Rethinking IS project boundaries in practice: a multiple-projects perspective

Information systems research and prescriptive IS project management methodologies are dominated by a perspective on single projects that treats the unit of analysis as a lonely phenomenon with strictly defined boundaries. This study questions this assumption by exploring how the taken for granted project’s boundaries are defined in practice. It investigates a case study of an ERP implementation project in an international organization. The findings show the busy multiple-projects platform of contemporary organizations that ERP project cannot be isolated from. They also reveal that project management boundaries are continually crossed and that project’s boundaries in practice are malleable and changeable. They are defined through negotiations with other projects and programs where what is inside or outside a project is subject to change according to the outcomes of such negotiations. A flatter view of project organizing could facilitate such an interaction. The implications for IS project management research and practice are discussed.