How does the IT environment contribute to the success or lack of success in systems development processes?

I think it is obvious that a group or office that focuses on strong communication - both in sharing ideas and listening to those ideas - as well as having a focused and organized project leader are both huge benefits. There are a lot of good programmers out there and a lot of good designers, but not a lot of people that can easily communicate ideas, needs, goals, and other parts of the development process. Making sure that people are included in the plan, encouraging support within the group, and pushing communication are the ways I see it helping drive success. The same is true for the opposite  - a project can easily crash and burn if people aren't communicating or if the project manager isn't organized and can't keep track of what people are doing. I can also see how members of a development team who want their ideas done and don't listen to others can also be a huge hindrance in projects.

What aspects of the workplace might motivate people's acceptance of change

There are a lot of factors involved in motivating acceptance of change. Effective communication is key. The team needs to understand what is changing, why it is changing, and how it will impact them and the things they are doing. If there are unanswered questions or vague answers are given, it can cause unneeded stress/panic/confusion/frustration/anger/etc. Things such as office politics, as previously discussed, can play a huge part as well. By this I mean that people need to understand that this is a policy for the greater good, not to benefit one person or one group, and if it is - why.

I think most people don't want to work harder than they need to, so it's safe to say that implementing changes that will make people's jobs easier or more efficient are likely to be safe. The problems that I have witnessed have generally been due to changes that make people's jobs harder and less efficient with no real benefits other than to the person making the changes.

How often and in what ways might internal politics factor into project success?

Internal politics can factor into project success in many ways.

Examples: Competition within a project or with other groups can cause a lot of conflicts within an office, for example. Access to resources such as money, hardware, software, etc. for a certain project. Gossip and issues with co-workers or management can cause problems with communication, morale, productivity, and more.

Ultimately, office politics is a huge reason for the failure of many projects and can severely impact a work environment if not monitored and dealt with properly.