{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,5]],"date-time":"2026-01-05T22:18:08Z","timestamp":1767651488503,"version":"3.41.2"},"reference-count":15,"publisher":"Emerald","issue":"2","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2005,4,1]],"date-time":"2005-04-01T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1112313600000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/www.emerald.com\/insight\/site-policies"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":[],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2005,4,1]]},"abstract":"<jats:sec><jats:title content-type=\"abstract-heading\">Purpose<\/jats:title><jats:p>This paper seeks to apply results from the study of bandit processes to cases of information technology (IT) project failures.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title content-type=\"abstract-heading\">Design\/methodology\/approach<\/jats:title><jats:p>This paper examines three published case studies, and discusses whether managerial actions are in accordance with the predictions of bandit process studies.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title content-type=\"abstract-heading\">Findings<\/jats:title><jats:p>Bandits are a class of decision\u2010making problems that involve choosing one action from a set. In terms of project management, the firm selects from several alternative IT projects, each with its own distribution of risks and rewards. The firm investigates technologies one by one, and keeps only the best\u2010performing technology. The bandit perspective implies that managers choosing a risky IT project with high potential reward before safer ones are behaving optimally. It is in the firm's interest to resolve the uncertainty about the innovative project first. In case of failure, the firm can later choose safer technology. A high proportion of risky projects adopted leads to a high number of project failures.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title content-type=\"abstract-heading\">Practical implications<\/jats:title><jats:p>The bandit approach supports studies that advocate evaluating decision makers on the optimality of their decision process, rather than specific outcomes.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title content-type=\"abstract-heading\">Originality\/value<\/jats:title><jats:p>This paper demonstrates how insights from the bandit problem are relevant to studies of IT project failures. Whilst choosing high\u2010risk, high\u2010reward projects may be in a firm's interest, some observed project failures are optimal choices that do not work out.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1108\/09685220510589316","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2005,4,26]],"date-time":"2005-04-26T02:00:06Z","timestamp":1114480806000},"page":"135-143","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":9,"title":["Information technology project failures"],"prefix":"10.1108","volume":"13","author":[{"given":"Dmitriy V.","family":"Chulkov","sequence":"first","affiliation":[]},{"given":"Mayur S.","family":"Desai","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[]}],"member":"140","reference":[{"key":"key2021010619513611300_b1","unstructured":"Banks, J. and Sundaram, R. (1992), \u201cDenumerable\u2010armed bandits\u201d, Econometrica, Vol. 60 No. 5, pp. 1071\u201096."},{"key":"key2021010619513611300_b3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Drummond, H. (1996a), \u201cThe politics of risk: trials and tribulations of the Taurus project\u201d, Journal of Information Technology, Vol. 11 No. 4, pp. 347\u201057.","DOI":"10.1177\/026839629601100408"},{"key":"key2021010619513611300_b4","unstructured":"Drummond, H. (1996b), Escalation in Decision Making: The Tragedy of Taurus, Oxford University Press, Oxford."},{"key":"key2021010619513611300_b5","unstructured":"Gittins, J. (1989), Multi\u2010armed Bandit Allocation Indices, Wiley, New York, NY."},{"key":"key2021010619513611300_b6","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Keil, M. (1995a), \u201cEscalation of commitment in information systems development: a comparison of three theories\u201d, Academy of Management Best Papers Proceedings 1995, Vancouver, August 6\u20109, pp. 348\u201052.","DOI":"10.5465\/ambpp.1995.17536634"},{"key":"key2021010619513611300_b7","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Keil, M. (1995b), \u201cPulling the plug: software project management and the problem of project escalation\u201d, MIS Quarterly, Vol. 19 No. 4, pp. 421\u201047.","DOI":"10.2307\/249627"},{"key":"key2021010619513611300_b8","unstructured":"Keil, M. and Monteleagre, R. (2000), \u201cCutting your losses: extricating your organization when a big project goes awry\u201d, Sloan Management Review., January 4, pp. 55\u201068."},{"key":"key2021010619513611300_b9","unstructured":"Keil, M. and Robey, D. (1999), \u201cTurning around troubled software projects: an exploratory study of the de\u2010escalation of commitment to failing courses of action\u201d, Journal of Management Information Systems, Vol. 15 No. 4, pp. 63\u201088."},{"key":"key2021010619513611300_b10","unstructured":"Keil, M., Mixon, R., Saarinen, T. and Tuunainen, V. (1994), \u201cUnderstanding runaway information technology projects: results from an international research program\u201d, Journal of Management Information Systems, Vol. 11 No. 3, pp. 65\u201086."},{"key":"key2021010619513611300_b11","unstructured":"LaPlante, A. (1995), \u201cScope grope\u201d, Computerworld, Vol. 29 No. 12, pp. 81\u20104."},{"key":"key2021010619513611300_b12","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Mahaney, R. and Lederer, A. (2003), \u201cInformation systems project management: an agency theory interpretation\u201d, Journal of Systems and Software, Vol. 68 No. 1, pp. 1\u20109.","DOI":"10.1016\/S0164-1212(02)00132-2"},{"key":"key2021010619513611300_b13","unstructured":"Securities Industry News (2004), \u201cIT management failures\u201d, June 14."},{"key":"key2021010619513611300_b14","unstructured":"(The) Standish Group (1999), \u201cCHAOS: the recipe for success\u201d, research report, available at: www.standishgroup.com\/chaos_resources\/index.php."},{"key":"key2021010619513611300_b15","unstructured":"Weitzman, M. (1979), \u201cOptimal search for the best alternative\u201d, Econometrica, Vol. 47 No. 3, pp. 641\u201054."},{"key":"key2021010619513611300_frg1","unstructured":"Banks, J., Olson, M. and Porter, D. (1997), \u201cAn experimental analysis of the bandit problem\u201d, Economic Theory, Vol. 10 No. 1, pp. 55\u201077."}],"container-title":["Information Management &amp; Computer Security"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"http:\/\/www.emeraldinsight.com\/doi\/full-xml\/10.1108\/09685220510589316","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/www.emerald.com\/insight\/content\/doi\/10.1108\/09685220510589316\/full\/xml","content-type":"application\/xml","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/www.emerald.com\/insight\/content\/doi\/10.1108\/09685220510589316\/full\/html","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,7,25]],"date-time":"2025-07-25T00:08:53Z","timestamp":1753402133000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"http:\/\/www.emerald.com\/ics\/article\/13\/2\/135-143\/183970"}},"subtitle":["Applying the bandit problem to evaluate managerial decision making"],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2005,4,1]]},"references-count":15,"journal-issue":{"issue":"2","published-print":{"date-parts":[[2005,4,1]]}},"alternative-id":["10.1108\/09685220510589316"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1108\/09685220510589316","relation":{},"ISSN":["0968-5227"],"issn-type":[{"type":"print","value":"0968-5227"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2005,4,1]]}}}