Exploring project success

Baltic Journal of Management - Tập 1 Số 2 - Trang 127-147 - 2006
Erling S.Andersen1, DavidBirchall2, SveinArne Jessen1, Arthur H.Money2
1Norwegian School of Management BI, Oslo, Norway
2Henley Management College, Henley‐on‐Thames, UK

Tóm tắt

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to study the relationship between project success factors and actual project success. It reports on an investigation into those factors within the direct influence of project managers that can make a real difference to the outcome of project endeavours.Design/methodology/approachUsing principal components analysis (PCA) on 60 questions about actual project work performance collected from four culturally different regions (UK, France, Norway and China), nine distinctively different critical success factors were found. Similarly, using PCA on ten project success items, three distinctively different project success criteria were extracted.FindingsThe most important factors in improving managerial ability to deliver results in time and at cost were strong project commitment, early stakeholder influence, stakeholder endorsement of project plans and rich project communications. To secure project impact, strong project commitment and rich project communications were the main contributors. A well‐structured and formal project approach and well understood and accepted project purpose, implying high quality management, also scored high. Captured experience was best supported by a well‐structured and formal project approach and rich project communications.Practical implicationsAs the project approach increases as a means for implementing strategic goals, project managers should devote increasing energies into rich communication both within the project and towards the project environment.Originality/valueThe study is cross‐cultural. It shows that successful project management, regardless of cultural differences, still depends on “hard features” such as professional planning and cost control, but that “soft skills” such as rich communication and learning from experience are prerequisites for project management to achieve superior project success.

Từ khóa


Tài liệu tham khảo

Andersen, E.S. and Jessen, S.A. (2000), “Project evaluation scheme”, Project Management, Vol. 6 No. 1, pp. 61‐9.

Atkinson, R. (1999), “Project management: cost, time and quality, two best guesses and a phenomenon, it's time to accept other success criteria”, International Journal of Project Management, Vol. 17 No. 6, pp. 337‐42.

Ays, K. (1996), “Professional project management: a shift towards learning and a knowledge creating structure”, International Journal of Project Management, Vol. 14 No. 3, pp. 131‐6.

Baccarini, D. (1999), “The logical framework method for defining project success”, Project Management Journal, Vol. 30 No. 4, pp. 25‐32.

Belassi, W. and Tukel, O.I. (1996), “A new framework for determining critical success/failure factors in projects”, International Journal of Project Management, Vol. 14 No. 3, pp. 141‐51.

Bonnal, P., Gourc, D. and Lacoste, G. (2002), “The life cycle of technical projects”, Project Management Journal, Vol. 33 No. 1, pp. 12‐19.

Cummings, T.G. and Woley, C.G. (2001), Organizational Development and Change, 7th ed., South‐Western College, Cincinnati, OH.

Drucker, P.F. (1993), Post‐Capitalist Society, Butterworth‐Heinemann, Oxford.

Field, A. (2000), Discovering Statistics Using SPSS for Windows, ISM, London.

Fusco, J.C. (1997), “Better policies provide the key to implementing project management”, Project Management Journal, Vol. 28 No. 3, pp. 37‐43.

Gareis, R. and Hueman, M. (2000), “Project management competences in the project‐oriented organization”, in Turner, J.R. and Sinister, S.J. (Eds), Gower Handbook of Project Management, 3rd ed., Gower, Aldershot.

Globerson, S. and Zwikael, O. (2002), “The impact of the project manager on project management processes”, Project Management Journal, Vol. 33 No. 3, pp. 58‐64.

Graham, R.J. (1987), Project Management as if People Mattered, Primavera Press, Bala Cynwyd, PA.

Hair, J.F.J., Tatham, R.L., Anderson, R. and Black, W. (1998), Multivariate Data Analysis, 5th ed., Prentice‐Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ.

Hollis, J.G. (1996), Project Practice: An Elaboration of the Factors Affecting the Level of Motivation of Project Staff, Henley Management College, Henley‐on‐Thames.

Jaafari, A. (2000), “Life‐cycle project management: a proposed theoretical model for development and implementation of capital projects”, Project Management Journal, Vol. 31 No. 1, pp. 44‐52.

Keegan, A. and Turner, J.R. (2001), “Quantity versus quality in project‐based learning practices”, Management Learning, Vol. 32 No. 1, pp. 77‐98.

