The emergence of digital platforms has attracted considerable attention in economics and information systems, shaping scholarly discourse over the past few years. Digital platforms have been the subject of extensive research by scholars, who have examined them from various perspectives, including technical, economic, and socio-technical perspectives. However, despite the frequent use of the term 'digital platform' in the literature, its definition covers a wide range of meanings. Scholars often use the term to mean distinct concepts, which creates semantic confusion within the scientific community. To clarify the different elements and perspectives that shape the definition of a digital platform, a systematic literature review was conducted. A total of 74 definitions from 58 scholarly resources were collected and analyzed through qualitative content analysis. This analytical process aimed to isolate and identify the fundamental elements used in defining digital platforms, as well as the multiple theoretical perspectives through which the term is conceptualized. Furthermore, this study traces the evolution of the term’s definition alongside the rapid development of digital platforms in recent years.
Artificial intelligence (AI) is reshaping agile Information Technology project management by introducing automation and intelligent decision support. This study explores the strategic implications of AI adoption within agile frameworks using a SWOT analysis approach. A systematic literature review of 48 peer-reviewed studies was conducted to identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats associated with AI integration in agile environments. The findings reveal that AI significantly enhances sprint planning, backlog prioritization, effort estimation, and software testing; resulting in faster development cycles, improved code quality, and better decision-making. However, these benefits require substantial workflow restructuring, investment in technology, as well as workforce upskilling. Weaknesses and threats are identified, but opportunities for scalable automation and hybrid human-AI collaboration look promising for organizations that adopt AI strategically. The study emphasized the importance of Project Management Technology Quotient (PMTQ) as a critical competency for practitioners navigating AI-augmented workflows. By aligning AI capabilities with agile principles alongside robust governance models, organizations can optimize AI for sustained competitive advantage in the digital project economy.
Variations among human aspects of governance and management, and the structure of project-based organizations (PBO) may synergize or contrast with each other, eventually impacting project performance (PP). To investigate these variations, the study develops a conceptual model using neoliberal governmentality (NG), transformational (TFL), and transactional leadership styles (TSL) of project managers, centralization of governance structures (CEN) with PP. The data for the study was collected from PBOs in the construction sector. Partial Least Squares-Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) was applied to assess the results. Later, the conceptual model was validated using an Artificial Neural Network (ANN) Approach. The results revealed that TFL positively mediates the relationship between NG and PP in PBOs characterized by decentralized governance structures (Low CEN). TSL shows competitive partial mediation with NG and hence appears to be the least important predictor of PP in the studied context. Using contingency theory, the study extends the Sociological Perspective of Governance (SPG) to develop a cohesive model for understanding the variations of humans and structures for PP. Project owners, governors, and practitioners should hire synergetic project managers and provide them with training and communication opportunities during project. NG requires decentralized decision-making to empower a TFL for better PP.
This research aimed to identify and address critical competency gaps in project management using Importance–Performance Analysis (IPA). The study explored key competencies essential for project success and assessed their current performance levels to provide actionable improvement insights. A survey of 257 project management professionals evaluated the perceived importance and actual performance of various competencies. The IPA methodology was applied to analyze discrepancies and categorize competencies into IPA matrix quadrants. Descriptive statistics, reliability analysis, gap analysis, and a paired-sample t-test ensured robustness. Significant gaps emerged in areas such as informal communication, visual competencies, competence control, and methodological integration, indicating a need for targeted development programs. The IPA matrix offered a strategic framework for prioritizing resource allocation, identifying urgent improvement areas and strengths. This study contributes a novel approach to optimizing resources and improving project outcomes by integrating IPA into competency evaluation. The findings support practitioners and organizations in enhancing project management effectiveness through focused training and investment.
Multiple metrics are available for agile software development (ASD), but adapting them to changing conditions of ASD is a challenge. To be truly agile, the metrics must be goal-oriented, flexible, and adhere to the principles of people interactions. This paper presents the results of a multi-year action research project conducted in different companies adopting ASD. Our contribution describes the organizational routines and a framework (3View) to incorporate meaningful metrics supported in three main pillars: comparability with past projects, relevance to measuring project expectations, and adaptability to remain valid in dynamic project conditions. The proposed framework includes (1) a reference model to build metrics and (2) a process model to guide practitioners. Measures of all types of attributes in ASD can be evaluated differently, depending on the project stakeholders and lifecycle stage. Dynamic environments require adaptive metrics that guide the interpretation and directions for project development. Failure to adopt these recommendations may lead to a risk of ceremonial conformity to measurements that do not reflect practice. Our work extends the literature on ASD metrics, expanding their role as enablers of agile project assessment and transparent communication throughout the project lifecycle. It explains how ASD metrics can be adapted to fit stakeholders’ perceptions while maintaining rigor and transparency in their reasoning.
