Moving IS Project Control Research into the Digital Era: The “Why” of Control and the Concept of Control Purpose

Martin Wiener (), Magnus Mähring (), Ulrich Remus (), Carol Saunders () and W. Alec Cram ()
Additional contact information
Martin Wiener: Information and Process Management, Bentley University, Waltham, Massachusetts 02452
Magnus Mähring: House of Innovation, Stockholm School of Economics, 11383 Stockholm, Sweden
Ulrich Remus: Information Systems, Production and Logistics Management, University of Innsbruck, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria
Carol Saunders: Information Systems Decision Sciences, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida 33620
W. Alec Cram: Information and Process Management, Bentley University, Waltham, Massachusetts 02452

Information Systems Research, 2019, vol. 30, issue 4, 1387-1401

Abstract: In this research commentary, we argue that the current digital era compels a reconsideration and problematization of research on information systems (IS) project control. IS projects are key to the pursuit of digital innovation and transformation activities, and the control of IS projects is central to creating and capturing value from these activities. However, IS project control research has not kept pace with current developments in the digital era. Specifically, we find that existing research has been dominated by an underlying agency theory perspective, which is not attuned to salient aspects of current control settings, such as digital innovation initiatives, and thus restricts our understanding of IS project control. To address this shortcoming, we problematize core assumptions underlying existing IS project control research and draw on stewardship theory to present an alternative set of assumptions complementing the prevalent agency theory perspective; introduce the concept of control purpose ( why ); offer empirical support for its conceptual distinction between value-appropriation and value-creation control purposes; and develop a research agenda that helps move IS project control research into the digital era.

Keywords: IS project control; digital era; problematization; agency theory; stewardship theory; control purpose; value appropriation; value creation; research agenda (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

Downloads: (external link)
https://doi.org/10.1287/isre.2019.0867 (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:inm:orisre:v:30:y:2019:i:4:p:1387-1401

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in Information Systems Research from INFORMS Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Chris Asher ().