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1 – 10 of over 4000Christian Barth and Stefan Koch
In the last years the penetration of enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems within small, medium and large organizations increased steadily. Organizations are forced to adapt…
Abstract
Purpose
In the last years the penetration of enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems within small, medium and large organizations increased steadily. Organizations are forced to adapt their systems and perform ERP upgrades in order to react to rapidly changing business environments, technological enhancements and rising pressure of competition. The purpose of this paper is to focus on the critical success factors for such projects.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper is based on a literature review and qualitative interviews with CEOs, CIOs, ERP consultants and project managers who recently carried out ERP upgrade projects in their respective organizations.
Findings
This paper identifies 14 critical success factors for ERP upgrade projects. Amongst others, effective project management, external support, the composition of the ERP team and the usage of a multiple system landscape play a key role for the success of the ERP upgrade. Furthermore, a comparison to the critical success factors for ERP implementation projects was conducted, and even though there are many similarities between these types of projects, several differences emerged.
Originality/value
ERP upgrade projects have a huge impact on organizations, but their success and antecedents for it are currently under-researched.
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Taryn Jane Bond-Barnard, Lizelle Fletcher and Herman Steyn
The purpose of this paper is to emphasise the importance of high levels of trust and collaboration for increasing the likelihood of project management (PM) success. However, the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to emphasise the importance of high levels of trust and collaboration for increasing the likelihood of project management (PM) success. However, the link between these three constructs remains unclear.
Design/methodology/approach
In this study, the authors use structural equation modelling (SEM) based on the findings from an international survey of 151 project practitioners to demonstrate the significance of project team trust and collaboration for increasing the likelihood of PM success.
Findings
The results indicate that PM success becomes more likely as the degree of collaboration improves which, in turn, is influenced by an increase in the level of trust between team members. The two factors of PM success are project performance and knowledge integration and innovation. The six factors of the degree of collaboration that were studied are physical proximity, commitment, conflict, coordination, relationships and incentives. The three factors of the level of trust investigated are expectations, knowledge exchange and imported trust.
Practical implications
The results of the study are expected to provide insight for project practitioners to increase the likelihood of PM success by taking cognisance of the factors that influence collaboration and trust. The results of the study may also provide insight into teaching and learning in tertiary education, in terms of professionalism and integrity issues.
Originality/value
This paper presents a new perspective for investigating PM success. SEM techniques are used to determine the likelihood of PM success by promoting trust and collaboration in the project team. This unique approach highlights the “human factors” that influence perceived PM success which should benefit both researchers and practitioners.
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Sina Moradi and Kalle Kähkönen
The emergence of collaborative delivery models and working practices in construction industry has created a potential area for project success research. Previous studies have…
Abstract
Purpose
The emergence of collaborative delivery models and working practices in construction industry has created a potential area for project success research. Previous studies have addressed success factors of various collaborative delivery models (e.g. alliance and partnering). However, there is currently very limited research-based knowledge concerning core success factors for different collaborative delivery models, exploring the commonalities. Thus, this study aims to conceptualize a success model for collaborative construction projects by identifying and structuring their core success factors through the lens of project delivery elements.
Design/methodology/approach
A systematic literature review was conducted, and thematic as well as content analysis of the relevant studies led to the identification of mentioned success factors in the literature for different collaborative delivery models. Then, those common success factors were structured in a model based on factors' relation to project delivery elements.
Findings
The obtained results present eight core success factors (e.g. equality, mutual trust and commitment to win–win philosophy) for collaborative construction projects, structured in a model based on their contribution toward project organization, contractual relationships, and operational system in construction project delivery. Moreover, the differences between success factors for traditional and collaborative construction projects are discussed.
Originality/value
This study's findings provide insightful theoretical contributions on collaborative construction project success and providing a departure point for future studies based on the discussed differences between success factors of collaborative and traditional construction projects. The findings can be also practically insightful for the project professionals in collaborative construction projects to succeed in managing project organization, contractual relationships, and operational system.
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Saeed Akbari, Mostafa Khanzadi and Mohammad Reza Gholamian
To address requirements and specifications of construction project, academics need to build a project classification model. In recent years, project success concept, particularly…
Abstract
Purpose
To address requirements and specifications of construction project, academics need to build a project classification model. In recent years, project success concept, particularly on large-scale construction projects, has been a controversial issue, especially in developing countries. Hence, in this paper, after introducing a sustainable success index (SSI), a novel method called “rough set approach” had been adopted to induce decision rules and to classify construction projects. The paper aims to discuss these issues.
