The Project Objectives Measurement Model (POMM): an Alternative View to Information Systems Project Measurement

Abstract

The information systems (IS) project management profession has been faced with numerous socio‑technical challenges. As part of its analysis, research has expressed discontent with the traditional measures used to assess the success or failure of these projects, i.e. conformance to time, schedule and specification requirements espoused by the project management (PM) standard bodies. Despite this, research has also revealed that industry continues to place high reliance on this approach in determining the outcome of their projects. These developments imply, in part, a misalignment between research and practice and a scarcity of appropriate measurement tools that are aligned to the realities of different project contexts. The research presents a Project Objectives Measurement Model (POMM) that attempts to address some of these concerns through the development of project measures that are aligned to key project stakeholders' values and objectives within the unique project contexts. It is argued that objectives are the key performance criteria of the project hence measures must be aligned to these criteria and formal procedures should be in place to assure that these objectives and measures are carefully developed and reflective of the persons to which the project matters, the stakeholders. The POMM is grounded on several principles of the Value Focused Thinking (VFT) and Goal Question Metric (GQM) techniques. The evaluation of the proposed model was performed in two parts: a team of industry experts examined the principles of model and provided feedback on its practicability to practice, and a case study of a Caribbean educational institution's IS graduate programme development was used to illustrate the procedures of the model. The research provides theoretical and practical implications for IS evaluation particularly within the project management and performance measurement domains. The research aims to extend the debate on suitable evaluation methods for IS projects while providing project practitioners with an alternative approach that can enhance their decision making processes during the life of the project.