Jane Doe MMIS 621: Information Systems Project Management Article Analysis #1 1 Chang, J.C-J. & Torkzadeh, G. (2013). Perceived required skills and abilities in information systems project management. International Journal of Information Technology Project Management, 4(1), 1-12. doi: 10.4018/jitpm.2013010101 1. What was the research problem? The research problem was that although project management knowledge and skills have gotten better over the years due to academic and professional programs, there is still a large number of project failures. The authors suggest that the project manager's competencies (i.e., knowledge, skills, and attitudes) influence the success of a project. Specifically, the authors state, \"a project manager's skills and abilities will clearly influence whether or not a project will be successful\" (p. 1). They also note, \"There is a need for better understanding of individual project management skills and abilities that are important to the success of information projects\" (p. 2). They also support this need by citing a 2006 study (i.e., Morris, Crawford, Hodgson, Shepherd, & Thomas, 2006). 2. What was the goal/purpose of the study? The goal was to find out what skills sets are necessary for success in information systems projects, specifically. The authors state, \"This study concerns perceived skill sets necessary for the success of information systems project management\" (p. 2). 3. What research questions were addressed and/or hypothesis tested? There was no hypothesis. The research question was: \"What are important 2 skills and abilities in information system project management?\"(Chang & Torkzadeh, 2013, p. 2). 4. What type of research was conducted (e.g., experimental, mixed methods, qualitative)? The researchers conducted a mixed methods study that had two major phases. They used a previous study by Torkzadeh and Dhillon (2002) as a framework for the research design (p. 2). 5. What results were presented to answer the research questions/hypotheses? The study resulted in a list of 12 project management skills from phase one. This list of skills was identified as a result of the interviews and qualitative data analysis techniques (e.g., coding transcripts). The researchers reviewed and analyzed the transcripts individually and then came up with themes. They created definitions for each theme and used experts to validate these terms. In phase two, they analyzed the survey results using a variety of statistical analyses. For example, they ranked the 12 project managements skills based on \"their mean importance from the responses to the Likert scale\" (p. 5). They also conducted a Pearson correlation on the 12 skills and found that one skill in particular (i.e., communicate project management information) \"correlates significantly with almost every other skill\" (p. 7). Because of the positive correlations found, the researchers conducted an exploratory factor analysis, 3 which resulted in four factors: communication and relationship management; resource management; change leadership; and administrative. These tests supported the conclusions they drew from phase 2. 6. What conclusions were drawn? The authors concluded that effectively communicating project information was the most important skill. They also suggested that project management skills may be generic across disciplines and that technical skills were the least important skill (p. 10). 7. What were the limitations of the study? How can limitations be improved in potential future studies? Some of the limitations of the study were small sample size and not enough female representation in their sample. Researchers might consider increasing the sample size for phase two of the study and having a more balanced representation of male and female participants. 8. What are the implications for future research? The authors suggest, \"this study provides a basis going forward to further explore the type and importance of information system project management skills\" (p. 10). 4