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long range planning
Long Range Planning 34 (2001) 699–725 www.lrpjournal.com
Project Success:
A Multidimensional Strategic
Concept
Aaron J. Shenhar, Dov Dvir, Ofer Levy and Alan C. Maltz
This article presents projects as powerful strategic weapons, initiated to create
economic value and competitive advantage. It suggests that project managers are the
new strategic leaders, who must take on total responsibility for project business results.
Defining and assessing project success is therefore a strategic management concept,
which should help align project efforts with the short- and long-term goals of the
organization. While this concept seems simple and intuitive, there is very little
agreement in previous studies as to what really constitutes project success.
Traditionally, projects were perceived as successful when they met time, budget, and
performance goals. However, many would agree that there is more to project success
than meeting time and budget. The object of this study was to develop a
multidimensional framework for assessing project success, showing how different
dimensions mean different things to different stakeholders at different times and for
different projects. Given the complexity of this question, a combination of qualitative
and quantitative methods and two data sets were used. The analysis identified four
major distinct success dimensions: (1) project efficiency, (2) impact on the customer,
(3) direct business and organizational success, and (4) preparing for the future. The
importance of the dimensions varies according to time and the level of technological
uncertainty involved in the project. The article demonstrates how these dimensions
should be addressed during the project’s definition, planning, and execution phases,
and provides a set of guidelines for project managers and senior managers, as well as
suggestions for further research. 쎻c 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
Introduction
What does project success mean? In an era when projects have
become increasingly common in organizations, this question is
more relevant than ever. In almost all cases projects are initiated
0024-6301/02/$ - see front matter 쎻c 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
PII: S 0 024-6301(01)00097-8
AaronJ.ShenharPh.D.isthe
Institute Professor of
Management at Stevens
Institute of Technology. He
holds five academic degrees in
engineering and management
from Stanford University and
the Technion, Israel Institute of
Technology. Dr. Shenhar has
accumulated over 20 years of
technical and management
experience as an executive in
the defence industry in Israel.
In his present academic career,
Dr. Shenhar is focused on
teaching and research in the
areas of technology and
innovation management,
project management, product
development, and the
management of professional
people. He is a recognized
speaker and consultant to
leading high-technology
organizations. For his
cumulative contribution to
engineering and technology
management he was selected
“Engineering Manager of the
Year”by the Engineering
Management Society of IEEE in
1999. Corresponding address:
Institute Professor of
Management, Stevens Institute
of Technology, Hoboken, NJ
07030, USA. Tel.: +1-201-216-
8024; fax: +201-216-5385; E-
mail: ashenhar@stevens-
tech.edu
Dov Dvir Ph.D. is Senior
Lecturer at the School of
Management, Ben Gurion
University, Israel. Formerly, he
was the Head of the
Management of Technology
(MOT) department at the Holon
Center for Technological
Education. His research
interests include project
management, technology
transfer, technological
entrepreneurship and the
management of technological
organizations. Dr. Dvir has
Project Success700
to create change—to develop new products, establish new manu-
facturing processes, or create a new organization. Without pro-
jects, organizations would become obsolete and irrelevant, and
unable to cope with today’s competitive business environment.
Thus, no matter what the motivation for the project, the question
of project success is strongly linked to an organization’s effective-
ness and to its success in the long run. Yet, ironically, the concep-
tual understanding of project success is still in its early days—
project success has not been typically linked to competitive
advantage and winning in the market-place; and different people
still perceive project success in different ways.
1
Project manage-
ment literature has also been quite divided on this notion and,
as of the time of writing, there are still no accepted frameworks
for assessing project success.
What, indeed, does project success mean? Is there more than
one way to evaluate project success, and should the same rule
apply to all projects? One of the most common approaches to
project success has been to consider a project successful when it
has met its time and budget goals.
2
Although this may seem true
in some cases—and appropriate in the short run when time to
market is critical—there are many examples where this approach
is simply not enough. Quite often, what seemed to be a troubled
project, with extensive delays and overruns, turned out later to
be a great business success. The construction of the Sydney
Opera House. This project took three times longer than antici-
pated and cost almost five times higher than planned. But it
quickly became Australia’s most famous landmark, and no tour-
ist wants to leave Australia without seeing it. Similarly,
Microsoft’s launch of its first Windows software suffered sub-
stantial delays and required a continuous flow of resources and
additional staff. However, from the moment of its introduction,
it became an enormous source of revenue for the company, and
approximately 90% of all PCs in the world now use the Windows
operating system. And prior to the development of its hit pro-
duct, the Macintosh, Apple Computers had experienced the busi-
ness disappointment of the Lisa computer. But Apple managers
later acknowledged that, without the technologies developed and
lessons learnt during the Lisa project, the Macintosh success
would not have happened.
