Success Factors in Project Management. Literature Review

Projects are widely recognized nowadays by organizations. They are part of the activities of both education providers and companies. Project management has been applied in organizations since the 1960’s. However, despite garnering experience and improving on available methods, a significant number of projects (including educational ones) still fail. According to the Gartner Group’s world-wide research, the percentage of unsuccessful projects (failed and challenged) as of the year 2012 was 61%.Therefore, the question, “what drives the success of the project?”, remains a fresh issue. Researchers thus undertake to continuously narrow this knowledge gap. However, as the issue is a complex one, many ideas, concepts and pieces of advice are given. In the article, based on the literature review, different approaches to projects’ success are presented, discussed and systemized.The factors influencing the success of projects are identified and presented in the following areas: (1) applied methods, (2) people in projects, (3) and organizational context.Method-related issues are about utilizing tools and techniques in project management. Moreover, they cover the application of global standards while managing the projects.The discussion on the influence of the people involved in the project is not limited to human resources only. Widely recognized and fresh ideas of the Stakeholder Management concept are discussed as well.Last, but not least, the issue of the organizational context in which the projects are executed is emphasized. This matter is of high importance nowadays as the complexity and the number of managed projects has increased significantly within the last twenty years.Furthermore, the author outlines some characteristics related to the different types of projects and their associated success factors.Some advice for practitioners is given on what kind of action should be undertaken to increase the success of projects.The findings of this article can be of special interest to managers of any type of projects, including international ones where Stakeholder Management and organizational issues tend to play an important role in project success.

[1]  Young-Gul Kim,et al.  The critical success factors for ERP implementation: an organizational fit perspective , 2002, Inf. Manag..

[2]  J. Hyde,et al.  Meeting the ‘multi-’ requirements in organic agriculture research: Successes, challenges and recommendations for multifunctional, multidisciplinary, participatory projects , 2011, Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems.

[3]  S. Spalek.  The role of project management office in the multi-project environment , 2012 .

[4]  Ofer Zwikael,et al.  From Critical Success Factors to Critical Success Processes , 2006 .

[5]  Levi Shaul,et al.  Critical success factors in enterprise resource planning systems: Review of the last decade , 2013, CSUR.

[6]  J. Hauser,et al.  Integrating R&D and marketing: A review and analysis of the literature , 1996 .

[7]  Jürgen Gausemeier,et al.  Systems Engineering Management Based on a Discipline-Spanning System Model , 2013, CSER.

[8]  Claes Wohlin,et al.  Prioritizing and Assessing Software Project Success Factors and Project Characteristics using Subjective Data , 2004, Empirical Software Engineering.

[9]  Barbara Wixom,et al.  An Empirical Investigation of the Factors Affecting Data Warehousing Success , 2001, MIS Q..

[10]  H. Kerzner.  Project Management Best Practices: Achieving Global Excellence , 2006 .

[11]  Dov Dvir,et al.  In search of project classification: a non-universal approach to project success factors , 1998 .

[12]  B. Lin,et al.  Developing new product through collaboration in high-tech enterprises , 2011 .

[13]  A. Shenhar,et al.  Project Success: A Multidimensional Strategic Concept , 2001 .

[14]  Michael Poli,et al.  Project strategy: Success themes for strategic projects , 2009, PICMET '09 - 2009 Portland International Conference on Management of Engineering & Technology.

[15]  Zakaria Harun,et al.  Literature mapping: A bird s eye view on classification of factors influencing project success , 2010 .

[16]  Kumar Neeraj Jha,et al.  Success Traits for a Construction Project , 2012 .

[17]  Doug P Armstrong,et al.  Developing the Science of Reintroduction Biology , 2007, Conservation biology : the journal of the Society for Conservation Biology.

[18]  Magne Jørgensen,et al.  How large are software cost overruns? A review of the 1994 CHAOS report , 2006, Inf. Softw. Technol..

[19]  K. Eisenhardt,et al.  PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT: PAST RESEARCH, PRESENT FINDINGS, AND FUTURE DIRECTIONS , 1995 .

[20]  D. Bryde.  Methods for Managing Different Perspectives of Project Success , 2005 .

[21]  M. Parry,et al.  A Cross-National Comparative Study of New Product Development Processes: Japan and the United States , 1997 .

