Difficulties with implementation of information system projects have been a subject of discussion in books, papers, conferences, and workshops for over four decades (Brooks, 1974; Lucas 1975, 1981; Rockart, 1979; Rockart, 1982; Lyytinen and Hirschheim, 1987; Johnson, 1995; Krishna and Walsham, 2005). There are many indications that IS project developments are fraught with recurring problems caused by poor, unstructured, and incomplete development practices.
Typically, as with any project, the relationship between time and cost is inseparable, whilst the relationship between time and effectiveness are inversely related as shown in Figure 1.1. According to an early survey referenced by Gladden (1982), 75% of all systems development undertaken is never completed or, if completed, does not end up being used. In a similar vein, Canning (1977) points out that 70%, an inordinate amount of total life-cycle costs, is spent on “System Maintenance” which is a symptom
of poor development practice. This indicates that the development process, especially in its early phases, is of low quality (Bell and Thayer, 1976). These early studies could not address the challenges associated with IS project implementations.
Verkerk et al.’s (2000) study found that failure rates of information system development projects (ISDP) in the 1980s and 1990s were routinely documented at above 50%. Moreover, the larger the IS development project, the greater was the increased likelihood of its failure.
These rates have not improved significantly since these early years. A 1994 study of IS development projects within the UK public sector estimated that 20% of expenditures were wasted, and a further 30 to 40% produced no perceivable benefits (Wilcocks, 1994). A US study conducted in 1995 looked at more than 8,000 IS development projects and revealed that only 16% were completed on time within their planned budget (Johnson, 1995).
Furthermore, in 1999, projections forecasted that over 70% of “Fortune-1000”
corporations worldwide either had already or would soon install ERP systems. These reports forecasted that ERP systems were penetrating small and medium size
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enterprises with net revenues of around $250 million (Bingi et al., 1999, p.7). However, Conboy (2010), reported that:
"Various studies have found that between 40 and 60% of ISD projects fails to meet budget estimates and that the degree of overspend can exceed 200%" (Conboy, 2010, p.273).
According to Heeks (2003), who has carried out considerable research into Information Technology (IT) in Developing Countries (DC), most implementations of e- government projects in developing countries fail. In his paper, he presents estimated figures about rates of success and failure of e-government projects in developing and transitional countries, stating that 35% of these projects were classified as complete failures, where the e-government was not implemented or was abandoned immediately after the implementation. Moreover, 50% were classified as partial failures, where major goals were not achieved or the outcomes were undesirable. Only 15% could be classified as successful (Heeks, 2003).
In relation to this subject Avgerou and Walsham (2000, p.1) conclude:
“successful examples of computerisation can be found ... but frustrating stories of systems which failed ... are more frequent”.
Such facts are disturbing, considering the waste of money, time and efforts, and the fact that many developing countries have limited resources at their disposal. Failing to control large speculative investments on such projects for these nations undoubtedly have negative impacts on them. However, the challenge remains to address and resolve these difficulties.
For reasons outlined above, this research makes a contribution by questioning the often unrealistic expectations about the outcome of IS projects to deepen our understanding of how the implementation of these projects works from social and technical perspectives.
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Despite the global economic crisis that has affected countries throughout the world, particularly major industrialised countries, there has been no decrease in IT development spend worldwide. In 2014, total worldwide annual spend on IT was expected to exceed $3.8 trillion US dollars per year and has grown by about 3.1% from the 2013 spending of $3.7 trillion US dollars (Gartner, 2014). In the Middle East, the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf (CCASG) invests generously in the acquisition of new and emerging technologies. In 2012 Kuwaiti IS/IT spending was approximately $939 Million US Dollar (Approximately £593 Million Pound Sterling) (Research and Markets, 2012). With such enormous amounts of money being spent on IS/IT, one would expect a body of research devoted to the assessment of which forms of IS/IT expenditure are most effective and efficient. However, despite a good ICT- related infrastructure development, Kuwait depicts a fairly poor rate of ICT usage.
In its 2012 annual Global Information Technology Report, the World Economic Forum (WEF) ranked Kuwait 62nd of 142 countries on its IT networked readiness index. This grades economies based on IT usage, acceptance and efficiency (Global IT Report, 2012). All the member states of CCASG are ranked higher than Kuwait in WEF rankings, with Bahrain, Qatar, the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Oman featuring in the top 40. This has raised the question as to whether IT systems functionalities in Kuwait are fully exploited. Uhlenbruck et al. (2006), suggests this problem may occur for two reasons:
1. The full functionalities of some systems that have been implemented may remain unknown or unused;
2. Or there is a potential of hidden corruption.
This explains why it is important to realise the main contributing factors behind such problems, and whether issues of knowledge, integrity or other factors lay behind them.
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Figure 1.3: Typical relationships of cost vs. time, and goal achievement vs. time of projects
In the last four decades, researchers have shown increased interest in the factors that influence the outcome of IS projects. However, there is a lack in the literature concerning this issue in Kuwait and other Middle Eastern regional countries. The extant literature has failed to provide rich insight into the factors leading to successful implementation of IS projects. This study therefore makes both academic and practical contributions in this area.
There are currently no reliable frameworks for how IS projects could be successfully implemented within the Kuwaiti environment. Thus, this raises the need to study factors that affect information systems project outcomes in Kuwait and adopt a suitable framework based on actual research findings. This study is the first of its kind to be conducted within the State of Kuwait. It generates new findings in relation to the application of a framework based on McLeod and MacDonell’s (2011) model taking into account the interplay between the social and technical subsystems to address the gaps in the literature. Hence, there is strong need for a system of thinking based on McLeod and MacDonell’s framework to explain how it is shaping the outcome of IS projects. Therefore, findings in this study develop a greater understanding of its context as a contribution to the general body of knowledge.
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