3
So what does project success really mean—how can it be best
defined to serve organizational interests most appropriately? This
article is based on the proposition that projects are part of the
strategic management in organizations: Their benefits are multi-
faceted, and their goals must be set in advance to better help the
organization meet its short- and long-term objectives. The pur-
pose of our empirically based research was to develop a multi-
dimensional framework for the assessment of project success.
Such a framework would be tied to the strategic management of
the organization and to top-level decisions on project selection
and project initiation. And the framework would help project
managers and business organizations see the different values
gained from project execution, and focus their day-to-day oper-
ations on the activities critical for business effectiveness. Because
of the complexity and importance of the research question, we
found it necessary to use a combination of qualitative and quan-
titative methods and two data sets. The article begins by briefly
presenting the theoretical background and our research methods.
We then describe our qualitative case research, supporting its
findings in the quantitative section. We conclude with a detailed
discussion and offer implications for management and further
research.
Theoretical background and research approach
Defining organizational effectiveness
Although studies of organizational effectiveness have been at the
heart of organizational theory for many years,
4
most organiza-
tions have traditionally adhered to financial measures to evaluate
and measure their success. Yet, as many studies have shown (e.g.,
Cameron
5
and Dvir, Segev and Shenhar
6
) such measures alone
are insufficient indicators of organizational success in the long
run. Financial measures alone worked well in the industrial era,
where single-product, high variable cost firms were typical. How-
ever, they do not fit well with today’s dynamic markets, multi-
product firms, and high fixed cost environments.
7
It was these limitations that led in recent years to the develop-
ment of multi-dimensional models for measuring success at the
corporate-level. Several famous frameworks such as The Bal-
anced Scorecard,
8
Intellectual Capital,
9
and Success Dimensions
10
are being implemented by modern corporations trying to link
strategic decisions to sustainable success. And more empirical
studies are identifying additional, more refined measures of suc-
cess.
11
Ironically, however, the project management literature has
been slow to adapt to similar concepts, and there is no agreement
on a standard, or even an operative framework for assessing pro-
ject success. As the following section illustrates, part of the prob-
lem is due to the current perception of project activity and, as
a result, project measures have been diverse, limited, and often
not connected to the business side.
Project success assessment
Clearly most projects are conceived with a business perspective
in mind, and often with a goal which is focused on better results
and organizational performance—more profits, additional
growth, and improved market position. Several recent studies
have indicated the impact of effective projects on firms’perform-
ance (e.g., Menke
12
and Ittner and Larcker
13
).
Ironically, however, when project managers and project teams
are engaged in day-to-day project execution, they are typically
not focusing on the business aspects. Their attention, rather, is
operational—and their mindset is on “getting the job done.”This
mindset may help finish the job efficiently by not wasting time
Long Range Planning, vol 34 2001 701
accumulated over 20 years of
technical, management and
consulting experience in
government and private
organizations.
Ofer Levy, a team leader at
Intel’sdevelopmentcentrein
Haifa,Israel,holdsaB.S.in
electrical engineering from the
Technion, Israel Institute of
Technology, and an MBA in
business administration from
Tel Aviv University.
Alan C. Maltz Ph.D. has
recently completed a Ph.D. in
Technology Management at
Stevens Institute of Technology
and is a Visiting Assistant
Professor of Technology
Management at Stevens. He
recently retired as Executive
Vice President and member of
the Board of Directors of Brite
Voice Systems Inc., a $180
million company with over 800
employees worldwide. He was
President and founder of
Telecom Services Limited (TSL),
which was acquired by Brite in
August 1995. In his capacity as
head of the TSL Division he
oversaw marketing strategy,
business development,
financial planning and
management operations.
Success means
different things to
different people
Project Success702
and money, yet it may lead to disappointing business results and
even failure, when the job was not done effectively. Most project
managers see their job as successfully completed when they finish
the project on time, within budget, and to specifications. And in
some cases, project managers would add, when the result pleases
the customer.
