There is still no clarity as to who is responsible for BRM (Meredith & Zwikael 2019). Breese, Couch and Turner (2020) are of the opinion that the project sponsor should be responsible for the realisation of benefits. A project sponsor is typically a senior person supporting the project, the project manager and the team through the provision of political and top management support (Zwikael & Meredith 2018). Their research uncovered that the project sponsor is involved in determining the benefits during the initial phases, but that their involvement does not extend to benefit harvesting. In the most comprehensive study to date on who should be responsible for the realisation of benefits, Zwikael et al. (2019) plead for the appointment of a project owner. The project owner is an individual who is held accountable for realising the project business case and its target benefits. Meredith and Zwikael (2019) state that this role cannot be performed by the project sponsor as the project sponsor has multiple roles. To confuse the matter even further, the Project Management Institute opines that benefit owners or sponsors need to be assigned to the BRM process. They are responsible and accountable for the entire BRM process (Project Management Institute 2019). Research done by Mikkelsen and Marnewick (2020) highlights that most of the role players within a project hold the project manager accountable for the benefits. It is evident from the literature that someone specific should be responsible and accountable for BRM, but that various other roles are also responsible for the delivery of the benefits (Marnewick 2017b). A distinction should also be made between who is responsible for BRM during the project (benefits identification, analysis and planning as well as benefits transition) and after the project (benefits sustainment).

Most organisations do not succeeded in realising the benefits expected through investing in project management because of poor planning and leadership in project management. The approach to BRM is still limited and not yet matured (Breese et al. 2015). However, Ashurst (2011) and Doherty, Ashurst and Peppard (2012) have reported an increase in the adoption of BRM, which has resulted in the achievement of organisational objectives. The process of redefining project success to incorporate the realisation of value and benefit from project outcomes may be challenging (Einhorn, Marnewick & Meredith 2019), and therefore it is advisable to integrate change management practices with project management practices (Hornstein 2015). Benefits of IT projects are not related back to the business case that was developed before the project commenced, and therefore it becomes difficult for the organisation to measure whether any benefits are achieved and whether the project outcome contributes to the success of the organisation (Marnewick 2016). Table 2 summarises the identified barriers to BRM.

Benefits realisation management is plagued with various issues and concerns. This is not a new phenomenon, and various scholars are investigating BRM from various perspectives to try and address some of the issues and concerns. From the literature review, the following can be concluded:

The next section highlights the research methodology that was followed.

Two questions were asked of the interviewees in relation to BRM responsibility. The first question focused on who is currently responsible for BRM and the second question focused on which role is best suited to be responsible for BRM. Based on the interview analysis, there is no consensus of who is currently responsible for BRM. The analysis of the interviews highlights that various roles are responsible for BRM. These roles include the project manager and a business process manager. I-4 reported that ‘the project manager is responsible for managing benefits realisation in the absence of business analysts in the organisation’. This was echoed by I-8 mentioning that the ‘IT project manager is responsible for benefits realisation in terms of post project closure’. I-9 has an opposing view stating that ‘business change managers working together with benefits owners/main beneficiaries are responsible for benefits realisation management in their organisation’. I-11 also mentioned that:

In some instances, the responsibility is passed down to the end-user: ‘the end-user within the specific business unit is responsible for benefits realisation management’ [I-8]. Two of the interviewees that indicated the finance team was responsible for BRM in their organisations were I-2 and I-3. I-8 and I-12 mentioned that the steering committee was responsible for BRM in their organisation. ‘The steering committee for the project is responsible for benefits realisation management’ [I-8] and the ‘project manager and steering committee for the project are both responsible for benefits realisation management’ [I-12].

