Recognizing and Managing Innovation Points in Large IT Projects

Authors

Wilfred W. Wu, Washington State UniversityFollow
Greg Rose, Washington State UniversityFollow
Kalle Lyytinen, Case Western Reserve UniversityFollow

Abstract

In this article, we identify extensions to traditional project management methods that have been successfully used for large, radically innovative IT projects - projects that include points that deviate significantly from those encountered in previous projects. We term these as "innovation points".We found that project managers from eight different firms who had each managed such a project had independently converged on a common set of solutions to problems that occur in managing innovation points, solutions that are not addressed by traditional project management practices. In each of the eight cases, highly regarded IT project managers applied the traditional, managed life-cycle, stage-gate approach embodied in the Project Management Institute's methodologies. In each case, these presumed best practices were found to be inadequate and were extended to create a new dual-process approach. After describing this dual-process approach and providing additional field evidence that it can be widely applied to large, complex IT projects, we provide guidelines for adopting it.

Recommended Citation

Wu, Wilfred W.; Rose, Greg; and Lyytinen, Kalle (2011) "Recognizing and Managing Innovation Points in Large IT Projects," MIS Quarterly Executive: Vol. 10: Iss. 3, Article 3.
Available at: https://aisel.aisnet.org/misqe/vol10/iss3/3