An assessment of leadership and team process effectiveness in IT Projects
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Date
2009-04
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Publisher
British University in Dubai
Abstract
Organizations in the current environment are concerned about meeting their strategic goals amidst the ever increasing global challenges. Projects are a means by which the organizational objectives are met and it therefore becomes essential that the projects they undertake are successful. Information Technology (IT) projects arise usually as a result of the situational changes in the organizational environment. The success of IT projects is therefore crucial as they define the future course of the organization and probably also its survival. Most IT projects fail due to many factors and are late in completion or are abandoned in the middle.
The successful execution of these projects is dependent on the teams executing them. The effectiveness of the teams therefore needs to be given importance and two of the crucial factors are leadership and the team processes. The leadership of the team is influential in the way the team conducts its functions and the output it produces. Leadership studies have been a favourite topic in literature and there have been numerous works done on the subject. Studies have been done based on the trait factors, the behavioural styles and the contingency factors that contribute to the type of leadership suitable for a particular situation. The modern adaptive leadership styles understand the importance of motivation and consider teams as essential building blocks in organizational success. The studies on teams have been mostly based on the Input-Process-Output model. The focus of this study is on the team processes like cohesion, trust, and empowerment as they are influential in IT project teams.
This research work integrates the use of both leadership and team process effectiveness and is based on the development of a model that can evaluate the effectiveness levels of the project teams. The study also assesses the association between leadership and the team processes. This study is based in the UAE context and the developed model will help to understand where IT project teams stand in the current scenario and what steps need to be taken to improve their effectiveness levels.
Description
DISSERTATION WITH DISTINCTION
Keywords
leadership, team process, IT Projects, Organizations, strategic goals, global challenges, leadership styles, organizational success