Building Theory from Practice: Opportunities in IS Project Management

This paper reports on a program of practice-driven research to develop theory to improve IS project performance. This is a significant and persistent problem for the IS discipline. The paper identifies a novel, meta-level research methodology or approach that is motivated by ‘looking for a gap in practice and developing the theory in the gap’. Reviewing four examples from a seven-year research program, the paper describes the approach as a high potential, under-utilised approach to developing theory. Critically, the approach assumes that multiple theories are required to improve the management of IS projects, rather than a single theory of IS project management.