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The purpose of this paper is to investigate the success rate of information system development by means of an empirical research with a focus on how various user factors. The authors examined user reactions, interactions and participation during the early, middle and late stages of an ISD project to analyze the effect of user involvement. Once the data were collected, they analyzed the effectiveness of each kind of user involvement by tying the user involvement to the final result of the corresponding project.

This empirical research is to study 35 information system development projects, whose sample size is determined to maintain statistical confidence as well as the intensity of each interview.

The authors have obtained some interesting findings as follows: user involvement itself does not improve the chance of success for an IS project; user expectations could profoundly impact the success rate of IS projects – clear user expectations in early stages significantly improve the chance of success and user expectations in late stages through user involvement do not obviously improve the chance of success; user attitude toward an IS project is much more important than user involvement; user attitude is largely influenced by effective communications from the management; corporate training and labor practices do not have significant impact on project success rate, nor does user competency; the success rate of IS projects is more relevant to decision-making approaches than to individual project management – a bottom-up approach, a transparent decision-making protocol, a positive attitude toward new ideas, a supportive corporate culture, etc.; and finally, the overall corporate culture is the single most important critical success factor for an ISD, including the overall performance of the company and the top-level management support.

Through an empirical study, this research has examined user factors of ISD in general and analyzed the efficacy of user involvement in different stages of ISD in particular. While other research results emphasize more on user involvement, the findings from this research reveal indicate that user involvement does not always effectively benefit ISD, but their involvement in the early stages of the ISD does. Furthermore, our findings indicate that effective user involvement can be achieved through psychological involvement via adequate communications rather than through participatory involvement.

The managerial implications entailed to this research should help refocus our attention on project management and could result in more effective improvement on the success rate of an ISD.

Through an empirical study, this research has examined user factors of ISD in general and analyzed the efficacy of user involvement in different stages of ISD in particular. While other research results emphasize more on user involvement, the findings from this research reveal indicate that user involvement does not always effectively benefit ISD, but their involvement in the early stages of the ISD does. Furthermore, our findings indicate that effective user involvement can be achieved through psychological involvement via adequate communications rather than through participatory involvement.

The purpose of this study is to examine tacit knowledge sharing within information systems development (ISD) projects by exploring the combination of social interdependence theory and regulatory focus theory (RFT).

A survey was conducted on 198 ISD professionals to investigate the effect of social interdependence on tacit knowledge sharing. The survey data were analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM), and the results were discussed.

This study reveals that team members tend to share tacit knowledge in a way characterized by cooperative interdependence, and different patterns of social interdependence have an impact on tacit knowledge sharing. The RFT explains the disparities in attitude toward tacit knowledge sharing. Specifically, individuals with a prevention-focused orientation positively moderate the impact of competitive interdependence on tacit knowledge sharing, while those with a promotion-focused orientation have a negative moderating effect on the effect of competitive interdependence on tacit knowledge sharing. Moreover, promotion-focused individuals negatively moderate the effect of cooperative interdependence on tacit knowledge sharing.

The study identifies important aspects of social interdependence in ISD projects that affect the management of tacit knowledge. Furthermore, the study shows that the influence of cooperative and competitive interdependence on tacit knowledge sharing is moderated by the regulatory focus of an individual, providing new insights into ISD knowledge management.

Contemporary offshore information system development (ISD) outsourcing is becoming even more complex. Outsourcing partner has begun “re-outsourcing” components of their projects to other outsourcing companies to minimize cost and gain efficiencies. This paper aims to explore intra-organizational information asymmetry of re-outsourced offshore ISD outsourcing projects.

An online survey was conducted to get an overall view of information asymmetry between principal and agents (as per the agency theory).

Statistical analysis showed that there are significant differences between the principal and agent on clarity of requirements, common domain knowledge and communication effectiveness constructs, implying an unbalanced relationship between the parties. Moreover, the authors' results showed that these three are significant measurement constructs of information asymmetry.

In this study the authors have only considered three main factors as common domain knowledge, clarity of requirements and communication effectiveness as three measurement constructs of information asymmetry. Therefore, researches are encouraged to test the proposed constructs further to increase its precision.

The authors' analysis indicates significant differences in all three measurement constructs, implying the difficulties to ensure that the agent is performing according to the requirements of the principal. Using the agency theory as theoretical view, this study sheds light on the best contract governing methods which minimize information asymmetry between the multiple partners within ISD outsourcing organizations.

Currently, to the best of the authors' knowledge, no study has undertaken research on intra-organizational information asymmetry in re-outsourced offshore ISD outsourcing projects.

The purpose of this paper is to elucidate the factors influencing creativity in information system development (ISD). Specifically, this paper compares two groups, students and practitioners, in order to identify salient factors influencing creativity in this field.

An empirical study was conducted through two online surveys in Taiwan. The subjects were university students (n=220) and practitioners (n=187) who had ISD project experiences. Data were collected via an online survey and analyzed using partial least squares (PLS) structural equation modeling. The authors present state-of-the-art PLS path modeling, including heterotrait-monotrait, standardized root mean square residual, second-order identification, and partial least squares multigroup analysis (PLS-MGA).

Both the student and practitioner results showed that the most salient factor influencing creative behavior was use of creativity technologies. In addition, cognitive style, recognition, and database programming had a significant positive effect on creative behavior for the students but not for the practitioners. The PLS-MGA results indicated that differences in creative behavior between the students and practitioners need to be considered.

