Project Management Courses in IS Graduate Programs: What is Being Taught?

Journal of Information Systems Education, Summer 2004 by Du, Stephen M, Johnson, Roy D, Keil, Mark

ABSTRACT

The most recent model curriculum for graduate information systems programs includes a project management course, which contains a balance of technical and managerially related skills. Prior research has shown that adoption of this project management course among information systems graduate programs is not extensive. This study compares the topical coverage of the courses that are being offered against the Project Management Institute's "Project Management Body of Knowledge" (PMBOK) and Georgia State University's Computer Information Systems graduate project management course in information technology. A web-based survey of 206 institutions with graduate information systems programs was conducted; 103 responded and 78 indicated that they had a project management course with 41 instructors completing the questionnaire (53% response rate). Data collected from the survey were then analyzed using descriptive statistics. With respect to the topics of project management found in the PMBOK, information systems programs are covering hard skills such as project scope and cost management to a large extent and giving less emphasis to soft skills such as human resource and project communications management. Also, procurement management is only covered to a very small extent. Similarly, information systems programs matched well with the benchmark course at Georgia State University in the extent of coverage for hard skills such as work breakdown, estimation, and project networks, but their coverage of areas such as project chartering and dealing with vendors and suppliers was considerably lower.

Keywords: IS curriculum, IT project management, graduate course, PMBOK

1. INTRODUCTION

Organizations that have taken on large-scale projects will attest to the value of project management (PM) skills and techniques for coordinating complex multidimensional tasks over extended periods of time. It is generally agreed that PM is a necessary ingredient for successful completion of most large-scale undertakings. When projects fail to achieve their desired ends, the culprit is often identified as a weakness in PM. In a recent study of information systems (IS) project risks, lack of PM skill was ranked among the top five risks by a panel of experts (Schmidt, et al., 2001).

Model curricula for the IS discipline have always included some aspects of PM. The earliest recommended curricula for IS specialists anticipated that graduates would become project leaders and team members of systems development projects (Ashenhurst, 1972; Couger, 1973). Students were expected to understand organizations to the extent that was necessary to accurately create specifications of systems for their use. However, methods were not very rigorous, and business managers saw IS development as more of an art than a science (Richardson and Ives, 2004). By the 1980's, IS programs were emphasizing skills needed for technical work such as structured programming and systems analysis. Students learned how to define requirements, represent them in the form of data flow diagrams, and develop corresponding systems. In an effort to gain some control over the systems development process, concepts such the systems development life cycle (SDLC) were established. SDLC and the concept of phases and sign-offs were the central focus in terms of managing large-scale projects. In addition, more explicit descriptions of PM concepts were added to course objectives. In a set of IS curriculum recommendations made in the 1980s, Nunamaker, Couger, and Davis (1982) suggested a course on information analysis aspects of system development that included coverage of PM responsibilities such as management of change, problem resolution, and management reporting.

The most recent model curriculum for graduate IS programs includes a PM course which contains a balance of technical and managerially related skills. Students are expected to learn aspects of project planning such as scoping, scheduling, budgeting, and allocating resources. In addition, course topics address softer skills such as motivation, interpersonal relations, and leadership. Finally, items that affect project success are included such as culture and resistance to organizational change (Gorgone, et al., 2000).

Adoption of this PM course among IS graduate programs has not been extensive; only 27% of the respondents in an earlier survey reported that they followed the Association of Information Technology Professionals (AITP) model curriculum guidelines to a great degree or completely (Johnson, et al., 2004). In the same study Johnson, Du, and Keil (2004), found that the PM courses offered did not necessarily conform to the AITP model curriculum guidelines for topical coverage. Specifically, it was found that coverage of PM topics was not uniform and that change management topics were not emphasized.

In addition to the AITP curriculum guidelines, which include suggested topics, there are other benchmarks against which to compare the courses that are being offered. This study compares the topical coverage of the courses that are being offered against two such benchmarks. First, the Project Management Institute's "Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge" (PMBOK) was used as a benchmark to determine how well existing courses cover the core areas identified in the PMBOK. second, building on the work of Keil and Johnson (2003), Georgia State's Computer Information Systems (CIS) graduate PM course in information technology (IT) was also used as a benchmark to determine how well existing courses cover the topics that are being taught in the Georgia State University (GSU) course. In this earlier paper, Keil and Johnson (2003) examined the GSU graduate IT PM course (part of a top ranked program) as an exemplar for what such an offering might look like.