WHY INFORMATION SYSTEM PROJECT POSTMORTEMS FAIL: AN ATTRIBUTION PERSPECTIVE BASED ON A CASE STUDY ANALYSIS

Proceedings of the International Conference on Information Systems, ICIS 2003

Volumn , Issue , 2003, Pages 366-377

  Pan, Gary S C ^a   Flynn, Donal ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF MANCHESTER   (United Kingdom)

Author keywords

attribution error; attribution theory; IS failure; IS project postmortem

Indexed keywords

INFORMATION SYSTEMS; INFORMATION USE;

ATTRIBUTION ERROR; ATTRIBUTION THEORY; CASE STUDY ANALYSIS; DEVELOPMENT TECHNOLOGY; DEVELOPMENT TOOLS; INFORMATION SYSTEM PROJECTS; IS FAILURE; IS PROJECT POSTMORTEM; PROJECT FAILURES; PROJECT POSTMORTEM;

ERRORS;

EID: 85011112704     PISSN: None     EISSN: None     Source Type: Conference Proceeding    
DOI: None     Document Type: Conference Paper

References (38)

1. Abdel-Hamid, T., and Madnick, S. “The Elusive Silver Lining: How We Fail to Learn from Software Development Failures,” Sloan Management Review (32:1), 1990, pp. 39-49.
2. Arnott, S. “An Excellent Idea for Raising Success Rates,” Computing, March 11, 2003, pp. 4-5 (www.computing.co.uk).
3. Bettman, J., and Weitz, B. “Attribution in the Board Room: Causal Reasoning in Corporate Annual Reports,” Administrative Science Quarterly, (28:2), 1983, pp. 165-183.
4. Birk, A., Dingsoyr, T., and Stalhane, T. “Postmortem: Never Leave a Project Without It,” IEEE Software (19:3), May/June 2002, pp. 43-45.
5. Boddie, J. “The Project Postmortem,” Computerworld, December 7, 1987, pp. 77-82.
6. Bowerman, W. “Subjective Competence: The Structure, Process and Function of Self-Referent Causal Attributions,” Journal for the Theory of Social Behaviour (8), 1978, pp. 45-75.
7. Brown, A., and Jones, M. “Doomed to Failure: Narratives of Inevitability and Conspiracy in a Failed IS Project,” Organization Studies (9:1), 1998, pp. 73-88.
8. Collier, B., Demarco, T., and Fearey, P. “A Defined Process for Project Postmortem Review,” IEEE Software (13:4), 1996, pp. 65-71.
9. Drummond, H. “The Politics of Risk: Trials and Tribulations of the Taurus Project,” Journal of Information Technology (11), 1996, pp. 347-357.
10. Ewusi-Mensah, K. “Critical Issues in Abandoned Information Systems Development Projects,” Communications of the ACM (40:9), 1997, pp. 74-80.
11. Ewusi-Mensah, K., and Przasnyski, Z. H. “Learning from Abandoned Information Systems Development Projects,” Journal of Information Technology (10), 1995, pp. 3-14.
12. Heider, F. “Conversation with Fritz Heider,” in New Directions in Attribution Research (1), J. H. Harvey, W. J. Ickes, and R. F. Kidd (eds.), Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc., Hillsdale, NJ, 1976.
13. Heerden, J. “Explaining Misattribution,” New Ideas in Psychology (17), 1999, pp. 67-70.
14. Henry, J., and Martinko, M. “An Attributional Analysis of the Rejection of Information Technology,” Journal of End User Computing, Fall, 1997, pp. 3-17.
15. Hewstone, M. Causal Attribution, Basil Blackwell, Oxford, England, 1989.
16. Hewstone, M. “The ‘Utimate Attribution Error’? A Review of the Literature on Inter-group Causal Attribution,” European Journal of Social Psychology (20), 1990, pp. 311-335.
17. Hughes, C., and Gibson, M. “An Attribution Model of Decision Support Systems (DSS) Usage,” Information and Management (13), 1987, pp. 119-124.
18. Karsten, R. “An Analysis of IS Professional and End User Causal Attributions for User-System Outcomes,” Journal of End User Computing (14:4), 2002, pp. 51-73.
19. Keil, M., and Robey, D. “Turning Runaway Software Projects Around: The De-escalation of Commitment to Failing Courses of Action,” Journal of Management Information Systems, (15:4), 1999, pp. 63-87.
20. Kelley, H., Compeau, D. and Higgins, C. “Attribution Analysis of Computer Self-Efficacy,” in Proceedings of the Fifth Americans Conference of Information Systems, W. D. Haseman and D. L. Nazareth (eds.), Milwaukee, WI, 1999, pp. 782-784.
21. Kelley, H., and Michela, J. “Attribution Theory and Research,” Annual Review of Psychology (31), 1980, pp. 457-501.
22. Kerth, N. Project Retrospectives: A Handbook for Team Reviews, Dorset House Publishing, New York, 2001.
23. Klein, H., and Myers, M. “A Set of Principles for Conducting and Evaluating Interpretive Field Studies in Information Systems,” MIS Quarterly (23:1), 1999, pp. 67-94.
24. Kumar, K. “Post Implementation Evaluation of Computer-Based Information Systems: Current Practices,” Communications of the ACM, February 1990, pp. 203-212.
25. Lyytinen, K., and Robey, D. “Learning Failure in Information Systems Development,” Information Systems Journal (9:2), 1999, pp. 85-101.
26. Magal, S., and Snead, K. “The Role of Causal Attributions in Explaining the Link Between User Participation and Information System Success,” Information Resources Management Journal, Summer 1993, pp. 8-19.
27. Orlikowski, W. J., and Baroudi, J. “Studying Information Technology in Organizations: Research Approaches and Assumptions,” Information Systems Research (2:1), 1991, pp. 1-28.
28. Patton, M. Qualitative Evaluation and Research Methods, Sage Publications, Newbury Park, CA, 1987.
29. Peterson, D., Kim, C., Kim, J. H., and Tamura, T. “The Perceptions of Information Systems Designers from the United States, Japan, and Korea on Success and Failure Factors,” International Journal of Information Management (22), 2002, pp. 421-439.
30. Sauer, C. Why Information Systems Fail: A Case Study Approach, Alfred Waller, Oxfordshire, England, 1993.
31. Staw, B. M., and Ross, J. “Commitment to a Policy Decision: A Multi-Theoretical Perspective,” Administrative Science Quarterly (23:1), March 1978, pp. 40-64.
32. Urban, M., and Witt, A. “Self-Serving Bias in Group Member Attributions of Success and Failure,” The Journal of Social Psychology (130:3), 1990, pp. 417-419.
33. Walsham, G. “The Emergence of Interpretivism in IS Research,” Information Systems Research (6:4), 1995a, pp. 376-394.
34. Walsham, G. “Interpretive Case Studies in IS Research: Nature and Method,” European Journal of Information Systems (4), 1995b, pp. 74-81.
35. Wastell, D. “Learning Dysfunctions in Information Systems Development: Overcoming the Social Defenses with Transitional Objects,” MIS Quarterly (23:4), 1999, pp. 581-600.
36. Weber, J. “The Nature of Ethnocentric Attribution Bias: In-Group Protection or Enhancement,” Journal of Experimental Social Psychology (30), 1994, pp. 482-504.
37. Weiner, B. “Attribution Theory in Organizational Behaviour: A Relationship of Mutual Benefit,” in Attribution Theory: An Organizational Perspective, M. J. Martinko (ed.), St. Lucie Press, Delray Beach, FL, 1995.
38. nd ed.), Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks, CA, 1994.