IS development activities and methodologies in practice: A survey of the IT sector in China

This paper focuses on activities and methodologies for information systems (IS) development projects in China. It examines key issues affecting IS development activities and investigates possible differences in practices and experiences that may result from the adoption of formal development methodologies. A survey of 73 senior information technology (IT) professionals helped identify the lack of rigorous testing, the shortage of programming skills and the problematic elicitation of system requirements as the top three issues facing IS development projects. Findings show also that formal development methodologies can affect the percentage of time allocated to each IS development activity and can improve the level of success of such projects. The implications for research and practice are discussed.