Research has been focused on technical approaches, leaving the behavioral and organizational aspects of metrics implementation underexplored. This study addresses this gap by adopting a job crafting perspective to examine challenges in metrics program implementation and how champions perceive and shape their roles to mitigate them. Based on a qualitative case study, we show that many difficulties arise from “soft factors,” including unclear or conflicting objectives, misaligned expectations across teams, and weak communication channels. Without a shared understanding of metrics and their use, stakeholders interpret results inconsistently, undermining decision-making and engagement. Metrics champions actively craft their roles to address these barriers, taking on responsibilities such as educator, interpreter, and evaluator of data and tools. They also act as bridge builders and conflict mitigators, fostering collaboration and easing tensions among diverse stakeholder groups. These tasks, cognitive, and relational forms of crafting interact, enabling champions to move from passive adopters of metrics to active agents shaping the effectiveness of metrics initiatives. By combining job crafting theory and championing, we offer a human-centered view of software metrics implementation and emphasize the need for training and organizational support.
Megaprojects, despite their crucial role in infrastructure delivery, consistently underperform in terms of time, especially when integrating technological innovations. Their reliance on the quantum leap approach struggles because of the temporary nature of project organizations and their inability to transfer experience across endeavors, producing a power-law distribution of delivery delays in which extreme overruns become inevitable. Grounded in the perspectives of system interdependency and self-organized criticality, our results from computer simulation of 50,000 instances show that piecemeal-incremental approaches reduce both average delays and their variability, thereby defying the power-law behavior. The paper offers three propositions for mitigating delays in the delivery of large-scale technological infrastructure: phased delivery, continuous learning from successful practices and experiences, and enabling learning capabilities.
Through the tight integration of industry needs and Agile project management education, higher education institutions, and business organisations can help to foster a workforce that is prepared for the dynamic, iterative, and collaborative modern business. Industries are seeking professionals who not only understand Agile project management techniques but can also respond to customer needs, effectively collaborate, and communicate, and adapt to change through experience and application. The assessment of Agile project management in higher education should therefore include these critical skills to meet the job market’s current requirements. This paper discusses a case study of a UK based university to show how students were exposed to industry expertise and experience, real-world challenges, and Agile project management tools and methodologies as a way of encouraging active engagement and equipping them for the dynamic workplace. A scaffolded assessment approach was taken to encourage engagement, deep learning, and skills development.
Effective client controls, both behavioral and outcome based, are essential to the success of Information Systems Development (ISD) projects, yet the role of project team collaborative culture and coordination technology in enabling these controls remains insufficiently examined. We propose and test a research model about these relationships using structural equation modeling with survey responses from 218 ISD projects. The results show that collaborative culture and coordination technology both significantly increase clients’ use of behavior and outcome controls. In turn, these controls are positively associated with project outcomes, underscoring the importance of aligning project culture and tools with management practices. Our findings contribute to the IS project management literature by highlighting how fostering a collaborative culture and leveraging coordination technology can lead to more successful project outcomes. This study provides practical guidance for ISD practitioners by demonstrating how collaborative culture and coordination technology can be leveraged alongside client behavioral and outcome controls to reduce coordination costs, manage task dependencies, and improve project assessment and adaptive management for enhanced project success.
