On introducing information systems in organizations

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Faculty of Electronics, Communications and Automation | Master's thesis
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Date

2009

Department

Department of Automation and Systems Technology
Automaatio- ja systeemitekniikan laitos

Major/Subject

Media Technology
Viestintätekniikka

Mcode

AS-75

Degree programme

Automaatio- ja systeemitekniikka

Language

en

Pages

viii, 106

Series

Abstract

New information systems (IS) are continuously being introduced in organizations. Every new information system is a large investment and it is hence crucial to smoothly get the users to accept the system and the new ways or working. Therefore, it is vitally important that the information system projects succeed. But it is commonly known that information systems projects are very seldom completely successful and every project has to tackle various challenges. The aim of this thesis is to open up these challenges and discuss the critical success factors of IS projects. Theory on the topic is presented in a literature review. The empirical part of this thesis consists of an investigation of the case company Wärtsilä's functions related to IS projects. This investigation is conducted through interviews with people who have experience of IS projects. Based on synthesis of theory and interview findings, conclusions are drawn and improvement recommendations are given to the case company. This study confirms the general notions that IS projects face a lot of challenges and often fail in one way or the other. It is noted that best practices and above all the practical methods are still being developed. Furthermore, this study concludes that practising organizational change management in IS projects is important since a notable part of the issues in IS projects are related to people's attitudes towards the system. The reality is though, that few information technology professionals are familiar enough with the concept and methods of organizational change management. The importance of finding management commitment on all the management levels is highlighted in this study. Thorough enough planning of the project and the project-internal methods are furthermore important for project success. Handling the data migration, handling the cooperation with the partners, and acknowledging the risks related to overoptimistic schedules are moreover found to have a place on the list of critical success factors.

Description

Supervisor

Koskinen, Kari; Prof.

Thesis advisor

Ponsi, Jukka; KTM

Keywords

information system project, critical success factor, information system implementation, information system deployment, organizational change management, IS, informationssystem, informationsystemprojekt, implementering, förändingsledning (organizational change management), framgångsfaktorer

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https://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:tkk-012895

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[dipl] Sähkötekniikan korkeakoulu / ELEC