Enhancing client controls and information systems development project outcomes: Roles of team collaborative culture and coordination technology

Abstract

Effective client controls, both behavioral and outcome based, are essential to the success of Information Systems Development (ISD) projects, yet the role of project team collaborative culture and coordination technology in enabling these controls remains insufficiently examined. We propose and test a research model about these relationships using structural equation modeling with survey responses from 218 ISD projects. The results show that collaborative culture and coordination technology both significantly increase clients’ use of behavior and outcome controls. In turn, these controls are positively associated with project outcomes, underscoring the importance of aligning project culture and tools with management practices. Our findings contribute to the IS project management literature by highlighting how fostering a collaborative culture and leveraging coordination technology can lead to more successful project outcomes. This study provides practical guidance for ISD practitioners by demonstrating how collaborative culture and coordination technology can be leveraged alongside client behavioral and outcome controls to reduce coordination costs, manage task dependencies, and improve project assessment and adaptive management for enhanced project success.