Why Information Systems Projects are Abandoned: A Leadership and Communication Theory and Exploratory Study

Abstract

It is estimated that about one third of all information systems (IS) development projects are abandoned before completion. The resulting financial damage in the United States alone is about $100 billion annually. Numerous articles in trade journals, and some in academic journals, have pointed at many different reasons for project failures. Data regarding reasons for IS project abandonment were collected from a sample of chief information officers and their immediate subordinates, all of whom have several years of IS development experience and have experienced at least one abandoned project. Results of factor analysis of a 30-item list of reasons for IS project failures produced five major factors: lack of corporate leadership, poorly communicated goals/deliverables, inadequate skills and means, poor project management, and deviation from timetable/budget. We then proposed a model of the underlying relationships among these factors based on the leadership and communications literature. Results of partial least squares data analysis method provided some support for a model of the underlying relationships among these factors. Implications for research and practice are discussed.

• IS project failures
• project management
• leadership
• communication