Dr. Rajesh Mirani: Research Interests
In his research projects, Dr. Mirani has studied how organizations plan and manage information technology resources to align with their business goals. Some papers he has published from such studies are outlined below.
	A recent paper authored by Dr. Mirani presented and compared two case studies of offshored software tasks, whose success was critically dependent on managing an inherent interdependence between onshore and offshore teams. In one case study, both teams belonged to the vendor organization, while in the other they were affiliated respectively with client and vendor. It was shown that interdependence is best addressed through procedural coordination, which entails two complementary strategies. The first consists of carefully specifying and partitioning tasks, and the second of implementing integration mechanisms to bridge communication gaps. Despite contextual differences, the two case studies offered common lessons.
	In another project pertaining to offshoring, he analyzed the dynamics between clients and vendors in the context of offshored applications development, and showed how successful client-vendor relationships take shape and evolve. Using a real world case study, he showed that contractual relationships set up to reduce client development costs tend to morph into closer, less-structured relationships as successful outcomes occur and applications offshored grow in complexity. The client's growing dependence on the vendor eventually reaches a point where the vendor becomes responsible for some business-critical client tasks. At this stage, clients seek to exert greater vendor control in order to reduce risks, and one likely outcome is a hierarchical relationship, where the client partly or fully owns the vendor.
	In a research study of about 200 organizations, Dr. Mirani examined the benefits-estimation practices for IS projects proposed for development. One facet of this study addressed the question "What organizational benefits cited for new IS projects are most likely to win top management approval and funding?" Benefits that appeared to be most popular with senior management were: proposed IS will (a) change the way the organization conducts business, (b) enable easier/faster access to information, (c) align well with stated organizational goals, and (d) enhance competitiveness or create strategic advantage. Another facet of this study empirically tested and validated a three-way typology of benefits – strategic, informational, and transactional.