Literature findings about roles and responsibilities involved in BRM are not sufficient. The project sponsor, business change manager, project manager and programme manager have been identified as the roles involved in benefits realisation. This research has identified various roles involved in BRM, some of which are mentioned in the literature (Breese et al. 2020; Zwikael & Meredith 2018; Zwikael et al. 2019). These include the business change manager, project sponsor, project manager, programme manager, project steering committee, finance and audit team and business process owner/operations/end-user of the asset. This research was therefore able to reveal other roles that the literature did not cover. As with the previous section, this creates more confusion and contributes to the fact that benefits realisation is not done in a proper way and manner. The results of this research are in line with international research as there is still no consensus on who should be responsible for BRM. This is an ongoing debate and should be further explored in future research.

The interviewees were asked who should be responsible for BRM. Again, various answers were provided as who should be responsible for the BRM process. ‘The person requesting the IT solution should be responsible for benefits realisation management’ [I-1]. I-8 also considered ‘the business area/initiator to be responsible for benefits realisation management’. I-11 stated that ‘the project manager and/or project management team should be responsible for benefits realisation management in the organisation’.

I-5 also considered the role of project manager to be responsible for BRM. Some interviewees suggested that a BRM team should be responsible for BRM:

This was supported by I-6 and I-11. In some instances, responsibility is shared: ‘If the organisation has business analysts the three will be responsible for benefits realisation, i.e. business analyst, project manager, and project owner’ [I-4]. I-7 preferred the role of business analyst to be responsible for BRM.

No consensus exists among the interviewees of who should be responsible for BRM. In an international study, Mikkelsen and Marnewick (2020) determined that the responsibility also varies and that the project manager, steering committee and the project sponsor are the dominant roles responsible for BRM. Even the project management standards and best practices do not provide clarity on this and contribute to the confusion (Office of Government Commerce 2009; Project Management Institute 2021). The literature mentions roles such as project sponsor, business process owner and client as responsible for BRM. In some organisations, these are three different roles performed by three individuals, whereas in some organisations, the roles refer to one function performed by one individual and the titles are used interchangeably. The findings of this study also suggest that the roles and responsibilities of project sponsor, business process owner and the client/end-user are interchangeable (Zwikael & Meredith 2018). This information is sufficient to prove that the literature makes no recommendations about the roles responsible for BRM. Roles and responsibilities must be clearly defined in the process of BRM to lead organisations in realising the value and benefits of IT projects. Based on the information provided by interviewees, it is evident that roles and responsibilities can be clearly defined when there is a specific business unit for BRM, such as a Project Management Office (PMO).

Figure 2 compares the interviewees’ response regarding who is currently responsible for BRM and who should be responsible. There are some overlaps as well as some clear differences. The two roles that stand out are that of the project manager and the business process owner. This contradicts the results of Mikkelsen and Marnewick (2020), and further research should be done on the influence of the local environment on who should be responsible for BRM.

One of the interview questions focused on which role is best suited as the owner of the benefits. It must be noted that benefits are typically realised long after the closure of the project. Just as the project manager is responsible for delivering the project, the product owner owns the product or service delivered (Zwikael & Meredith 2018). In the same vein, the question is who should be the benefits owner. I-6 considered the business process owner as the best-suited role because ‘they own the business process and the project, and they are responsible for the change because they will be directly affected by the change’. I-8 also recommended the business process owner and further considered ‘senior management in the specific business area as the role best suited for benefits owner’. I-9 stated that the ‘project sponsor is best suited as benefits owner’. Some interviewees considered the role of operations manager best suited as the benefits owner. I-10 stated that ‘the operations manager (end-user) from the business as benefits owner since they are using the systems (end product)’. The project manager is also suggested as best suited to be the benefits owner. ‘The project manager is best suited as benefits owner if there is no benefit realisation manager and they are responsible for exploring all documents for potential expected benefits’ [I-5]. I-12 also considered the role of a project manager because ‘they are responsible for the overall project from start to finish and they also receive all the recognition for project success’.

