According to sources quoted by the authors of this paper, 50 percent of information system (IS) projects go over their established budget, and only 25 percent are developed within their foreseen deadlines. Many methodologies and tools have been proposed to address this, but only a slight improvement has been noted.

The solution is perhaps to be found not in one unique miraculous methodology or programming language, but rather in the application of that old saying: “divide and conquer.” The authors present an agency theory interpretation applied to IS project management. If we followed their introductory phrase, “agency theory explains problems that occur when one party (a principal) hires another party (an agent) to perform work on the principal’s behalf,” to the letter, we would have a tool that would enable us to attack one front of the problem.

First, the authors summarize their model, distinguishing between environmental variables (goal conflict, shirking, privately-held information, and task programmability), response variables (contract type and monitoring), and the outcome variable (project success). Second, applying a study based on a series of interviews with IS project managers, the authors compare the predicted behavior of each variable with its behavior in real projects. The number of interviews is limited, but the results are extremely interesting all the same. Finally, the IS project managers are required to respond to a series of questions, which are meant to improve the management of their projects.

The paper is clear and easy to understand. The theory appears to be very useful, and I hope that the authors will address the concepts of this brief paper in more detail, perhaps in a book.