Characterizing IS development projects

The relationship between project context and project situation is described by defining a number of contingency factors and components of a project approach. The applied contingency model is based on existing literature about situated method engineering. Relationships between contingency factors and the components of the project approach are analyzed for nine non-standard projects of the systems development department of a bank organization. The conclusion is that the choices of project managers concerning the project approach can be related to the project situation. The result of this research is a starting point for a contingency approach of information systems development projects in a bank.