Considering the high turnover rates in project management due to limited development opportunities, this paper examines the role played by career sustainability in addressing this organizational challenge. Career sustainability is defined as the opportunity and capability of individuals to remain in productive and meaningful work overtime, across the lifespan and in changing career contexts. Drawing on sustainable career theory, a conceptual model was tested using partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) with data from 224 project managers. The model incorporates four dimensions of career sustainability – resourcefulness, renewability, flexibility, and integrativeness – as predictors of career satisfaction, well-being, and both organisational and career turnover intentions. Results indicate that resourcefulness and renewability are the strongest predictors of positive outcomes. Socio-demographic analyses suggest that resourcefulness plays a greater role in reducing career turnover among senior professionals, while renewability more strongly enhances well-being for participants without children. These findings provide empirical evidence on the relevance of career sustainability in project-based contexts and offer practical insights for organisations aiming to retain and support their project management workforce.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) has emerged as a transformative force in project risk management (PRM), transitioning traditional methods into dynamic, proactive frameworks capable of addressing modern project complexities. This evolution enables PRM to align more effectively with strategic goals while addressing uncertainties across diverse industries. Despite its promise, AI adoption in PRM varies significantly across sectors, presenting gaps in application and understanding. This study explores AI's role in enhancing PRM, focusing on its impact on risk management elements, emerging trends, and real-world applications. Using a qualitative and evidence-based methodology, the research integrates insights from academic literature, industry reports, and consulting publications, supplemented by case studies of leading organizations. Findings reveal substantial advancements in PRM through AI, highlighting improved decision-making, operational efficiency, and enhanced resilience. Case studies from Siemens, JPMorgan Chase, and Turner Construction demonstrate AI's effectiveness in tackling challenges, optimizing processes, and achieving objectives. This study expands academic discourse on AI adoption in PRM and provides actionable insights for organizations, offering guidance to overcome barriers and maximize technological investments.
This paper conducts an in-depth review of the last five years of Corporate Digital Responsibility (CDR) research, aiming to define CDR practices through a systematic literature review and grounded theory. The study identifies six aggregate dimensions of CDR practices: organisational culture, stakeholder engagement, ethical and responsible use of technology, governance and compliance, digital literacy and education, and innovation and future readiness. These dimensions are derived from 52 selected studies, yielding 180 coded insights. The paper highlights the importance of these dimensions in assessing and understanding companies’ CDR practices and proposes a research agenda to address existing gaps in the literature. The findings provide a foundational framework for both researchers and practitioners to evaluate and enhance CDR dimensions, contributing long-term to the development of a framework or model to measure and evaluate CDR practices. This framework or model aims to guide strategic CDR initiatives and foster responsible digital practices in the evolving digital landscape.
The hybrid approach in project management is now considered as a leading project management approach, that is applied in the majority of projects. However, the hybrid approach, which is defined as the combination of the predictive and adaptive approaches, is also still emerging, with several challenges and issues showing from literature. One of these issues is that the definition of hybrid as a combination of adaptive and predictive approaches leaves room for interpretation and variation. Hybrid is a spectrum of different ways of planning, controlling, organizing, leading and performing a project, that needs to be tailored to the situational circumstances. It is this tailoring process that the study focuses on. Based on the criteria for assessing the fit of an approach, the study identified the following six hybrid approaches, 'Flexible predictive'; ’'Tolerant predictive'; 'Predictable adaptive'; 'Adaptive light'; 'Integrated hybrid' and 'Facilitated adaptive'. By applying a contingency approach to the design of a hybrid approach, the study aims to contribute to the further development of the understanding of hybrid project management.
Misconduct in science is often associated with data fabrication, data falsification, and plagiarism. However, other practices are far more frequent and prevalent. Questionable Research Practices (QRPs) are in the grey area between misconduct and responsible research conduct. The goal of this study was to investigate estimated and self-admission prevalence of engineering researchers' engagement in QRPs. We applied a survey through a questionnaire that used 10 QRPs identified in relevant literature. The questionnaire was adapted to include several categories: individual, research group, research center, and country. Results indicate that self-admission engagement in QRPs is generally higher than in similar studies. Also, respondents are more keen to estimate that others engage in QRPs than they or their research group do. Respondents admit engagement in all QRPs presented, such as failing to report all of a study´s dependent measures relevant to a finding, selectively reporting studies related to a specific finding that "worked," or even falsifying data. While some consider these practices unjustifiable, others justify them with publication and time pressures. More studies on the QRP engagement of engineering researchers are needed to get a more precise picture.
Previous research has overlooked how individual competence interacts with circumstances that could potentially affect the success of outsourced system implementation. This research leverages person-environment fit and expectation-disconfirmation theories to investigate how client and vendor competences, as external factors and moderators, along with partnership quality and task-technology fit, affect the performance and satisfaction in outsourced ERP system implementations. Data were collected via a survey of 414 ERP users from 12 companies and analyzed using PLS-SEM and slope analysis. The findings reveal that client and vendor competences shape task-technology fit and partnership quality, affecting performance and client satisfaction. Notably, task-technology fit does not always improve performance for highly competent clients, and satisfaction may decline when vendors are perceived as highly competent, raising client expectations. A slight misalignment between tasks and technologies may even benefit highly skilled users. Furthermore, client satisfaction with ERP outsourcing is influenced by both performance outcomes and perceptions of vendor competence. This study provides practical guidance to enhance the success of outsourced system implementations.
