Consonance in information system projects: A relationship marketing perspective

Different stakeholders in the information system project usually have different perceptions and expectations of the projects. There is seldom consistency in the stakeholders' evaluations of the project outcome. Thus the outcomes of information system projects are usually disappointing to one or more stakeholders. Consonance is a process that can help achieve consistency in setting common goals and reaching agreements in information system projects among all stakeholders. A better focus on developing a common understanding of different stakeholders' expectations and needs will improve the outcomes of the information system projects. There has been lack of studies that examine the differences in perception of more than one stakeholder and how to achieve consonance. This dissertation proposes that relationship marketing can be a tool to help develop consonance among all stakeholders and eventually improve the success rates of information systems projects. Relationship marketing is the concept of building long-term relationships with customers for mutual benefits. This research uses questionnaires to gather data about the perceptions of four stakeholders involved in production or use of the same information systems. Partial Least Squares regression is used to analyze the data. The results are encouraging. Overall, the concept of relationship marketing does show some impacts of reaching consonance among stakeholders. However, individual stakeholders may require different relationship marketing components to close the perception gaps. Thus, in order to have higher IS project success rate and retain satisfied clients, IS providers could utilize different relationship marketing components to help achieve consonance with different stakeholders.