond quickly and consistently to ongoing global shifts. This streak separates remaining competitive from losing market share. Globalisation has accounted for the majority of this transformation, which has been reinforced by rapid digital transformation. Industry experts and researchers are continually studying effective remedies to this worldwide transition as part of their response to this drive. This is required because the world is changing unavoidably, and effective responses to the change should be investigated. Objectives: To study the relationship between Agile and innovation, and how this relationship might facilitate organisations’ reaction to global changes, in response to the battle of how to adapt to global transformations successfully. Method: A systematic literature review analysing 1645 peer-reviewed journals through the use of social network analysis. Results: The terms ‘Agile,’ ‘digital transformation’, ‘design thinking’, ‘agility’, ‘innovation management’, ‘lean’, ‘Industry 4.0’, ‘Agile development’ and ‘digital innovation’ have the strongest links to ‘innovation’. This demonstrates how innovation is reliant on Agile and its characteristics. Furthermore, the computed data clusters from the analysed dataset led to five propositions: (1) Agility sustains innovation strategies (P1). (2) Collaborating Agile methodology with digital innovation leads to competitive advantage (P2). (3) Agile development accelerates or facilitates new business models, such as Industry 4.0 (P3). (4) Design thinking creates value in innovation management or development of new product (P4). Lastly, (5) the concept or theory of lean Agile management (P5). Conclusion: The correlation between Agile and innovation is critical for effective responses to global digital transformations that are ongoing.
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An analysis of the maturity of project management as a discipline

  • Authors: Labuschagne, Les , Marnewick, Carl
  • Date: 2009
  • Subjects: Project management
  • Type: Article
  • Identifier: uj:6197 , ISBN 978-1-920017-43-9 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/5277
  • Description: Project management (PM) is a career that annually attracts many people, despite not providing project managers with the same professional status as a medical doctor or chartered accountant. These disciplines are globally recognised as being mature and professional. The purpose of this article is to investigate and analyse the maturity of the PM discipline. Many organisations invest resources in PM, believing that it can be used to complete all new initiatives successfully. Several surveys have shown that many projects still fail to deliver the expected results. In order to understand the reason for projects still failing, the maturity ofthe discipline needs to be investigated. The article follows a qualitative research approach and uses a literature survey to determine what constitutes a mature discipline. Using the fmdings of this survey, an analysis is done ofPM as a discipline. The result is an objective, independent assessment of the maturity of PM and an indication ofwhether it can be considered a profession. The benefit of this article is that it provides evidence on the maturity ofthe PM discipline. It also highlights the areas that must be focused on, from a PM perspective, to ensure that PM evolves into a more mature and professional discipline.
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An information systems sub-framework for the governance of projects

  • Authors: Erasmus, Wikus , Marnewick, Carl
  • Date: 2021
  • Subjects: Project management , Information systems , Governance
  • Language: English
  • Type: Article
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10210/494817 , uj:44922 , Citation: Erasmus, W. & Marnewick, C. 2021. An information systems sub-framework for the governance of projects.
  • Description: Abstract: Most information systems projects fail. Very little progress hasbeen made to turn the tide. A lack of effective project governance has beensuggested as a major reason for project failure. Through an analysis ofgovernance practices in literature from various project managementstandards, methodologies and guidelines, various project governancepractices are identified. A quantitative approach is followed to obtain datafrom IS project practitioners to descriptively analyse and perform exploratoryfactor analysis. The purpose is to determine what governance practices inthe project lifecycle are considered important and to what extent these areimplemented. The results indicate that here is a fundamental disconnectbetween the perceived importance of governance practices and the extent oftheir implementation. In all cases, project governance practices areimplemented to a lesser extent than the importance attached to them.Underlying structures revealed there are some overlapping factors betweenthe desired state of project governance and current state. These overlapsindicate that certain governance practices be enhanced. Practices currentlyimplemented that are not considered as important are identified to bemaintained. Practices considered to be part of the desired state but that donot form part of the current state are to be prioritised to be implemented.This provides the basis for establishing a framework for the governance of ISprojects.
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An investigation into the governance of information technology projects in South Africa

An IT Governance framework for IS portfolio management

Challenges and success factors of scaled agile adoption : a South African perspective