Design/methodology/approach
At first, 20 effective success factors and 15 success criteria based on three pillars of sustainability of economy, society and environment had been categorized. The research data used for analysis had been collected from 26 large-scale construction projects in Iran and five other countries. After collecting data collection, observations had been analyzed and 51 decision rules were generated, and the projects were classified. Eventually, in order to evaluate the performance of the generated rules, confusion matrix was applied, and the model was validated.
Findings
The results of the present study show that rough set theory (RST) can be an effective and valuable tool for building expert systems. Practical applications of these results along with limitations and future research are described.
Originality/value
Perhaps for the first time, in the present study, a number of large-scale construction projects are classified based on SSI. Applying RST for building rule-based system and classifying projects in construction project area are novel attempts undertaken in this paper. The rules induced in this study can be applied to develop a sustainable success prediction model in the future studies.
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Muhammad Sabbir Rahman, Bashir Hussain, Mehdi Hussain, Hasliza Hassan and Raechel Johns
The aim of this research is to examine the key determinants influencing the success of new service development projects (NSDPs) across four service typologies context.
Abstract
Purpose
The aim of this research is to examine the key determinants influencing the success of new service development projects (NSDPs) across four service typologies context.
Design/methodology/approach
The researchers used the scenario-based survey method in an NSDP setting. Structural equation modelling (SEM) was used to test the proposed hypotheses based on survey data from 570 managers under four service typologies.
Findings
Service firms' cross-functional integration (CFI) and internal project team efficiency (IPTE) positively influenced NSDPs. The results also indicated that both technology infrastructure (TI) and IPTE mediated the relationship between CFI and NSDPs. In addition, the mediation effect of TI existed between the relationship of IPTE and NSDPs. Furthermore, the proposed model confirms that, for NSDPs, the role of knowledge-sharing behaviour (KSB), authentic leadership (AL) and firm's culture (FC) across the four service typologies moderated the relationship.
Practical implications
With a better understanding of the dynamics of the aforementioned variables, service managers and the project team can more effectively develop and execute strategies for an NSDP. The article enables practitioners to expand their current understanding of NSDPs by providing insights of the unique antecedents that are significant for new service development across four service types.
Originality/value
This research is the first of its kind to examine the mediating role of KSB and TI in determining NSDPs. This study provides one of the first empirical examinations on NSDPs in the context of four service typologies from the perspective of a developing country, where the service industry is competitive. The study demonstrates that the critical success factors of NSDPs do not differ across service types, thereby confirming the “One Basket Fits all” assumption in the current NSDP research study.
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Innocent Musonda and Chioma Sylvia Okoro
Business process re-engineering (BPR) initiatives are complex endeavours which require many factors to ensure success. However, most studies focus on the organisational processes…
Abstract
Purpose
Business process re-engineering (BPR) initiatives are complex endeavours which require many factors to ensure success. However, most studies focus on the organisational processes and improvement within the organisation itself and less on the project team and management dynamics. The study aimed to identify factors that enabled the completion of a BPR, in a technical firm, based on reflections on the project management style.
Design/methodology/approach
The study entailed a descriptive and interpretive case study with reflections from project team members. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics and content analysis.
Findings
Findings revealed that critical success factors for BPR in a technical firm include project leadership and sponsorship, organisational culture and attributes, team dynamics and the nature (activities), and duration of the process.
Practical implications
The findings will benefit project managers in improving their competence and project success through reflective practice. The identified factors could be used in future projects of a similar nature and size to improve how organisations execute BPR projects.
Originality/value
The study used reflections to identify success factors for BPR in a technical firm.
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Jayesh Prakash Gupta, Hongxiu Li, Hannu Kärkkäinen and Raghava Rao Mukkamala
In this study, the authors sought to investigate how the implicit social ties of both project owners and potential backers are associated with crowdfunding project success.
Abstract
Purpose
In this study, the authors sought to investigate how the implicit social ties of both project owners and potential backers are associated with crowdfunding project success.
Design/methodology/approach
Drawing on social ties theory and factors that affect crowdfunding success, in this research, the authors developed a model to study how project owners' and potential backers' implicit social ties are associated with crowdfunding projects' degrees of success. The proposed model was empirically tested with crowdfunding data collected from Kickstarter and social media data collected from Twitter. The authors performed the test using an ordinary least squares (OLS) regression model with fixed effects.
