Name | Molefe | Surname | Molefe | Student No. | 129073211 | Programme of study | MSC Project Management | Module | Research Skills and Academic Literacy (CETM11) | Assignment | Portfolio item 1 | Topic | Strategies of change management in implementing new technologies | Email | bg34jh@student.sunderland.ac.uk |

Introduction
Authors and researchers have spent considerable time trying to find better ways of addressing organisation’s change management in the flexibility of software and the performance of the project. Somewhere along the way, these professionals were guided by innovations and knowledge from prior research and some adopted the standards as stipulated by the researchers and made alterations to the practices where it deemed important. This paper therefore, will present a comparative literature review of two sources by Liu et al. (2008) and Wang et al. (2008) by examining the literature review, hypothesis that were stated, the methods used for collection and analysing data, the findings of the case studies and finally the relevancy or merits of the theories which were investigated in the two papers. The hypothesis stated by Liu et al. (2008) focused on the inter-linkage between the standardisation of software process, flexibility of software and the performance of the project, while the study by Wang et al. (2008) examined the relationship between change in control mechanisms, the review by management and the flexibility of the software. However the methods used by both authors for collecting and analysis data in the case studies were just similar and involved questionnaire surveys and tests. The findings of these studies proved a positive relationship between the constructs observed in both cases. Therefore, this review has a positive implication on the scholars, researchers and managers in the sense that similar approaches or selected standards can be applied in project implementation to improve project performance at large.

Literature Review
According to Liu et al. (2008) in order to make alterations in the business world, software systems are subject to persistent development and change, after being released. The authors further stated that the maintenance phase within the system life-cycle is regarded to be the most costly part and hence for software to be maintainable, systems should be easily understood, enhanced and corrected. Liu et al. (2008), indicated that for the systems to be maintained and changed, the management of software engineering promote that software flexibility should be used as a measure of quality. Meanwhile, Liu et al. (2008) stated that the implementations of software project were delivered above budget and time and to solve these issues, attention is focused on the improvements of software projects in order to infuse controls that are better, through well-developed activities. Controls have been designed for different purposes like reviews of the design, composition of teams, training on software process, prototyping of software, planning of a software project and user coordination. However, to establish the standards of the practices, the capability maturity model (CMM) is usually the most desired attempt. Standardisation according to Liu et al. (2008) refers to the consistency in the use of techniques, procedures, methodology and tools that are specified more than what is expected from single projects. Based on management control theory, Liu et al. (2008) suggested that a positive relationship exists between the standardisation of software process and the performance of the project. Moreover, managerial control according to Liu et al. (2008) refers to an attempt by the organisation to direct its employees to follow formal rules and standardised procedures. Therefore, organisations that conform to consistent process across projects have a significant influence on the performance of the project because they transfer process knowledge from one project to the next (Liu et al., 2008).

On the other hand, Wang et al. (2008) stated that because of changes in business needs, software is flexible if it’s efficiently and rapidly adapted. According to Wang et al. (2008), in order to achieve software flexibility two directions of research have been pursued. One direction focuses on improving methods of designing software for change and the other focus is on the evaluation of the impact of software flexibility design efforts on organisations and their software development processes. According to Wang et al. (2008), change control and management review are the main management controls that are antecedent to the flexibility of the software. Change control depends on the extent to which the mechanisms of software change control are implemented, while management review depends on the extent to which managers are involved in the mechanisms of formal review that monitor the behaviour of information system teams, in order to attain project goals. Moreover, the authors indicated that the flexibility of the software is associated with the CMM key process area (project tracking and oversight). These practices according to Wang et al. (2008), improves the performance of the project i.e. Change control diminishes the need for flexible software by reducing the risks of project drift while the evaluation by management affects both by correcting deviations.

Similarities
The hypothesis presented by Liu et al. (2008) and Wang et al. (2008) were more closely related as they examined the dependent and independent variables. In addition, Liu et al. (2008) hypothesised that there is a positive relationship between the flexibility of software and the performance of the project (H3), whereas Wang et al. (2008) hypothesised that the flexibility of software will positively influence the performance of the project (H3).

The methods used by Liu et al. (2008) and Wang et al. (2008) to collect data showed some commonalities in some cases. Liu et al. (2008) collected data by randomly mailing 1000 questionnaires to selected IEEE (i.e. Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) members who actually receive the magazine of IEEE software. Wang et al. (2008) on the other hand, mailed the same number of questionnaires (i. e. 1000) randomly to members selected within the Project Management Institute, with particular interest in a special group on Information system. However, in each case, each questionnaire was accompanied by a postage paid envelope and respondents were assured of the confidentiality of their responses. Liu et al. (2008) and Wang et al. (2008) conducted their initial survey in spring 2001 and after conducting the second mailing later on, in order to increase the respondents, only 221 responses were received, which indicated 21.2% of the response rate in each case. Moreover, 9 questionnaires from each case were eliminated because there were some data that was missing, leaving a total of 212 questionnaires for analysis.

Liu et al. (2008) and Wang et al. (2008) performed some t-tests on the means of significant demographics (stated as experience of work, gender, duration of recent project and the size of the team) in order to examine if there were significant differences between the early and late respondents. In each case there were no significant differences that were found and hence lead to the combination of the two rounds of respondents in order to further analyse the data.

