Derek Smith

• Retired Professor
• Retired at University of Cape Town

Post-Project Reviews are highly rated as a process to evaluate project outcomes and to leverage learning. Nevertheless they have remained the least-developed area of project management although the incidence of failed projects remains persistently high. The purpose of this research was to determine factors which affect the slow uptake and often ine...

Managing Information Technology (IT) staff to maximize productivity requires them to be motivated. The South African government has a poor reputation with regards to IT performance, and there is increasing pressure and criticism from the public to improve service delivery. The South African government is currently increasing its investment in IT wi...

Home-based work, also referred to as distance work, virtual work or Telework, is enabled by information and communication technologies, and has been in existence for over 35 years. Even with significant technological improvements, telework has not achieved widespread adoption. Of the many aspects of telework investigated, few studies have examined...

Enabled by information and communication technologies, telework has been in existence for over 35 years and even with significant technological improvements, telework has not achieved widespread adoption. Of the many aspects of telework investigated, few studies have examined the effect of organisational features which can affect telework success....

There is an ongoing need for IT professionals to be highly productive. A substantial body-of-knowledge already exists covering both motivation and turnover of IT professionals. Despite this, the quality and delivery of IT products and services remains an IT management problem. This reflection paper identifies the positive psychology field, and spec...

Telework has many potential benefits for society, individuals and organisations. In the IT industry, there are many opportunities for effective telework adoption. Research on teleworking in South Africa is sparse and little information on telework adoption is available. This research focused on the organisational factors affecting telework such as...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to determine how the soft competencies of an information technology (IT) project manager, specifically optimism and stress, can affect project success. Design/methodology/approach – The research was exploratory. Experienced IT project managers were requested to relate a “structured” story regarding a signific...

Purpose The paper aims to paper an overview of a completed doctoral thesis which pursued the development of underlying theory (ontology) to give coherence to research in the information systems (IS) project management space. Design/methodology/approach As a result of the considerable concern about a lack of underlying theory in project management...

The development of the required knowledge, skills and abilities for a project manager requires considerable effort. The number and variety of academic and professional project management training courses has increased dramatically in recent times. Varying in structure, purpose and content, many of these courses are also very costly. The effectivene...

This research examines the level of stress experienced by IT project managers and determines the types of coping strategies used to handle their stress. Sixty-four South African IT project managers completed an online questionnaire. The findings indicate that IT project managers are highly stressed and tend to utilize maladaptive coping strategies...

This research attempts to identify how Agile systems development methodologies like SCRUM are affected by three behavioural issues-student syndrome, team member stress and organisational slack. The student syndrome applies when humans start tasks as late as possible and waste safety margins thus increasing time pressure and stress levels. Stres...

Managing project team members involved in information systems projects is complex. Current practice in many organizations is to use resource managers in a project office to allocate staff to multiple projects until they are at full capacity. These staff then move from project to project as priorities and problems demand. Inevitably they only work o...

The more complex the project, the higher the need for the project manager to embrace leadership characteristics, especially soft skills. An evaluation of the book "My Pride of Lions" by Fran Cotton, the manager of the successful British Lions tour to south Africa in 1997, identified successful leadership in action. The leadership qualities should b...

Business Intelligence (BI) remains one of the top priority issues for CIOs and investment in BI technologies continues to grow. This research attempted to understand how an organization can realize the business value derived from their investment in BI. A single, in-depth case study was undertaken in a major South African financial services organiz...

This study evaluates the use of benefits realisation management (BRM) in information technology (IT) projects. Past research concludes that realising the tangible and intangible benefits from IT projects is not easy and is often not carried out at all. Fifty-four IT project managers in South Africa successfully completed an online questionnaire. An...

This research looks at levels of EQ of IS project managers compared to their leadership style. Forty-six IS project managers completed the GEIS questionnaire and the T-P Leadership questionnaire. Whilst EQ levels were consistently higher than the general population, no correlation could be found between EQ and leadership for this small sample. It w...

As project budgets increase, it becomes more important to measure the effectiveness of the IT products produced. The use of benefits realisation management (BRM) is a popular approach. Twenty five IT project managers were interviewed to determine their knowledge level of BRM and the issues faced in this area.Whilst the understanding of BRM existed,...