The concept of BRM cuts across all the resources involved in the implementation of projects in organisations. It was quite challenging for the interviewees to identify the roles and relevant system tools best suited for BRM. Departments within the IT portfolio follow different processes for managing projects and realising benefits because there is no specific role or team responsible for BRM. Therefore, different titles are used in BRM based on the structure of the specific department. Based on the information received from the interviewees, it is evident that the concept of BRM is not properly structured in organisations and there is no dedicated team appointed to work on it. It is not clear who is responsible for BRM in organisations and there are no penalties when benefits are not realised because this function is not formally assigned to employees. Some of the interviewees recommended a benefits owner for each stage of the project for the BRM process to be effective.

In some organisations, the project team was expected to work on BRM. However, this is not effective because after the project closes out, the project team is assigned to work on other projects, which leaves the area of BRM unattended. The project team is dedicated to work on the project during the project life cycle and is not formally appointed to work on BRM. Some interviewees reported that they were only able to attend to benefits realisation after project close-out when the project team was still available to complete project close-out activities.

Organisations are therefore advised to properly structure a BRM business unit so that this concept can be structured effectively and efficiently. This will assist organisations in eliminating projects that are not adding value and thus causing the organisation unable to realise the value and benefits of IT projects.

Figure 3 summarises the interviewees’ responses. The most popular role is the business process owner followed by the project sponsor, operations and project managers.

Pinto et al. (2022) opine that three roles should be involved as benefit owners, that is, the project owner, the project funder and the key stakeholders. This again contributes to the ongoing confusion of who should be the benefits owner.

The next section focuses on the challenges that organisations face in managing the benefits realisation process.

The interviewees highlighted seven areas as per Figure 4 as the challenges experienced by organisations in capturing the benefits from project outcomes from the governance perspective.

The biggest challenge faced by the interviewees is the lack of resources in capturing the benefits. ‘Identify benefits and how the benefits can be measured and assign ownership. The organisation is experiencing lack or unavailability of resources for benefits realisation management’ [I-5]. I-6 mentioned that:

The second biggest challenge is the lack of relevant project information and documentation for capturing benefits. I-6 reported that ‘there is no proper Business Requirement Document (BRD) process in place’. I-8 was in agreement and stated that ‘there is lack of benefits realisation management data or poor quality management’.

Lack of standardised BRM processes in organisations also poses a challenge in capturing the benefits of project outcomes. ‘There is no formal process for benefits realisation management and therefore there is even nothing to be audited’ [I-4]. I-6 claimed that ‘the process is not defined clearly and explicitly, and it is not understood by people involved in the process’.

The use of inappropriate tools and technology is perceived as a challenge in capturing the benefits:

I-12 stated that:

Some other challenges are the following:

This study revealed misalignment of IT projects with the strategic objectives of organisations and has identified various BRM processes from different authors, but the processes differ per organisation and are therefore not standardised. The findings of this study are also that the processes in place are not properly formalised. Conclusions drawn were that the concept of BRM is not clearly defined in organisations and is not properly structured or organised as there is no clear understanding of what contributes to project success. The conclusions made regarding project success are in line with the theory that the definition of project success should incorporate both successful project management implementation and BRM. Based on feedback from the interviewees, organisations lack effective governance, and project goals and objectives are not clearly defined. The findings have revealed that the departments within the IT portfolio follow different processes in terms of managing projects and realising benefits because there is no specific role or team responsible for BRM. There is no dedicated BRM team in organisations, and therefore it is not clear who is responsible for BRM. Most of the challenges in BRM emanate from a lack of proper processes in place, leadership and culture, as well as internal and external politics. Management can see the gaps, but politics hinder the resolutions. In summary, the literature does not have sufficient information on the way the BRM process can ensure that the project and programme outcomes are utilised to deliver the anticipated benefits; this research has discovered a new theory in this regard by recommending various dimensions to be in place.

The results from this study do not align with that of international studies (Table 2). International studies highlighted other challenges, and again, the challenges should be viewed from a local context and perspective. Results should be contextualised, and in the case of South Africa, the focus is still on the product and delivering the product within the triple constraints of time, cost and scope.