[22]  Henk Akkermans,et al.  Vicious and virtuous cycles in ERP implementation: a case study of interrelations between critical success factors , 2002, Eur. J. Inf. Syst..

[23]  Monique Aubry,et al.  Identifying Forces Driving PMO Changes , 2010 .

[24]  S. Spalek.  Improving Industrial Engineering Performance Through a Successful Project Management Office , 2013 .

[25]  Kalle Lyytinen,et al.  Identifying Software Project Risks: An International Delphi Study , 2001, J. Manag. Inf. Syst..

[26]  Stephen P. Mulva,et al.  Value of IT: Indirect impact of IT on construction project performance via Best Practices , 2013 .

[27]  Elisabeth J. Umble,et al.  Enterprise resource planning: Implementation procedures and critical success factors , 2003, Eur. J. Oper. Res..

[28]  Three Decades of Rural Development Projects in Asia, Latin America, and Africa , 2005 .

[29]  Dirk J. Pons,et al.  Project Management for New Product Development , 2008 .

[30]  Jean-Paul Schwitzguébel,et al.  Successes and limitations of phytotechnologies at field scale: outcomes, assessment and outlook from COST Action 859 , 2010 .

[31]  Jan Recker,et al.  Investigating the success of operational business process management systems , 2013, Inf. Technol. Manag..

[32]  Hans-Georg Gemünden,et al.  Predicting Project Portfolio Success by Measuring Management Quality—A Longitudinal Study , 2013, IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management.

[33]  Robert W. Veryzer.  Discontinuous innovation and the new product development process , 1998 .

[34]  Monique Aubry,et al.  An Empirically Grounded Search for a Typology of Project Management Offices , 2008 .

[35]  Louwrens Mulder.  The importance of a common project management method in the corporate environment , 1997 .

[36]  Mohan V. Tatikonda,et al.  Technology novelty, project complexity, and product development project execution success: a deeper look at task uncertainty in product innovation , 2000, IEEE Trans. Engineering Management.

[37]  Joseph Sarkis,et al.  A grey-based DEMATEL model for evaluating business process management critical success factors , 2013 .

[38]  Chris Verhoef,et al.  The rise and fall of the Chaos report figures , 2010, IEEE Software.

[39]  Monique Aubry,et al.  A Fresh Look at the Contribution of Project Management to Organizational Performance , 2011 .

[40]  Raymond Young,et al.  Top management support—almost always necessary and sometimes sufficient for success: Findings from a fuzzy set analysis , 2013 .

[41]  Rodney Turner,et al.  Relationships Between Leadership and Success in Different Types of Project Complexities , 2012, IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management.

[42]  T. McClanahan,et al.  Co-management of coral reef fisheries: a critical evaluation of the literature , 2012 .

[43]  Sofia Pemsel,et al.  Project management office a knowledge broker in project-based organisations , 2013 .

[44]  Thomas V. Scannell,et al.  Success Factors for Integrating Suppliers into New Product Development , 1997 .

[45]  Jorge L. García,et al.  Critical success factors for Kaizen implementation in manufacturing industries in Mexico , 2013 .

[46]  Muhammad Rizwan,et al.  Application of 80/20 rule in software engineering Waterfall Model , 2009, 2009 International Conference on Information and Communication Technologies.

[47]  Ben Light,et al.  A Critical Success Factors Model for ERP Implementation , 1999, IEEE Softw..

[48]  Carl T. Haas,et al.  Workers’ Skills and Receptiveness to Operate Under the Tier II Construction Management Strategy , 2005 .

[49]  John H. Friar,et al.  Factors for success in R&D projects and new product innovation: a contextual framework , 1997 .

[50]  Sang-Chul Kim,et al.  Project success indicators focusing on residential projects: Are schedule performance index and cost performance index accurate measures in earned value? , 2009 .

[51]  Kris R. Nielsen.  Risk Management: Lessons from Six Continents , 2006 .

[52]  G. Tress,et al.  Researchers’ Experiences, Positive and Negative, in Integrative Landscape Projects , 2005, Environmental management.

[53]  Lavagnon A. Ika.  Project Success as a Topic in Project Management Journals , 2009 .

[54]  Babak Sohrabi,et al.  A method for measuring the alignment of ERP systems with enterprise requirements: application of requirement modelling , 2010 .