Kreiner, K. (1995), “In search of relevance: project management in drifting environments”, Scandinavian Journal of Management, Vol. 11 No. 4, pp. 335‐46.

Leach, L.P. (1999), “Critical chain project management improves project performance”, Project Management Journal, Vol. 30 No. 2, pp. 39‐52.

Lidow, D. (1999), “Duck alignment theory: going beyond classic project management to maximize project success”, Project Management Journal, Vol. 30 No. 4, pp. 8‐14.

Lim, C.S. and Mohamed, M.Z. (1999), “Criteria of project success: an exploratory re‐examination”, International Journal of Project Management, Vol. 17 No. 4, pp. 243‐8.

Lundin, R.A. and Midler, C. (Eds) (1998), Projects as Arenas for Renewal and Learning Processes, Kluwer Academic, Boston, MA.

Lundin, R.A. and Söderholm, A. (1994), “Conceptualization and learning – the black environment of PM”, paper presented at the 25th Project Management Institute 1994 Annual Seminars and Symposium, Vancouver.

Might, R.J. and Fisher, W.A. (1985), “The role of structural factors in determining project management success”, IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management, Vol. 32 No. 2, pp. 71‐7.

Morris, P.W.G. and Hough, G.H. (1987), The Anatomy of Major Projects: A Study of the Reality of Project Management, Wiley, Chicester.

Munns, A.K. and Bjeirmi, B.F. (1996), “The role of project management in achieving success”, International Journal of Project Management, Vol. 14 No. 2, pp. 81‐7.

Palmer, J. (1991), “Scientists and information: II. Personal factors in information behaviour”, Journal of Documentation, Vol. 3, pp. 254‐75.

Pellegrinelli, S. (2002), “Shaping context: the role and challenge for programmes”, International Journal of Project Management, Vol. 20 No. 3, pp. 229‐33.

Pinto, J.K. and Slevin, D.P. (1987), “Critical factors in successful project implementation”, IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management, Vol. 34 No. 1, pp. 22‐7.

Pinto, J.K. and Slevin, D.P. (1988), “Project success: definitions and measurement techniques”, Project Management Journal, Vol. 19 No. 1, pp. 67‐71.

PMI (2000), A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge, Project Management Institute, Newton Square, PA.

Rockart, J.F. (1979), “Chief executives define their own data needs”, Harvard Business Review, Vol. 57 No. 2, pp. 81‐93.

Ruggles, R.L. (Ed.) (1997), Knowledge Management Tools, Butterworth‐Heinemann, Boston, MA.

Saeed, K. (1998), Towards Sustainable Development: Essays on System Analysis of National Policy, 2nd ed., Ashgate, Aldershot.

Slevin, D.P. and Pinto, J.K. (1987), “Balancing strategy and tactics in project implementation”, Sloan Management Review, Vol. 29 No. 1, pp. 33‐41.

Sounder, W.E. (1983), “Project evaluation and selection”, in Cleland, D.I. and King, W.R. (Eds), Project Management Handbook, Van Nostrand Reinholt, New York, NY.

Steers, R.M., Porter, L.W. and Bigley, G.A. (1996), Motivation and Leadership at Work, 6th ed., McGraw‐Hill, New York, NY.

Sveiby, K. (1996), “Transfer of knowledge and the information processing professions”, European Management Journal, Vol. 14 No. 4, pp. 379‐88.

Szulanski, G. (1996), “Exploring internal stickiness: impediments to the transfer of best practice within the firm”, Strategic Management Journal, Vol. 17, pp. 27‐43.

Turner, J.R. (2002), “Project success criteria”, April, pp. 32‐3.

Wateridge, J. (1998), “How can IS/IT projects be measured for success?”, International Journal of Project Management, Vol. 16 No. 1, pp. 59‐63.

Westerveld, E. (2002), “The project excellence model: a concept linking success criteria and critical success factors”, paper presented at the IRNOP 5, Rotterdam.

Wideman, R.M. (1988), “The basic for a profession? The project management body of knowledge”, paper presented at the 9th World Congress on Project Management, Glasgow.

Yukl, G. and Falbe, C.M. (1990), “Influence tactics and objectives in upward, downward and lateral influence attempts”, Journal of Applied Psychology, Vol. 75 No. 2, pp. 132‐40.

Thông tin
Thông tin xuất bản

Baltic Journal of Management

Tập 1 Số 2

127-147

Thông tin tác giả