This operational mindset is clearly reflected in the project
management literature, which has traditionally used time,
budget, and performance as the main indicators for project suc-
cess. Any of these measures—or even all taken together—can
lead to incomplete and misleading assessment. They may count
as successful, for instance, a project that met time and budget
constraints but did not meet customer needs and requirements,
14
or a project where the process of commercialising the final pro-
duct proved very difficult. A few studies have suggested adding
a new element to the notion of project success—client satisfac-
tion and customer welfare.
15
DeCotiis and Dyer
16
have emphas-
ized the importance of customer satisfaction, and Baker, Mur-
phy, and Fisher
17
went one step further to include the level of
satisfaction of four different stakeholders: the customer, the
developer, the project team, and the end-user.
Project success assessment may differ according to the
assessor—as Freeman and Beale
2
(p. 8) noted:
Success means different things to different people. An archi-
tect may consider success in terms of aesthetic appearance,
an engineer in terms of technical competence, an account-
ant in terms of dollars spent under budget, a human
resources manager in terms of employee satisfaction. Chief
executive officers rate their success in the stock market.
This idea influenced the introduction of multi-dimensional
frameworks for the assessment of project success which would
reflect different interests and different points of view. Pinto and
Mantel
18
for example, identified three aspects of project perform-
ance as benchmarks for measuring the success or failure of a
project: the implementation process, the perceived value of the
project, and client satisfaction with the result. Freeman and Beale
identified seven main criteria used to measure project success,
including technical performance, efficiency of execution, mana-
gerial and organizational implications (including customer
satisfaction), personal growth, and manufacturer’s ability and
business performance. And Cooper and Kleinschmidt
19
addressed three dimensions of new product success: financial
performance, the creation of new opportunities for new products
and markets, and market impact.
More recent research has suggested new perspectives. Baccar-
ini,
20
for example, has used a hierarchy of project objectives
which include goal, purpose, outputs and inputs, and has sug-
gested distinguishing between project success and product suc-
cess. He contended that the project management team is respon-
sible for producing the project output, but the determination of
project purpose is beyond their responsibility. Needless to say,
according to this framework, project success is detached from
expected business results. Finally, Gardiner and Stewart
21
have
suggested using the concept of net present value (NPV) to
develop an ongoing monitoring tool for the assessment of pro-
ject health.
The approach of this study
Shenhar, Poli, and Lechler
22
have suggested a distinction between
two types of projects—operationally managed projects, and stra-
tegically managed projects. Operationally managed projects are
focused on getting the job done and meeting time and budget
goals, while strategically managed projects are focused on achiev-
ing business results and winning in the market place. Manage-
ment teams in strategically managed projects spend a great deal
of their time and attention on activities and decisions aimed at
improving business results in the long run. They are concerned
with customer needs, competitive advantage, and future market
success, and rather than sticking to the initial plan, they keep
making adjustments that will create better business outcomes.
Such projects, however, are quite rare: many projects are still
managed with an operational mindset, focusing on short-term
results and delivery.
This study was initiated under the premise that today’s rapid
changes and global competition require organizations to be
quicker, more responsive, and more competitive than ever. So
projects must be perceived as powerful strategic weapons,
initiated to create economic value and competitive advantage,
and project managers must become the new strategic leaders,
who must take on total responsibility for project business results.
In today’s rapid changing world, there is no time to share this
responsibility in the previous way, where project managers were
concerned with “getting the job done,”while other managers
were responsible for business aspects. Indeed, many projects are
undertaken today in small, start-up companies, where the project
team is involved in all business aspects, and there is no distinc-
tion between project success and product success. With increased
pace and competition this trend will only accelerate, and it will
become the norm in large organizations as well. Projects in the
future will no longer be just operational tools for executing strat-
egy—they will become the engines that drive strategy into new
directions.
Our study was designed to develop a comprehensive frame-
work for the assessment of project success as a strategic concept.