Conceptual framework for auditing agile projects

  • Authors: Mkoba, Elizabeth , Marnewick, Carl
  • Date: 2020
  • Subjects: Agile project , Agile methods , Project audit
  • Language: English
  • Type: Article
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10210/453439 , uj:40031 , Citation: Mkoba, E. & Marnewick, C. 2020. Conceptual framework for auditing agile projects. , DOI: 10.1109/ACCESS.2020.3007874
  • Description: Abstract: Most organizations use IT projects as vehicles to implement the IT strategy which contributes to achieving organizational strategic objectives and goals. Agile project management has been a potential solution to deliver successful IT projects instead of the traditional waterfall approach. This potential has resulted in organizations adopting agile project management to deliver IT projects on time and realise bene- fits. However, auditors especially those whose experience lies with more traditional and system development life cycle controls are struggling with how to audit agile projects. The problem addressed in this article is lack of an audit framework for auditing agile projects to ensure IT project success. The purpose of this article is to present the proposed conceptual framework for auditing agile projects that are implemented using Scrum methodology. The framework introduces audit processes in each process of the Scrum methodology. The quantitative research method used online survey questionnaire to validate the conceptual framework amongst IT professionals in South Africa. The data were analyzed using SPSS 26.0. The research revealed that there was a significant correlation between the identified audit processes and agile project success. This research emphasizes on the need to take into account auditing agile project from its initiation to closure. This article contributes to the body of knowledge with regard to project auditing. Auditors can use the proposed framework to audit agile projects which are implemented using Scrum methodology to ensure successful completion of IT projects.
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Defensive reactions as potential reasons for IT project management failures

  • Authors: Marnewick, Carl , Roodt, Gerhard (Gert)
  • Date: 2017
  • Language: English
  • Type: Conference proceedings
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10210/242046 , uj:24956 , Citation: Marnewick, C. & Roodt, G. 2017. Defensive reactions as potential reasons for IT project management failures.
  • Description: Abstract: The aim of this paper is to establish how much empirical research is conducted on defensive reasoning or defensive reactions as possible reasons for IT project failure. In order to address this objective a systematic literature review was conducted. Only a few articles were identified that made specific reference to barriers in organisational social structures that prevent organisational learning from taking place. It is argued that defensive mechanisms on an individual level and defensive reasoning on a team or organisational level play a major role in IT project failures mainly because it prevents people from learning from their or other’s mistakes. In order for learning to take place, organisational defense routines should be minimised so that real reasons for project failure can be identified and addressed in an innovative and constructive manner.
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Earn your wings : a novel approach to deployment governance

Ensuring succesful ERP implementations using the vision-to-project framework

  • Authors: Marnewick, Carl
  • Date: 2011-09-15T08:16:55Z
  • Subjects: Enterprise resource planning systems , Management information systems , Business planning , Project management
  • Type: Thesis
  • Identifier: uj:7219 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/3852
  • Description: PhD. (Computer Science) , Enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems are implemented within organisations to enable them to work more efficiently and enhance productivity. They also ensure that different levels of information are available to managers within the organisation for strategic and tactical decision-making. The implementation of ERP systems is often associated with great costs, they are resource intensive and cover the whole organisation. The implementation of ERP systems is perceived as a project that often fails owing to overrun on cost and time. The return on investment (ROI) is also often questioned once an ERP system has been implemented, since the organisation does not always see the benefits of the ERP system versus the effort and cost of implementing it. The purpose of this thesis is twofold: firstly it determines what an ERP system is and whether it can be subdivided into different components. The focus of this section is on the operational side of an ERP system to determine how it is managed and operated within an organisation. The second focus is on the way that ERP systems are implemented and the management that goes hand in hand with this implementation. The first focus area is addressed by developing a model that explains ERP and the different components within it. It describes the interactions between the different components and how the ERP system affects the organisation. This model provides a better understanding of an ERP system and shows the technology to be mature. The second focus area is addressed by a framework that assists organisations in deriving projects from the organisational vision. This ensures that the implementation of an ERP system will directly support the organisation’s vision and strategies. This addresses the issue of determining the value of the ERP system as well as ROI. The framework also provides alternative ways and methods that can be used to implement ERP systems. The value of this research is firstly that it provides a holistic model of what constitutes an ERP system and its effect on the organisation. ERP systems change not only the financial systems, but also the way the organisation operates. They introduce organisational change. The value of the framework is that it can assist organisations in identifying and implementing projects that will enable the implementation of the organisation’s vision and strategies. This will eliminate any favoured projects that are not in support of the organisation’s vision and can save the organisation’s scarce resources that would have been wasted on these projects. The framework can also assist organisations in determining if they must implement an ERP system and what value this implementation will have for the organisation.
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Exploring patterns of sustainability stimuli of project managers