This paper reports on an analysis of risk factors relevant to South African software projects. Seven of the most widely cited studies in the research literature regarding software project risk were evaluated along with a detailed examination of the 53 risk factors developed by Schmidt, Lyytinen, Keil Cule (2001). Forty completed questionnaires, sub...

This research attempted to identify the the characteristics of a Master project manager. Using a story-telling approach, ten highly experienced were asked to relate an exceptional project experience. The stories were captured an analysed using thematic analysis. Results included a strong focus on communications, courage, team leadership, authority...

This study investigates Information Systems (IS) personnel turnover in South Africa. The results indicate that there is significant positive correlation between job satisfaction, career satisfaction and organisational commitment, whereby individuals experiencing job satisfaction are more likely to be committed to their organisation and experience c...

This report initiates research to identify issues facing academics in teaching the millennial student. Current teaching strategies, especially the formal lecture will be contrasted to the learning styles of the students. A better understanding of how these net generation students learn is required. Using a combination of traditional and new technol...

This paper analyses the risk factors relevant to South African software projects. Findings included the fact that project managers of varying experience perceive a different set of important risks.In addition, hard risks were not perceived as more important than soft risks (people related). Lack of top management commitment was the highest risk.

Increasing emphasis is being placed on reducing overall IT costs and timeframes for delivery. In order to achieve this and remain competitive, Chief Information Officers are faced with many issues, one of which is the need to ensure that their staff are highly productive and motivated [2][31]. It is therefore important to understand the management...

This paper discusses peer assessment as a component of the assessment strategy used for Information Systems student group projects at a South African university. The value of peer assessment and the contribution to the real-life experience offered by group projects, will be discussed. It will also illustrate how this process adds value by enhancing...

According to the CHAOS Chronicles definition from the Standish Group (1994, 1999), only one-third of information technology (IT) projects are successful. This research argues that it is the behavioral, organizational, and management issues-stakeholder management, in particular-that require urgent attention to improve this situation. This report exa...

The systems development project in a 4th year Information Systems degree is a capstone course bringing together hard- and soft- skills and closely emulating professional practice. Carrying out a fair assessment of the final products for each project are important. Part of this assessment is to determine the made by each team member. This qualitati...

The paper identifies the work breakdown structure (WBS) as a technique that can be used not only to identify, estimate and schedule work activities but also to manage and motivate the project team members to ensure high levels of motivation and performance. The author discusses previous research into the motivation of IS professionals and links it...

Past literature relating to personality and Information systems (IS) projects has focussed on individuals (Kaiser & Bostrom, 1982). This study evaluates the impact of personality characteristics on the effectiveness of IS teams. A target sample of 3rd year IS students were evaluated in terms of their personality/temperament and the results of their...

This research focuses on existing project management structured methods and practices for improving the design, implementation and success of projects, with a view to uncovering methodologies suited to address the particular needs and problems of IT project management. After identifying the Balanced Scorecard as a possible methodology, the research...

While a great deal of information regarding the development of information systems exists, little is known about the personalities of systems developers. This paper considers the Systems Development Life Cycle and the problems related to the development of information systems, in relation to the personality types of the systems developers. The resu...

The numbers of Information Systems (IS) graduates has increased dramatically in the last decade. This is due to several reasons including the business need for increased numbers of staff with business analysis and systems analysis skills. The Information Systems academic discipline has also matured in recent years as evidenced by the increasing num...

Team effectiveness and team efficiency are important factors for project success. Seventeen factors were derived from the literature. These were used to compile a questionnaire. The sample was 232 individuals in the IS industry. Effective teams were better at feedback and learning and had more fun. Poor performing teams lack team identity as well a...

The study relates to IS team effectiveness in relation to team diversity. The research unlisted Belbin’s Team Role Theory. Twelve student project teams completed 2 Belbin questionnaires and a third questionnare based on the Francis and Young model (for overall team performance). The analysis identified a strong relationship between team role divers...

This research examines the interrelationship between Information Systems professionals working in project teams and the goal ambiguity, process ambiguity and job satisfaction they experience. This study highlights any differences between professionals involved on single projects and those involved on multiple projects concurrently. The aim of this...

