Exploring contingent employment policy in IT – impacts upon IT project management capabilities enhancement in large Hong Kong organisations

Large Hong Kong organisations rely heavily on IT projects to sharpen their competitiveness. Contingent IT project employment is a globally increasing trend that results in high staff turnover. This raises risks that organisational project knowledge is rarely retained when contingent workers leave organisations and as individual contingent workers become frustrated by employer’s lack of commitment to their future. <br><br>Contingent employment policy has generally been assumed to impede IT project management’s organisational capability and competitiveness through knowledge leakage and inhibited organisational learning. Limited research has been undertaken on the impact of contingent IT project management employment on organisational capability though there have been numerous separate studies on: IT project management; general contingent employment; and enhancing IT project management capabilities. This thesis combines these themes to (i) explore the importance of continuous advancement of IT project management capabilities to business successes; (ii) identify and explain the contingent and permanent employment policies of IT professionals (including project managers) in large Hong Kong organisations; (iii) investigate and explain the impacts of contingent employment policies on enhancing IT project management capabilities; (iv) identify and explain the practices of advancing IT project management capabilities as an individual, as a group and as a large organisation; and (v) identify and present possible solutions to satisfy the needs to advance IT project management capabilities using contingent employment.<br><br>A case study multiple-case, comparative research design was followed that relied on open-ended interviews supported by semi-structured interviews and using archival documentation. Three case study organisations typify large Hong Kong organisations that are major IT workforce employers. The first and second case study organisations are representative of a large IT users organisation and an IT and communications services organisation (the two key categories of IT employers) respectively employing a high percentage (over 50%) of contingent IT workers. The third case study organisation is a contrast case since it employs a low percentage (below 20%) of contingent IT workers and is a typical IT users organisation. <br><br>Analysis concluded that the degree of projectisation, project resource strategies and investment on IT project management capabilities have to fit the organisation’s specific business dynamics. The business situation of organisations determines IT projects’ scale and complexity. This leads IT groups to be organised along a functional, balanced matrix or projectised structure spectrum. Organisations with greater projectisation are more likely to rely on contingent IT workers. Continuing to enhance IT project management capability while depending on an increasing percentage of mobile external resources (including contingent workers) may require an organisation to invest more in project governance and support structures, project management methodologies and tools. Alternatively, organisations may prefer retaining in-house staff to capture their tacit organisational knowledge and invest in cognitive and operational learning to retain codified organisational knowledge while avoiding weakness in reflective learning and social learning processes. <br>