There are two main limitations. The first one is its design. This study was cross-sectional and there is a likelihood of common source bias due to self-reported data. In the future, researchers can use brain-imaging tools (e.g. functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)) or eye tracking measurement to reduce self-reporting bias in creative behavior research. The second limitation is related to the sample. The subjects were university students and practitioners who had ISD project experiences; however, the heterogeneity of the investigated individuals (e.g. background, ability or experience) in university or industry may limit the power and generalizability of this study. Future studies may take same samples into consideration.

No previous study has investigated factors influencing the creativity of information system (IS) students and practitioners by using a decomposed and second-order research model. Thus, this paper, based on Amabile’s creativity theory, attempts to elucidate the factors influencing IS students’ and practitioners’ creativity.

The purpose of this paper is to report on a co-design process that was initiated between government and the private sector in Botswana to redesign current ISD practice with particular focus on finding a solution for learning failure. Learning failure was analysed retrospectively using concepts of “task conscious” and “learning conscious” learning.

On the basis of a typical Botswana ISD project in which the lead researcher participated, inefficiencies and shortcomings in the standardised Botswana ISD process in terms of full utilisation of learning processes to support systems success were examined. Through the Developmental Work Research (DWR) methodology, which is based on Cultural-Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) principles, IS practitioners from government and the private sector, together with users collaborated to redesign the current Botswana ISD work practice in order to address this shortcoming.

The result has been the incorporation of activity-based learning and reflection into a proposed improved ISD practice framework for Botswana.

Through collaborative redesign between government and industry, a new Botswana ISD practice model that incorporates activity-based learning and reflection has been designed, and findings from examination of the model suggest that it has potential to address current learning deficiencies and thus contribute to efforts of avoiding IS failures. There have also been contributions to DWR resulting from the way in which the methodology was applied.

This is the first known study that uses concepts of “task-conscious” and “learning-conscious” learning to analyse learning retrospectively and at the same time adopting the DWR methodology in the social context of a developing country such as Botswana.

Extant literature on design theory has little empirical evidence about how work characteristics affect team interaction processes. This paper examines the knowledge-sharing process in information systems development (ISD) projects.

Task interdependence from work design theory was used as an antecedent of knowledge sharing for collaboration for the empirical analysis. Data were collected from 203 ISD project teams in South Korea to examine team social capital and knowledge sharing among team members.

The results indicate that task interdependence has a statistically significant impact on the knowledge-sharing process. The mediating roles of social capital and knowledge sharing are critical. Additionally, the effects of social capital change over time as long-term projects have different mechanisms than short-term ones.

The paper introduces a novel perspective (i.e. the adoption of task interdependence from work design theory) and integrates it with the research constructs that play important roles in ISD projects: knowledge sharing and teams’ social capital. In an ISD project team, which represents knowledge-intensive collaboration and has heterogeneous team characteristics, task interdependence has a positive impact on the team as predicted by work design theory. It verifies the mediating effect of social capital, particularly the changing influence of social capital with time.

The focus of this paper is on knowledge transfer. The purpose is to investigate intra‐project knowledge‐transfer practice in information systems development (ISD) firms applying a Scrum methodology.

Case study of ISD projects and empirical data obtained using in‐depth interviews following a semi‐structured approach were employed.

One of the main findings showed that Scrum team members believed in the usefulness of knowledge transfer. The study observed extensive personal exchange of knowledge through, for example, meetings and networks, including dialog with the client. The mechanisms observed in creating knowledge transfer were: lean and dynamic documentation, cross‐functional teams, client consultation and feedback, intra‐project meetings, application of project tools and techniques, and management of changes.

Future research should investigate other organizations and countries, so that these findings may be generalized.

The study observed extensive personal exchange of knowledge which can be described as people track of knowledge management. This observation coincides with the view that information systems and tools only play a subordinate role in knowledge management widely held by many contributors to the people track of knowledge management. Others argue that the dominance of tacit knowledge in projects is a key challenge. This involves a particular concern for organizational culture and leadership style and has implications for how a project should be structured and managed.

Knowledge transfer in ISD projects is studied in this research paper.

The paper seeks to investigate the effects of psychological contract on control mechanisms in outsourced ISD projects, based on control theories and psychological contract theories.

The paper is a multiple case study involving five outsourced projects completed by one of the largest and most successful telecommunication vendors in China. The company was the client in three of the projects and the vendor in the other two.

Based on first‐hand observations by the first author over a two‐year period and follow‐up interviews, four scenarios of match and mismatch of psychological contract between the client and vendor are identified, labeled as mutual transaction, client vulnerable, vendor vulnerable, and mutual loyalty. Moreover, the effect of psychological contract in shaping organizational control and outsourcing outcomes in the four different scenarios is revealed. For example, mutual transaction was associated with an emphasis on outcome control by the client. In contrast, mutual loyalty was associated with more informal control (self‐control and clan control). Furthermore, in the cases of mismatch between the client's and vendor's psychological relationship, the client implemented more behavior control and encouraged self‐control by its partner.

This research is, to the best of the author's knowledge, one of the first attempts to bring together psychological contract theory and organizational control theory in the domain of IT offshore outsourcing research. It reveals the effect of psychological contract in shaping organizational control in the four different scenarios labeled as mutual transaction, client vulnerable, vendor vulnerable, and mutual loyalty.

Mobile Internet applications on ubiquitous mobile networks allows real‐time, anywhere, anytime connectivity to services. Owing to its scalability and potential cost savings, mobile communication is being increasingly applied in the business and consumer communities to create innovative data and voice application, which run over the Internet infrastructure. This paper describes the findings from a case study at an organisation that integrated mobile applications developed by third party developers. This paper presents a five dimensional reference model that provides a measure of project complexity for mobile systems development. This reference model aims to incorporate the unique context of mobile systems projects to: improve skills‐task allocation, allow more accurate development costing and improve project management performance on complex projects.