Toward a Typological Theory of Information System Project Team Management Styles

Drawing from research in information systems (IS) and project management, the contingency perspective research stream and from empirical observations, the present paper investigates the effect of the fit between information system project team management (ISPTM) styles and four IS project risk profiles, i.e. challenging, diplomatic, technical and easy (cookie cutter), on IS project performance. Following recommended survey development approaches, distribution practices and general conduct of survey research, questionnaire data was obtained from182 IS project managers in Canada and the United States. The results show that IS project managers adapt their ISPTM to the context specificities and that, for each IS project risk profile, there are significant differences between ISPTM styles deployed in successful and less successful IS projects