Fight Risk with Risk: Reflexivity of Risk and Globalization in is (original) (raw)

The interstitiality of IT risk: An inquiry into information systems development practices

Information Systems Journal

Information systems development (ISD) has been part of the core of information systems for over 40 years. Throughout its history, the issue of risk has been closely related to ISD projects, and significant efforts have been made by researchers and practitioners to improve their quality. While important headway has been made in assessing and resolving ISD risk, the literature shows that new and salient risks emerge outside the scope of extant risk management regimes. As a consequence, organizations still struggle with leveraging new technology as projects continue to fail at almost the same rate, albeit for different reasons. Understood as the distinction between reality and possibility, risk is inherently intertwined with practice and rooted in the knowledge, goals, power, and values of specific actors in particular contexts. Hence, to understand how risks emerge, we present a longitudinal case study in which we trace the origin and locus of risks in contemporary ISD practices. We draw on these insights to theorize information technology risk as increasingly interstitial, originating from sources positioned in between established practices and therefore outside the scope of conventional risk analyses. In conclusion, we discuss interstitial risks as an important form of emergent risk with implications for both research and practice.

Assessment of Risk on Information Technology Projects Through Moments of Translation

International Journal of Actor-Network Theory and Technological Innovation, 2012

Many of the IT solutions in an organisation are employed through IT projects. Based on the reliance on IT solutions, organisations’ investment on IT projects has increased tremendously in the last two decades. This is informed and triggered by the premises that IT will help them to yield solutions that will fulfill or exceed their expectations, thereby make the organisation realise the required return on investment. Projects are a means to yield solutions through technological artefacts such as infrastructure (networks included), applications, databases or a combination of these. The technological artefacts do carries or are associated with foreseen or unforeseen risks. Hence proper risk identification and management on IT projects is necessitated to ensure that the organisation reaches its desire state. Unfortunately, risks are never easy to identify or manage. Using one case, the study employed actor-network theory in the analysis of the data to understand the factors which manife...

When to manage risks in IS projects: An exploratory analysis of longitudinal risk reports

2011

Research attributes the mixed performance of IS projects to a poor understanding of risks and thus limited capabilities to manage such risks. In line with others, we argue that the poor understanding of risks is partly due to the fact, that current research almost exclusively concentrates on which risks are important in IS projects. In contrast to this static view, we focus on the temporal aspect of project risks, ie, we explore when risks become more or less important during a project. In doing so, we analyze an archive of risk ...

Empirical Assessment of Risks in is/IT Projects: Challenges for Managers

2012

Risks in IS/IT projects are considered to have decisive effects on the success of these projects. Several researchers have identified and categorised risks in IS/IT projects into six major risk dimensions. This paper assesses the validity of these risk dimensions in light of the current IS/IT developments. An additional risk dimension related to outsourcing and new technologies is investigated. The data was gathered via an online survey tool, which provided 113 valid responses. The validity and the reliability of the risk dimensions were tested using statistical methods. The results revealed that the risk factors within the seven risk dimensions are still valid and reliable. Despite the fact, that all risk dimensions are important, this paper identifies the most significant three risk dimensions using the factor analysis. These three risk dimensions are Management, External Influences and New Technology. Notwithstanding the IS/IT developments in the recent years, it appears that the...

The Emergence of Information Infrastructure Risk Management in IT Services

2012

Abstract Failure to understand, identify, and manage risk is often cited as a major cause of IT problems. While the project is the preferred level of analysis in most IT risk management research, IT is becoming increasingly infrastructural, and there is therefore a need to adapt risk strategies beyond the project level. In this paper, we explore how risk management practices in a successful IT service provider group emerged over time as the group coped with infrastructural dynamics and complexities.

New Developments in Practice I: Risk Management in Information Systems: Problems and Potential

Communications of the Association for Information Systems

operations; or a properly implemented business strategy using technology. It is not a one-time activity, but rather an ongoing process of identification, assessment, and action, which needs to be well integrated into every part of IS management. IS managers must learn to control both the problems and the potential that risk represents. Several general principles to help IS managers deal effectively with risks were identified. Effective risk management involves taking a holistic approach to risk, developing a risk management policy, establishing clear accountabilities and responsibilities, balancing risk exposure against controls, being open about risks to reduce conflict and information hiding, enforcing risk management practices, and learning what works and doesn't from past experience.

The Challenges in Implementing Risk Management for Information Technology Projects

IT projects are characterized by high degrees of risk. The rapid speed of transformation in information technologies combines changes in business processes to create surprising shifts in cost, the cost benefit relationship, and the feasibility of doing specific things in particular ways. The risks faced by IT projects are not, in essence, financial risks. By understanding these fundamental problems in real terms, rather than through their financial impact, IT project managers can move more quickly to resolve issues before they become major problems that threaten the goals of the project. This paper will focus on the challenges experienced when executing risk management processes in information technology projects. The lack of knowledge management support for risk management processes has caused many project failures in the past.