Qualitative Phenomenological Examination of IT Project Management In Pharmaceutical Industry

The purpose of this study was to examine what caused IT projects to fail at a high rate in the pharmaceutical industry. IT projects failures delayed development of new drugs that can help save lives. It was imperative to evaluate what caused project failures because the collateral damage was delay in drug development. This qualitative phenomenological study included interpretation of which stage projects usually failed and how by interviewing stakeholders, project managers, and project team members who had lived, first-hand experiences of IT projects in the pharmaceutical industry. A general anticipated outcome was a better understanding of what are leading root causes of IT project failures. Researcher completed data analysis phase using the nVivo 10 software and applied interpretative phenomenological analysis to develop interpretations and draw conclusions. Six central themes emerged from the study that projects failed from poor requirements, weak development, insufficient testing, unorganized deployment, ineffective project managers, and no set closure dates. This paper contained recommendations that, if followed, may increase project success rates. Faster delivery of IT projects lead to faster launch of new drugs to market that could save lives and aid in curing major health ailments.