Project success criteria and decision making in IT and engineering New Zealand based projects

Abstract

This research explores the relationship between project success and decision making in the New Zealand context. The IT and engineering industry sectors are the focus of this research. Projects and their outcome are important for the survival of modern organisations in the competitive market place. As more organisations depend on projects for achievement of their business strategies, achieving project success becomes increasingly significant. A literature review identified an absence of research on project success criteria in New Zealand. Additionally, the literature review identified an absence of research on decision making in the project management context, and the absence of a decision making guideline for practitioners. The research methodology utilises qualitative methods comprising of a number of semi-structured interviews with participants from the New Zealand IT and engineering industry sectors. The findings concluded that project success criteria can be used on projects for purposes other than judgement of outcome. It was found that project success criteria can be used in evaluating alternatives in the decision making process throughout the project lifecycle. A new definition for project success criteria and a new project success dimension are proposed to allow usage of the criteria. Furthermore, a hybrid property for project success criteria was identified. This property states that a portion of the criteria is repetitive across an industry, while the other portion is unique to the project. Additionally, it was found that the project management context has two types of decisions; namely tactical and strategic. Strategic decision making is identified as a project success factor, whereas tactical is not. The tender selection problem is an example of a strategic decision. No differences are found between the IT and engineering sectors in their approach to strategic decision making. A decision making guideline is proposed on the basis of the research findings. The guideline aims to support project managers when making strategic decisions. Additionally, the guideline links the concepts of project success and decision making together.