Informations system development (ISD) is an inherently stressful enterprise; it involves risk,
conflict, change, and uncertainty. It is surprising that system development, with its problems
and vicissitudes, has not been examined from a stress perspective; indeed the literature is
curiously silent on the general subject of emotional factors in ISD. We argue here that many
of the behavioral patterns of system development can be interpreted as ways of coping with
the stress that is involved. Research on the causes and consequences of stress (on well …