However, to examine convergent validity, Liu et al. (2008) and Wang et al. (2008) used the same approaches like the reliability of constructs and composite reliability of constructs. The two authors further on involved the use of the average variance extracted (AVE) by constructs to test the convergent validity. Moreover, in these cases, constructs reliability was assessed with Cronbach’s alphas.
Lastly, the findings indicated that the third hypothesis (H3) from Liu et al. (2008), was supported at p-value of less than 0.05 and coefficient equivalent to 0.59, which indicated that the flexibility of software also relates positively and significantly to the performance of the project. Similarly, Wang et al. (2008) found that the flexibility of the software is positively associated with the performance of the project at t-test equivalent to 8.99, p-value of less than 0.05.

Differences
Liu et al. (2008) hypothesised that, there is a positive relationship between standardisation of software process and the performance of the project (H1), while on the other hand Wang et al. (2008), hypothesised that, the review by management in information system development will positively influence the performance of the project (H2b). Moreover, Liu et al. (2008) hypothesised that there is a positive relationship between the standardization of software process and the flexibility of software (H2), while Wang et al. (2008) observed that the mechanisms of change control in information system development will positively influence the flexibility of software (H1a).

The validity of the constructs was examined by a measurement model by Liu et al. (2008) and individual item's reliability was observed from the factor loading of each item. On the other hand, Wang et al. (2008) measured examined variables by involving multi-item scales adopted from validated measures that were used by researchers and authors in prior research to assess scales by the loadings of the items, their discriminant validity, and by internal consistency.

The path analysis results from Liu et al. (2008) shown that there was a significant relationship between standardisation of software process and performance of the project at the p-value of less than 0.05, coefficient equivalent to 0.17 and R-squared value equivalent to 0.48, which therefore supported the first hypothesis (H1). On the other hand, the path coefficients from the study by Wang et al. (2008) supported the hypothesis H2b at t-test equivalent to 3.25, p-value less than 0.05, which indicated that an evaluation by the management will influence the performance of the project. Furthermore, the results from the study by Liu et al. (2008) also supported the second hypothesis (H2) at p-value less than 0.05 and coefficient equivalent to 0.29, which shown that the standardisation of software process had a positive and significant relationship with the flexibility of software. The results from Wang et al. (2008) on the other hand, supported the hypothesis, H1a, relating to the mechanisms of change control and the flexibility of software at t-test equivalent to3.24, and p-value of less than 0.05.

Conclusion
When effort is extended to the practices of quality software during the early stages of a development process, it will add value to the performance of the project. Hence or otherwise, the results of these studies should be observed in information system management in order to implement processes that have similar approaches for system development, or at most a few appropriate practices and standards. Such a move will contribute positively to the performance of the project in an organization through the controls provided by standardisation and advantages of working with known practices and/or approaches. In addition, implementing the standards will lead to the enhancement of the quality of flexibility of software. Moreover, management control practices should be taken into consideration together with the methods of designing software during information system management, so as to keep away from the challenges associated with the scope and change management and hence improve completion of the project within the budget and schedule.

Reference
Liu, J. Y., Chen, V. J., Chan, C. and Lie, T., 2008, The impact of software process standardization on software flexibility and project management performance: Control theory perspective, Information and Software Technology, 50, 9-10, pp 889-896.

Wang, E.T.G., Ju, P., Jiang, J. J., and Klein, G., 2008, The effects of change control and management review on software flexibility and project performance, Information & Management, 45, 7, pp 438-443.

APPENDIX: ANALYSIS USING Q5 TECHNIQUE

| Source of reference 1 | Source of reference 2 | Title | The impact of software process standardisation on software flexibility and project management performance: Control theory perspective. Information and Software Technology, 50,9-10, (2008), pp 889-896 | The effects of change control and management review on software flexibility and project performance. Information & Management, 45, 7, (2008), pp 438-443 | Authors | Julie Yu-Chih Liu, Victor J. Chen, Chien-Lung Chan, Ting Lie | Eric T.G Wang, Pei-Hung Ju, James J. Jiang, Gary Klein | Focus/ Research Questions | -Will software development process standardisation enhance the levels of software flexibility?-Does software flexibility achieved by adopting process standardisation have a negative or positive relationship with final project performance? | -Do project cost objectives conflict with the software flexibility needed after the conclusion of the project?-Does a design for flexible software improve performance during the development process? | Key Concepts | -Software Process Standardisation-Software Flexibility-Project Performance | -Change Control-Management Review-Software Flexibility-Project Performance | Methodology | The researchers used survey questionnaires and tests, there after analysing the data in order to find out if there are distinct features in a design that contribute positively to the project of process standardisation | In this study the researchers used questionnaires and performed some tests, followed by analysis of the result to examine software flexibility as a mediator. | Knowledge Claims | The results of this study should be observed by information system management in order to execute similar approaches for the development of the system or at least few practices that are involved. This move will however contribute to improvement in the performance of the project of the organisation in question by using the controls that standardisation brings and the advantages of working with familiar activities. Moreover, the advantages also extend to enhancement in the quality of flexible software. | Management control practices should be taken into consideration together with the methods of designing software during information system management, so as to keep away from the challenges associated with the scope and changes of the project and hence improve the completion of the project within the schedule and budget. | Value Claims | The standardisation process of software guides to an enhancement in the performance of the project and the quality measurement of flexibility. In turn, the flexibility of the software will help to bring about a desired result in the standardisation and performance. | When effort is extended to the practices of the quality of software during the early stages of the development process, it adds value to the performance of the project. |