The influence of project characteristics on project success factors. Insights from 21 real life project cases from Norway

摘要

Although there are many studies that have identified individual critical success factors in projects the number of studies that have examined how project characteristics such as organizational complexity, transformation, impact on business, constraints, and uncertainty should influence the choice and implantation of project success factors. The study is based on analyzing 21 project cases from a wide spectrum of applications and industries in Norway. In total, c.120 business professionals contributed to the analysis of the cases in order to establish the framework through group work, individual assignments, and group discussions under supervision of the author. For each project characteristic we have identified a set of context dependent success factors that must be adhered to in order to increase the likelihood of success using the 21 projects as an empirical foundation for the analysis. In addition, the findings suggest that there are success factors that are independent of the project characteristics. For instance, having a good working environment that is characterized by openness, respect, loyalty, trust and dedication has considerable influence on motivation, creativity, cooperation, unity, sense of ownership, and knowledge sharing.