Projects, and their success, are vital if organisations are to produce new products and services. The key players in LS. projects are the project manager and the project team. This paper discussed ongoing research of two projects - one that attempts to identify the key characteristics of the I.S. project manager and the other which researches the a...

When companies downsize or outsource, the organisational restructuring can have serious effects on its employees motivation and productivity. This research focuses on the “survivors” of such an exercise - specifically the Information Systems staff - and identifies changes to their occupational stress levels and their levels of organisational commit...

This article describes the need for an increased emphasis for change management and how it affects the information systems (IS) practitioner. Computer-based systems have become highly integrated into everyday business activities and the successful implementation of new information technology will depend upon not only the technical strength of the i...

As changes in Information Technology and organisations move into the sophisticated areas of client/server computing and open, integrated architectures, the IS professional needs to develop an increasing range of skills and abilities to produce the required systems. By synthesising the results of local research and identifying important issues from...

The IT industry had changed dramatically since 1995. This research article was presented as a statement of my perceptions in 1995 after being involved in the AIS sub-committees on IT curricula. My Abstract at that stage was: "The recent acceptance of South Africa as a world player and the government's reconstruction and development programme (RDP)...

Student edition from 2001 available for free Download at http://www.inspired.org/resources/MITP.pdf

Managing the careers of information systems (IS) personnel is important to the strategic use of information in business. Finding appropriate mechanisms for motivating IS personnel will likely re-emerge as a critical success factor for IS managers. This study examines dimensions and levels of career orientations and their correlations with individua...

In 1995, I was involved with the AIS committees to publish a new IS curriculum. This article was my reaction to that situation published in the South African Computer Journal (18) 1996. http://uir.unisa.ac.za/bitstream/handle/10500/24222/1996_SACJ_18_Smith.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

Managing the careers of information systems (IS) personnel is important to the strategic use of information in business. Finding appropriate mechanisms for motivating IS personnel will likely re-emerge as a critical success factor for IS managers. This study examines dimensions and levels of career orientations and their correlations with indivi...

The recent acceptance of South Africa as a world player and the government of national unity’s reconstruction and development programme (RDP) have created new challenges and opportunities for business and universities. The Information Systems (IS) environment continues to change rapidly and degree curricula must be carefully planned to cater for fu...

The study examines the determinants of intention to stay with their organization among 112 IS employees in South Africa. Results show that job satisfaction is the most important factor. Organizational commitment also played a very important role in affecting a person's decision. Indeed, the impact of job characteristics operates through these two v...

This paper assesses the career orientations of 112 IS employees in South Africa and their relationship with selected demographic variables and career variables. The data show that the highest scores were for service, job security and geographical security. The lowest scores were obtained for technical and entrepreneurship. Certain correlations were...

This research identifies the skills of a recent IS graduate compared to the skills required by industry. A sample of 33 IS professionals and 15 IS academics completed a questionnaire covering practical skill levels and theoretical knowledge levels. Results show that there are significant differences between the samples in hardware skills and inter-...

Motivation and productivity of IS professionals. A very large sample of 2740 was analysed and compared to American counterparts. South Africans compare favourably.

This research project identified the individual growth needs and job attitudes of South African IS professionals. The JDS instrument was used on a sample of 2740 IS professionals. The results show that South Africans compare favourably with their American counterparts and have a high need for growth and achievement coupled with a job that satisfies...

Staff shortages in IT industry are a continuing problem. Job turnover of IS staff contributes to this shortage and is particularly high in South Africa. This high turnover is often attributed to inadequate remuneration. This study investigated the reasons why systems analysts leave their jobs. The sample considered career growth and job content mor...

The last decade has witnessed a significant growth in the use of information technology and information systems. This new industry now employs a variety of personnel from many academic and commercial backgrounds, and is still grappling with the problems of standards, professionalism and performance. The majority of I. S. personnel have followed a t...

This paper reports on a new community outreach programme which was started in the Department of Information Systems in 2004. Apart from the team-based systems development projects and the empirical research projects which take place in the community at large, all full-time IS Honours students are required to engage in a community project of their c...