  • Authors: Marnewick, Carl , Silvius, Gilbert , Schipper, Ron
  • Date: 2019
  • Subjects: Sustainability , Stimulus patterns , Project manager
  • Language: English
  • Type: Article
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10210/397872 , uj:33093 , Citation: Marnewick, C., Silvius, G. & Schipper, R. 2019. Exploring patterns of sustainability stimuli of project managers. Sustainability 2019, 11, 5016; doi:10.3390/su11185016
  • Description: Abstract: Sustainable project management is becoming important and the sustainability concepts of people, the planet and profit needs to be incorporated into any type of project. This article focuses on the behavior of the project manager per se and the stimuli patterns that motivate them to adhere to sustainable project management. Three stimuli patterns are used i.e., intrinsically motivated, pragmatic and task driven. To determine which of these patterns influence a project manager, a quantitative pair-wise comparison was used. Twelve statements were used in a pair-wise comparison resulting in a combination of 66 questions. A sample of 101 project managers was analyzed to determine the stimuli patterns. The results indicate that the most prevalent stimulus pattern is the intrinsically motivated pattern with the other two patterns equally important. The results are consistent across gender, age and types of projects as well as industries. It can be concluded that for this study, project managers incorporate sustainability because they feel that it is something they should do. The motivation to consider sustainability is dominated by their behavioral beliefs and the characteristics of the project, or the opinion of others, do not play a large role. This research contributes to the larger body of knowledge with regards to sustainable project management and specifically to the human behavior of project managers. This research addresses the gap that currently exists in current literature where the focus is on the product’s sustainability and sustainable processes.
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Governing IT programmes through the lens of corporate governance

  • Authors: Nyandongo, Kwete , Marnewick, Carl
  • Date: 2014
  • Subjects: IT programme management , IT programme governance , Corporate governance
  • Language: English
  • Type: Conference proceedings
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10210/474476 , uj:42769 , Citation: Nyandongo, K. & Marnewick, C. 2014. Governing IT programmes through the lens of corporate governance.
  • Description: Abstract: Stakeholders invest in organisations, expecting a return on their investment. These organisations, in turn, invest their revenue streams in productivity or in growth strategies leading to, among other things, an increase in information technology (IT) business initiatives. Given that effective management of a single project is no longer sufficient, organisations are leaning more towards a coordinated way of managing their initiatives to deliver benefits which could not be obtained if these initiatives were managed separately. Programme management has been perceived as the strategy implementation vehicle that links the overall strategy of the organisation with the portfolio of projects. While the use of programmes and programme management has grown, their capability to secure the investment of organisations has not been proven. Numerous failure stories with dramatic consequences for the organisation as a whole have been reported. Over the past decade, research conducted on the performance of IT initiatives has revealed that failure to deliver the benefits from most projects and programmes can be traced to inadequate governance mechanisms, thus prompting the need for an effective mechanism of overseeing these investments. Further to this, the recent series of corporate scandals, meltdowns, fraud and other catastrophic events and the consequent publication of relevant legislation and corporate governance standards have forced top management to become more interested in how their organisational IT initiatives are managed. This paper focuses on establishing a mechanism of overseeing investment made in IT programmes from a corporate governance point of view. Two governance frameworks are considered: one from a developed economy (Sarbanes-Oxley - United States of America) and the other from a developing economy (King Report III - South Africa). An exploratory qualitative approach within a cross-sectional design, combined with a comparative design, was adopted. Qualitative content analysis and document analysis were used for both data collection and analysis. Data were collected from secondary sources to deductively extend the governance mechanism to the temporary aspect of IT programmes. Implications for programme governance from the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and King III Report were identified. The outcome of this research is a set of governance mandates that pertain to the temporary aspect of IT programmes. Corporate governance requirements are extended and contextualised to IT programme management. This entails the open, accountable and controlled management of financial and non-financial programme outcomes, which will remain responsive and responsible to the board and key stakeholders.
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Herzberg! Can we trust you in Africa?

