Internal Factor Evaluation and External Factor Evaluation matrices allow an organization to visualize their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats while a Competitive Profile Matrix utilizes critical success factors to allow an organization to compare itself to other competitors. The authors wondered if substituting basic internal strengths and weaknesses categories, and external opportunities and threats classifications for the conventional CSFs in a forced ranking method could extend the Competitive Profile Matrix to allow additional strategic understanding. The goal of extending the Competitive Profile Matrix using the forced ranking of important organizational factors when evaluating an organizations relative competitive position against major competitors was successfully realized. An External Competitive Profile Matrix (ECPM) and an Internal Competitive Profile Matrix (ICPM) better draw awareness to internal and external categories that need an organizations attention.

Internal Factor Evaluation (IFE) and External Factor Evaluation (EFE) matrices allow an organization to visualize their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats while a Competitive Profile Matrix (CPM) utilizes critical success factors to allow an organization to compare itself to competitors. Capps and Glissmeyer (2012) proposed an extension of the EFE and IFE concepts to an External Competitive Profile Matrix (ECPM) and an Internal Competitive Profile Matrix (ICPM) which provides greater insight in understanding the external and internal categories to which an organization must attend. The authors of this paper extend the observations of Capps and Glissmeyer (2012) by suggesting that visual mapping of the ECPM and ICPM, in a manner similar on the Internal-External (I-E) matrix, would enable greater comparative understanding of the relative strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of the respective companies.

This paper presents the results of a 2009 survey of professional IT auditors that explored their perceptions about root psychological and sociological causes of Information Systems (IS) project failure based on the punctuated equilibrium theoretical framework. As predicted by punctuated equilibrium theory, the results of the survey indicate that radical as opposed to incremental organizational changes are more effective in turning around "runaway" projects. The results indicate that IS development project performance is worse in government than in the private sector, and provide support for the continued use of punctuated equilibrium models for research in information systems development project performance

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This paper presents an in-depth insider’s case study of a “runaway” information systems (IS) project in a U.S. State government agency. Because such projects are politically sensitive matters and often obscured from public view, details of how such projects operate are not well understood. This case study adds new details to the body of knowledge surrounding IS project escalation and de-escalation. The authors’ resulting project narrative details how this project went out of control for so long, raising important questions for future research in theory development for both IS project escalation and de-escalation. The paper argues that a punctuated equilibrium approach to analyzing “runaway” IS projects are a more fruitful area to explore than are “stage models.”