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The purpose of this paper is to address the problem of ensuring that the capabilities are in place to identify when a project can no longer deliver value and to take appropriate action to terminate the project.

Focus groups with project management practitioners were used to collect in-depth qualitative data. This was then supplemented with a questionnaire, which included both closed questions and the opportunity for free text answers.

The problem of getting better at stopping projects is both common and difficult to solve. It has many facets, which include complex people and cultural issues, processes and procedures as well as financial reporting and project governance. In order to improve, therefore, it is useful to address these different facets in a coordinated way using a capability approach with a focus on business value.

The data from practitioners are retrospective, as their actions were not actually observed by the researchers as they were happening. This means that faulty recollection may influence the results but, it also allows for insights from reflection to be incorporated.

An organizational capability approach focusing on all three aspects of capability; people, processes and technology, can help organizations get better at stopping projects. Specific recommendations are provided and analyzed in terms of their respective capability focus.

If performance in terminating projects is improved, it has the potential for significant benefits and cost saving for society in terms of improved government services and the ability to halt projects around new policy initiatives when emerging evidence shows they will not work.

It provides detailed practitioner input on the problem of stopping projects and suggests recommendations for improvement in the context of a structured organizational capability approach with reference to a particular framework, IT-CMF.

The purpose of this paper is to identify process-related value propositions in terms of process execution when using enterprise social media (ESM) for external communication purposes. Additionally, capabilities of ESM technologies to realize the value propositions are identified.

A literature review of case studies, describing ESM usage for external communication purposes, is performed. Further, face-to-face interviews with employees from companies are conducted to complement the findings retrieved from the literature.

It is shown that manifold process-related value propositions for different business processes can be realized by ESM application for external communication purposes. However, certain value propositions and the corresponding capabilities of ESM technologies are particularly emphasized.

This research is different from existing studies about ESM usage because an explicit perspective on business processes is taken. Therefore, the findings contribute to the existing body of knowledge of beneficial ESM usage. Analyzing the literature and interview transcripts underlies a certain amount of subjectivity, a circumstance addressed by engaging two researchers in the coding procedure.

Practitioners discussing potentials of ESM application are provided with concrete hints as to which business processes will most likely profit from the use of social technologies for the external communication with customers.

This paper contributes to a better understanding of the beneficial impact of social technologies on business processes and thus prepares the ground for a better alignment of ESM and processes. An extensive overview of value propositions for a company’s business processes has so far not been compiled in this form.

The purpose of this paper is to examine how the principles of talent management (TM) can be leveraged to enhance an organization's knowledge management (KM) initiatives.

This paper critically reviews the literature pertaining to the emerging concept of TM and specifically that which focuses on “smart talent management” i.e. the fusion of TM and KM concepts. The authors offer insights as to how TM can benefit KM and then discuss these insights with a focus group of KM practitioners.

The fusion of the two concepts has so far only been considered by human resource scholars who have tended to examine how learnings from the field of KM can be leveraged to advance TM. The authors confront the issue in reverse and identify five KM concerns – identifying key knowledge workers, knowledge creation, knowledge sharing, developing knowledge competencies, and knowledge retention – which they argue can be advanced through the application of TM principles. Their focus group confirms that these KM concerns can benefit from the integration of TM principles, but some more than others.

The fusion of TM and KM has so far only been considered from a HR perspective. This paper examines the fusion of the two concepts from a KM perspective. Five specific KM concerns which can benefit from the integration of a TM approach are detailed and then validated by a focus group of KM practitioners.

This paper aims to identify and appropriately respond to any socio-technical gaps within organisational information and cybersecurity practices. This culminates in the equal emphasis of both the social, technical and environmental factors affecting security practices.

The socio-technical systems theory was used to develop a conceptual process model for analysing organisational practices in terms of their social, technical and environmental influence. The conceptual process model was then applied to specifically analyse some selected information and cybersecurity frameworks. The outcome of this exercise culminated in the design of a socio-technical systems cybersecurity framework that can be applied to any new or existing information and cybersecurity solutions in the organisation. A framework parameter to help continuously monitor the mutual alignment of the social, technical and environmental dimensions of the socio-technical systems cybersecurity framework was also introduced.

The results indicate a positive application of the socio-technical systems theory to the information and cybersecurity domain. In particular, the application of the conceptual process model is able to successfully categorise the selected information and cybersecurity practices into either social, technical or environmental practices. However, the validation of the socio-technical systems cybersecurity framework requires time and continuous monitoring in a real-life environment.

This research is beneficial to chief security officers, risk managers, information technology managers, security professionals and academics. They will gain more knowledge and understanding about the need to highlight the equal importance of both the social, technical and environmental dimensions of information and cybersecurity. Further, the less emphasised dimension is posited to open an equal but mutual security vulnerability gap as the more emphasised dimension. Both dimensions must, therefore, equally and jointly be emphasised for optimal security performance in the organisation.

The application of socio-technical systems theory to the information and cybersecurity domain has not received much attention. In this regard, the research adds value to the information and cybersecurity studies where too much emphasis is placed on security software and hardware capabilities.

Cloud computing is a relatively new phenomena. It has rarely been examined in the context of the small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The purpose of this paper is to examine the drivers and barriers to cloud computing adoption by SMEs in Ireland.

This study adopted an exploratory approach. A quantitative approach was adopted in the data collection phase. An online self-completion questionnaire was distributed by e-mail to 1,500 SMEs in Ireland. A response rate of 6 per cent was achieved generating 95 usable responses.

Findings from this study indicate that Irish SMEs are adopting cloud technology. The key driver identified is the resultant cost benefits for the firm. However, concern over continuous availability of the service is identified by the SME as a key challenge and is hindering widespread adoption of cloud technology.

This study whilst exploratory in nature, has laid the foundation for further research in the area of cloud computing adoption. This research should enable further studies to replicate this process with the possibility of extending the study to include other countries, on a larger scale and with a particular focus on the knowledge intensive business services sector. This study would benefit from adding a qualitative perspective to the research topic to add depth and enhance the “richness” of the data collected during the process.

This study concludes that policy makers and cloud providers need to provide assurances to SMEs over issues of continuous availability of the cloud service through increased and on-going investment in a high-speed, broadband infrastructure and through ensuring issues pertaining to standardization and compliance are resolved.

This exploratory research has illuminated this area through examining the drivers and barriers to cloud adoption by SMEs. In the Irish context, the benefits of engaging in such activity can reap many benefits. Of particular importance to a peripheral economy such as Ireland is the value of adopting cloud computing which is central to offering competitive advantage and controlling costs.

There is a significant knowledge gap in the common understanding regarding the value that investment leading to an increase in project management maturity brings to the organisation. The purpose of this paper is to narrow this gap by investigating the relationship between an increase in the project management maturity level and the project's performance. Additionally, it advocates the investment roadmap approach.

This study is part of a worldwide research initiative into maturity in project management covering 447 global companies. For this purpose, survey data from experts from 194 select companies was analysed.

The cost of forthcoming projects depends on the level of maturity of project management and type of industry.

The study is limited to three different industries (machinery, construction and information technology) and by the method of assessing their future project costs. New research directions are suggested.

The results of the study should help companies in allocating limited resources appropriately using the proposed roadmap.

An increase in project management maturity can be achieved through different investment methods. This will benefit society as well.

The paper focuses on global companies dealing in machinery. The area has not been explored sufficiently from the project management perspective. It discusses the relationship between an increase in maturity and future project costs in three industries: machinery, construction and information technology. The paper suggests practical guidelines for project management and sequences in proper investments when resources are limited.