Ten Concepts for an eBusiness Collaborative Project Management Framework

Theory and frameworks that apply to ebusiness projects undertaken within a single authority are inadequate when organizations need to collaborate. Collaboration demands additional management effort. Project management needs to coordinate the three levels of participating organizations, virtual teams and representatives. Three project lifecycle management functions, which relate to collaboration formation, initiative development, and the take-up and implementation of ebusiness, create extra management challenges. Project management needs to focus on four “meta factors” derived from the critical success factors used by practitioners and identified by researchers. These “meta factors” are motivation, capability, communication and coordination. This summary paper proposes that these ten concepts (three levels, three lifecycle management functions and four “meta” factors) need to be addressed in a theoretical framework capable of supporting effective management of ebusiness collaborative projects, providing an understanding of outcomes and reducing failure.