IT Projects: Conflict, Governance, and Systems Thinking

Triggered by several embarrassing (and costly) IT project collapses in New Zealand’s public sector, a government report found that effective project control required good governance measures to be in place. Escalating conflict amongst project stakeholders, particularly where the IT projects are large and complex, is often cited as a major contributor to project problems. Conflict, and its resolution, will be affected by factors that are difficult to control, including culture and politics. In this paper we apply the basic concepts of systems thinking to deliver a holistic research framework, focusing on the project-related conflict resolution process. Key constructs include: input (stakeholder conflict); output (e.g. resolution outcome, satisfaction with outcome); contextual factors (e.g. power, culture); and, most importantly, the control mechanism (governance). This framework was empirically tested using a single case study. Our research found strong support for the model.