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This article explores the role played by the project sponsor and project manager in successfully delivering information technology (IT) projects. It describes the common issues of the client-consultant relationship, comparing the perspectives of project managers and project sponsors gathered from the literature and through interviews. The research further explores the underlying reasons for the existence of the issues that impact the successful delivery of IT projects. This article goes beyond identifying critical success factors and uses a systemic inquiry to learn about the influences that shape attitudes, actions, and perspectives. The research setting is a South African business consulting company. The findings are that the fundamental influence on the client-consultant relationship is the lack of understanding and appreciation of each other's environments; that is, project sponsors are rooted in an operational environment, and project managers are rooted in a project environment. Because of this lack of understanding and appreciation, communication barriers exist. In order to overcome these barriers, both project managers and project sponsors need to engage in an ongoing dialectic relationship to understand and appreciate each other's respective environments. Establishing an appreciation of each other's environments enables project managers and project sponsors to be more understanding of the demands within each environment as well as the impact environment has on project delivery. A suitable management process that can put in place a dialectical relationship management process is established and proposed as an option to improve the engagement process between project sponsors and project managers engaged in IT projects.

Purpose -The primary purpose of this paper is to present an alternative approach to educate information systems project practitioners. An alternative to the prescriptive, model based, instrumental approaches is sought. The alternative approach presented in this paper focuses largely on imparting a discourse to equip students with an understanding of how communication occurs, how competences are acquired, and how to understand the influences of power and agency on themselves and others in a typical information systems project context. Design/methodology/approach -A conceptual approach is followed. First, Heidegger's ideas are used to demonstrate the flaws inherent in assumptions that claim we interact in project management contexts in rational, and instrumental ways. Second, the paper argues that Cockburn's concepts, which are traditionally used as a theoretical lens to understand agile software development practices, are a good approximate to Heidegger's concepts to impart reflexive learning skills. Finally, the concept of a discourse is used to package the instrumental tools, reflexive learning skills and related concepts to understand communication, and the acquisition of competence. Findings -There are many parallels that can be drawn between the dilemmas, which face the project management community, and the ideological debates about agile versus monolithic approaches, for which the software development community is infamous. Additionally, Heidegger's motivation for defining the fundamental ontology of dasein is similar to the motivation given by the research community to understand actual project experiences. Research limitations/implications -This approach has only been tried at one institution thus far; hence, there are only two semesters of teaching experiences at one institution on which to reflect. Practical implications -The paper advances the dilemma related to project practitioner education to a point where action can be taken. Educators can use the ideas presented in this paper to revive undergraduate project management education programs both in information systems and other disciplines. Originality/value -The original value is two-fold. First, there is a presentation of an alternative approach to educate information systems project practitioners that holds the promise of making the experience more true to life; thereby, rendering the experience more fulfilling for the practitioner. Second, the paper uses Heidegger's fundamental ontology to show the consequence of imparting the ideals of instrumentality rationality in a true to life manner. This discussion highlights some of the effects contemporary educational approaches have on retarding competence and competency development.

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Organisations invest heavily in Information Systems (IS) projects in the hope of realising business benefits. Yet reports persist of IS projects that all too often fail. Efforts to rescue the situation have so far yielded unsatisfactory results. A number of calls have hence been made to rethink and deepen understanding of IS project management practice. The purpose of this study is to contribute towards this rethink by exploring and describing the as-lived experiences of stakeholders in IS projects. A case study approach was adopted wherein indepth analysis was carried out on an IS project executed in Malawi. Using a developing country such as Malawi as empirical source is novel, as much of the research on IS project management emanates from the developed world. Yet IS project failure is endemic in all contexts. Data was collected and analysed qualitatively using Actor-Network Theory (ANT) as the lens of enquiry. Key findings were that (1) starting up an IS project is neither simple nor straightforward; it is lengthy and winding; (2) project objectives need not be "cast in stone", as they may be subject to negotiations as key stakeholders are brought in; (3) project success is achieved only when stakeholder interests are strongly interwoven in the project need; (4) involving operational system end users was oddly not seen as critical in the case, and (5) the experience of the project manager will determine the extent to which formal methodologies are rigidly followed in the project. The use of an ANT lens provides for a deeper understanding of IS project processes and outcomes.