  • Authors: Marnewick, Carl
  • Date: 2011-02
  • Subjects: Information technology , Project management , Motivation , Herzberg’s two-factor theory
  • Type: Article
  • Identifier: uj:5824 , ISSN 1993-8233 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/7841
  • Description: Information technology (IT) projects are implemented through individual team members. These projects are fairly long in duration, especially enterprise resource planning projects. The problem that IT project managers face is how to motivate the team members, particularly in an African context where a team consists of various cultures and races. This paper presents results of a quantitative research study in which team members were asked to rank their motivating factors on a scale of 1 to 12 based on Herzberg’s two-factor theory. The reason for using this theory is that, it was found to still be applicable after 50 years of its establishment. The purpose was to determine whether Herzberg’s two-factor theory is applicable in an African context and if so, what unique factors could motivate IT team members in Africa. The research indicates that race, age and gender are not indicators and that there is a general tendency that the motivating factors of Herzberg can be used to motivate team members. The implication is that IT project managers can use Herzberg’s two-factor theory to motivate individual team members. The research also adds to the current body of knowledge that Africans are not motivated by hygiene factors.
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Improving the success rate of business process re-engineering projects : a business process re-engineering framework

  • Authors: Nkomo, Aphelele , Marnewick, Carl
  • Date: 2021
  • Subjects: Business process re-engineering (BPR) , Challenges , Roles
  • Language: English
  • Type: Article
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10210/478544 , uj:43252 , Citation: Nkomo, A. & Marnewick, C., 2021, ‘Improving the success rate of business process re-engineering projects: A business process re-engineering framework’, South African Journal of Information Management 23(1), a1259. https://doi. org/10.4102/sajim.v23i1.1259 , ISSN: (Online) 1560-683X
  • Description: Abstract: Background: Financial institutions in South Africa are implementing business process re-engineering (BPR) on a regular basis because of the fast-changing industry. However, the success of these projects is low because of the lack of clearly defined roles, an unclear definition of what BPR is, the inability to link BPR projects to organisation strategies and the lack of documentation to guide BPR activities. Accordingly, there is a need to define a framework to guide the implementation of BPR projects. Objectives: The researchers embarked on this study in order to define a framework to ensure improvement of BPR in financial institutions. The framework should assist in providing guidelines when conducting BPR activities and will enable plans for BPR projects in terms of knowing which skills and roles to source for these projects. Method: A conceptual BPR framework was developed and BPR experts from financial institutions were then engaged to determine whether the framework would work. The engagements included understanding the challenges faced and how they could be combated, understanding the roles involved and determining if organisations had BPR frameworks in place. This subsequently led to a final framework being consolidated. Results: This study presents the recommended BPR framework that can be used by financial institutions to achieve success in their projects. The framework incorporates project management and change management processes and ensures alignment of BPR activities with the project phases. It also ensures that the activities are clearly stipulated and the roles performing the activities are clearly defined. It considers time management, planning aspects and effective communication within BPR projects. Conclusion: The proposed framework can be used by financial institutions to manage their re-engineering projects. This framework overcomes most of the known challenges and combines two disciplines, that is, project management and business process re-engineering.
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Incorporating sustainability into IT project management in South Africa

  • Authors: Clinning, Grant , Marnewick, Carl
  • Date: 2017
  • Subjects: Sustainability , Project management , IT project management
  • Language: English
  • Type: Article
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10210/238095 , uj:24406 , Citation: Clinning, G. & Marnewick, C. 2017. Incorporating sustainability into IT project management in South Africa. South African Computer Journal 29(1), 1–26. DOI: https://doi.org/10.18489/sacj.v29i1.398. , ISSN: 1015-7999 (Print) , ISSN: 2313-7835 (Online)
  • Description: Abstract: The concept of sustainability is becoming more and more important in the face of dwindling resources and increasing demand. Despite this, there are still many industries and disciplines in which sustainability is not actively addressed. The requirement of meeting current and future needs is not an issue from which IT projects are exempt. Ensuring sustainability requires managing sustainability in all activities. The field of IT and sustainability is one in which literature is appearing, but at a slow pace and this leaves many unanswered questions regarding the state of sustainability in IT projects and the commitment of IT project managers to sustainability. In not knowing what the state of sustainability is, potential shortcomings remain unknown and corrective action cannot be taken. Quantitative research was conducted through the use of a survey in the form of a structured questionnaire. This research was cross-sectional as the focus was to assess the state of sustainability at a single point in time. IT project managers were randomly sampled to get an objective view of how committed they were to sustainability. This research made use of a project management sustainability maturity model to measure the extent to which sustainability is incorporated into IT projects. The findings are that IT project managers are not committed to sustainability. While the economic dimension yielded the best results, they were not ideal, and it is in fact the social and environmental dimensions that require the most attention. This lacking commitment to the social and environmental dimensions is not limited to select aspects within each dimension, as each dimension’s aspects are addressed to a similarly poor extent. This research suggests that sustainability needs to become a focus for IT project managers, but for this to happen, they require the relevant project management sustainability knowledge.
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Infusing African management philosophy into project management

Investing in project management certification : do organisations get their money’s worth?

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