An Examination of Decision-Making in IT Projects from Rational and Naturalistic Perspectives

This exploratory research examines the decision-making processes of experienced IT project managers at the initial start-up stage of their projects and at key decision points during project execution. The focus is on the decision-making related to potential problems (risks) at the start, and materialized problems during the course of the project. Decision processes are viewed from the perspective of two contrasting theories of decision-making – the rational method and Naturalistic Decision-Making theory – in order to investigate how well each of these theories describes actual practice. Findings show an intertwining of rational and naturalistic modes of decision-making, and a possible link was revealed between the use of rational methods and fewer subsequent problems. In particular, greater reliance on the naturalistic approach may contribute to poor project performance in terms of management of contingencies and expectancies about client relations.