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Feral Government?: The Limitations of Critical Success Factors in the Context of Major Government IT Projects

Feral Government?: The Limitations of Critical Success Factors in the Context of Major Government IT Projects

Annie Maddison
Copyright: © 2014 |Pages: 22
ISBN13: 9781466650275|ISBN10: 1466650273|EISBN13: 9781466650282
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-4666-5027-5.ch001
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MLA

Maddison, Annie. "Feral Government?: The Limitations of Critical Success Factors in the Context of Major Government IT Projects." Feral Information Systems Development: Managerial Implications, edited by Donald Vance Kerr, et al., IGI Global, 2014, pp. 1-22. https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-4666-5027-5.ch001

APA

Maddison, A. (2014). Feral Government?: The Limitations of Critical Success Factors in the Context of Major Government IT Projects. In D. Kerr, K. Burgess, & L. Houghton (Eds.), Feral Information Systems Development: Managerial Implications (pp. 1-22). IGI Global. https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-4666-5027-5.ch001

Chicago

Maddison, Annie. "Feral Government?: The Limitations of Critical Success Factors in the Context of Major Government IT Projects." In Feral Information Systems Development: Managerial Implications, edited by Donald Vance Kerr, Kevin Burgess, and Luke Houghton, 1-22. Hershey, PA: IGI Global, 2014. https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-4666-5027-5.ch001

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Abstract

Using workflow technologies as a metaphor for Critical Success Factors (CSFs), this chapter considers their use to improve the performance of major government IT projects, asking whether context can be ignored without repercussion or whether it is highly significant. Focusing on the UK, this exploration begins by defining “context,” then considering what it means in terms of government. A case study demonstrates that context limits the value of CSFs to a major government IT project. Whilst claiming to submit to the imposed workflow technology, the project team developed feral behaviour, manipulating the CSFs to match previous ways of working with no action being taken to ensure compliance. However, increased governance is not the answer. It would simply force these generic solutions on to unique problems; more contingent solutions should be sought to the problem of IT project failure in order to take these highly specific contexts into account.

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