In software development, the integration of assurance methodologies such as quality, security, and privacy practices is essential to producing high-quality, reliable, and compliant products. This paper investigates the adoption and effectiveness of these assurance practices within the daily operations of software development. Through an industry survey of 88 software development professionals in Finland, this study examines the order and consistency with which developers apply assurance practices during projects, and the challenges they face in performing these tasks. The results show that while developers recognize the importance of assurance, many organizations still treat it as a separate, secondary activity rather than a core part of the development lifecycle. Key findings show that quality practices are more consistently integrated into daily operations compared to security and privacy measures, which tend to be reactive. The paper highlights the tension between agile practices, which promote flexibility and continuous improvement, and the more rigid, process-heavy nature of assurance tasks. The study underscores the need for a shift in both industry practices and educational approaches to fully embed assurance into software development.
In the current era, e-logistics technologies have become commonplace in businesses to enhance supply chain and associated data analytics efficiencies. However, while contributing significantly to the GDPs in many countries, the fishing industry has been slow at adopting new technologies. Many slow adopters in this industry continue to use outdated data collection methods, thereby resulting in less-than-optimal data-driven decision-making. While prior research has examined the role of emerging technologies in the industry, there has been limited research to date to understand adoption issues. Our study therefore investigates factors that influence the adoption of e-logistics technologies in the fishing industry, using the Western Cape province in South Africa as the study site. The research investigated these factors using the Security-Technology-Organisation-Environment-Diffusion-of-Innovation framework. Qualitative data was collected via semi-structured interviews. The findings provide a rich insight into several adoption factors that demonstrate an interplay of technological innovations, organisational dynamics, and the environment within the industry. The findings were synthesized into an e-logistics technology adoption model. This paper enriches the existing literature on technology adoption, contributing insights for fishing industry stakeholders, and lays the foundation for informed decision-making in the realm of e-logistics integration.
IT project portfolios consist of various projects which depend on each other. Including additional IT projects, which are interdependent with existing ones, affects the IT portfolio’s systemic risk, which arises from these interdependencies. To handle this risk, organizations must quantitatively analyze the systemic risk of their IT portfolio. However, an overview and evaluation of risk measures for quantitatively analyzing systemic risk in IT portfolios has been missing. In our study, we first conducted a structured literature review to identify risk measures. We then determined evaluation criteria based on mathematical considerations on how risk measures can be modeled and insights from our literature review. Subsequently, we performed a qualitative, criteria-based evaluation to clarify which risk measure fits specific use cases. Finally, we delineated our findings as three recommendations. Our research supports organizations in better analyzing systemic risk in their IT portfolios by selecting the most appropriate risk measure according to their data or use case, contributing to a more successful IT portfolio management.
The Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR), driven by technological advancements such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), has transformed industries, reshaping the skills required in the workforce. Project management education must adapt to these changes by integrating innovative teaching methods to prepare future professionals. This study explores the potential of the metaverse, an immersive virtual environment, to revolutionize project management education. By offering interactive, real-time simulations and personalized learning experiences, the metaverse enables learners to engage with complex project management scenarios beyond the limitations of traditional classrooms. This research combines a literature review and qualitative analysis of project managers' perspectives to assess the benefits and challenges of incorporating the metaverse into educational curricula. The findings highlight the potential for enhanced engagement and the barriers to adoption, including technology access and learning curve concerns. The study concludes by proposing future research directions and addressing limitations regarding the scalability and effectiveness of metaverse-driven education in diverse project management contexts.
The Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) signifies a new phase in project management. The swift progression of 4IR technologies requires a reassessment of current methods to address the complexities of contemporary project management adequately. The ability of project managers to rapidly adjust to emerging technology and evolving standards is crucial in determining the successful outcome of projects. It is imperative for proficient project managers to recognise the significance of their capacity to predict and respond effectively to these changes, as well as their subsequent effects on ongoing and forthcoming projects, to achieve success in their professional domain. The objective of this study was to examine the effects of the 4IR on the project management discipline. A qualitative technique was employed for the collection and analysis of data. A theoretical framework for project management in the 4IR was developed. The framework identifies (i) what constitutes 4IR projects in terms of characteristics, challenges and success factors, (ii) what skills and competencies are required to deliver these projects, and lastly, (iii) what tools and techniques can be employed to deliver these projects. There is a need for such a framework which offers valuable perspectives and a comprehensive plan for the effective management of 4IR projects, specifically targeting project management professionals.