Findings
The authors found that project owners' implicit social ties (specifically, their social media activities, degree centrality and betweenness centrality) are significantly and positively associated with crowdfunding projects' degrees of success. Meanwhile, potential project backers' implicit social ties (their social media activities and degree centrality) are negatively associated with crowdfunding projects' degrees of success. The authors also found that project size moderates the effects of project owners' social media activities on projects' degrees of success.
Originality/value
This work contributes to the literature on crowdfunding by investigating how the implicit social ties of both potential backers and project owners on social media are associated with crowdfunding project success. This study extends the previous research on social ties' roles in explaining crowdfunding project success by including implicit social ties, while the literature explored only explicit social ties.
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Dieudonné Sawadogo, Seydou Sané and Somnoma Edouard Kaboré
The objectives of this study are twofold: first, to identify the effect of sustainability management on the success of international development projects, and second, to…
Abstract
Purpose
The objectives of this study are twofold: first, to identify the effect of sustainability management on the success of international development projects, and second, to investigate the moderating role of political and social skills on this relationship.
Design/methodology/approach
This study adopted a quantitative research methodology based on questionnaire data collected from 43 international development project managers from various fields in Burkina Faso (West Africa). Descriptive statistics and exploratory and confirmatory analyses using principal component analysis were used to assess the quality of the measurement model. A multiple regression analysis based on the partial least squares approach was used to test the hypotheses.
Findings
The results show that sustainability management positively contributes to the success of international development projects. However, given the specificities of these projects and their perception of success, the project coordinator's political and social skills do not predict a greater impact of sustainability management on the success of international development projects. The study also found that project coordinators prioritize their technical skills over behavioral ones.
Originality/value
This study fills a gap in the literature, given that little is known about the moderating role of political and social skills in the effect of sustainability management on the success of specific projects such as international development projects.
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Salman Ashkanani and Robert Franzoi
There is a large amount of published literature on project management. However, there exists a gap between the existing literature and current…
Abstract
Purpose
There is a large amount of published literature on project management. However, there exists a gap between the existing literature and current practices in the industry for the development and execution of megaprojects. Existing literature generally focuses on individual elements applicable to project management in general. This article aims to provide an overview of the project management system components used in industrial megaprojects and identify the gaps between theory and practice, which can be used as input for further research on the topic.
Design/methodology/approach
The topic of megaproject management is reviewed based on available literature sources on megaproject management systems to identify the main gaps in the literature between theory and practice. Based on the findings, an analysis is provided to discuss the improvements required in distinct project management areas and phases.
Findings
There are multiple gaps associated with issues, failures, successes and challenges in industrial megaprojects. Improvements are needed in distinct management areas and over the entire project lifetime. Further guidelines are required for achieving improved megaproject management systems. Such concepts could benefit researchers and practitioners in streamlining their research toward the most relevant and critical areas of improvement of megaproject management systems.
Originality/value
This study addresses the literature gaps between theory and practices on megaproject management systems with an overview that provides helpful guidance for industrial applications and future research. A holistic analysis identifies gaps and critical drives in the body of knowledge, revealing avenues for future research focused on quality as the central pillar that affects the entire megaproject management system.
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Diego Tlapa, Jorge Limon, Jorge L García-Alcaraz, Yolanda Baez and Cuauhtémoc Sánchez
The purpose of this paper is to extend the understanding of Six Sigma (SS) and the underlying dimensions of its critical success factors (CSF) via an analysis of the effects of…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to extend the understanding of Six Sigma (SS) and the underlying dimensions of its critical success factors (CSF) via an analysis of the effects of top management support (TMS), implementation strategy (IS), and collaborative team (CT) on project performance (PP) in Mexican manufacturing companies.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on a SS literature review, a survey was conducted to capture practitioners’ viewpoints about CSFs for SS implementation and their impact on performance in manufacturing companies. A factor analysis and structural equation modeling were conducted in order to identify and analyze causal relationships.
Findings
The results suggest that CSFs grouped in the constructs TMS, IS, and CT have a positive impact on PP as measured by cost reduction, variation reduction, and quality improvement.
Research limitations/implications
Although the empirical data collected supported the proposed model, results might differ among organizations in different countries. In addition, the study did not analyze a unique performance metric; instead, general PP dimensions were used.
Practical implications
Boosting the TMS, IS, and CT enhances positive PP of SS in manufacturing companies.
Originality/value
IS as a construct has not been studied exhaustively; this work contributes to a better understanding of it and its impact on PP. Additionally, studies of SS in Latin America are limited, so this study gives a complementary vision to practitioners and researchers about it.
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