Such a concept will drive project decision-making and execution
to better business results, and yield improved organizational
effectiveness. Based on the previous literature and our own
observations, we, too, have perceived project success as a multidi-
mensional concept, and our objective was to see what are the
specific dimensions that make sense for different kinds of pro-
jects. We started our study with three major dimensions in mind:
The first was related to meeting specified project goals such as
Long Range Planning, vol 34 2001 703
Projects in the future
will become the
engines that drive
strategy into new
directions
Project Success704
time, budget, and performance and other requirements. The
second was related to customer benefits, such as satisfaction,
impact, and loyalty. And the third was related to the benefits
derived by the performing organization, such as profits, market
share, or growth. Our research goals were first, to test whether
these are the actual major dimensions that have a role in defining
project success, and second, to identify what are the specific mea-
sures that create each dimension. We were also concerned to
discover how each dimension would be affected by different time
frames and by different project types, as we discuss in the next
section.
One size does not fit all
Does the same rule apply to all projects? Clearly, there are great
differences among projects. Projects may differ in terms of tech-
nology, size, complexity, risk, and other variables. Yet much of
the traditional project management literature has treated all pro-
jects as the same, assuming, that, “a project is a project is a pro-
ject.” Several studies have recently recommended using a more
project-specific approach, and suggested distinguishing between
different project types, and using different management styles to
manage them.
23
Following this line of thought, our research leads us to con-
tended that for project success, as well, “one size does not fit
all”–different success dimensions are relevant to different types
of projects, and in different degrees of importance. To dis-
tinguish between projects, we have chosen to use the level of
technological uncertainty at the moment of project initiation.
24
This classification, which has been shown to be one of the major
independent variables among projects,
25
includes the following
four levels:
1 Low-Tech Projects rely on existing and well-established tech-
nologies, such as construction, road building and “build to
print”projects, where a contractor rebuilds an existing pro-
duct;
2 Medium-Tech Projects rest mainly on existing, base techno-
logies but incorporate some new technology or feature.
Examples include industrial projects of incremental inno-
vation, as well as improvements and modifications of exist-
ing products;
3 High-Tech Projects are defined as projects in which most of
the technologies employed are new, but existent, having been
developed prior to project initiation, such as developments of
new computer families, or many defence developments;
4 Super High-Tech Projects are based primarily on new, not yet
existent technologies, which must be developed during project
execution. This type of project is relatively rare, and is usually
carried out by only a few (and probably large) organizations
or government agencies.
Once a framework for the assessment of project success is
developed, it could be tested for different kinds of projects. Our
intent was to see what role different success dimensions play for
different kinds of projects, and whether all success dimensions
are equally important for all projects. While not claiming that a
single set of measures is universal for all projects, we hypothesize
that each project would use specific measures in differing ways
and with differing degrees of importance. This hypothesis is
based on traditional arguments from classic organizational con-
tingency theory, which contends that context and structure must
somehow fit together if the organization is to perform well,
26
and that performance measures are influenced by various contin-
gency variables, such as the technology employed and the exter-
nal environment.
Research method and data description
Because of the complexity and importance of the research prob-
lem, we performed a two-stage study, involving a combination
of qualitative and quantitative methods and two data sets. In the
first stage we examined 15 projects to which we applied a mul-
tiple case study approach, focusing on the dynamics within single
settings.
27
Specifically, we subscribed to the process of qualitative
case study research as suggested by Eisenhardt
28
. The second
stage involved collection of statistical data on 127 projects (in
76 companies) from a total number of 182 managers who were
approached. Project managers who participated in our study
were asked to classify their projects according to the level of tech-
nological uncertainty as previously described, and those in our
quantitative research were asked to assess the success of their
project on several initial measures. [Our research methodology,
process of investigation, and measures studied is detailed in our
Note on Methodology in Appendix A.] The fifteen case projects
studied in the first phase are described in Table 1, and the demo-
graphic distribution of the projects in our quantitative research
is summarized in Table 2.
Case study findings: major success dimensions
across different project types
During the case study portion of our research, we were looking
for typical success dimensions that our respondents would recog-
nize as important across all projects. We sought to ascertain the
nature of our originally perceived dimensions in the projects we
studied, and how did different stakeholders saw their importance
relative to other dimensions. As mentioned, the three dimensions
that we started with were: (1) meeting time, budget, and other
requirements, (2) impact on the customer, and (3) benefit to the
performing organization. However, since different projects are
launched for different purposes and with different expectations,
we also examined the role of each dimension for different types
of projects. Our observations on the three major success dimen-
Long Range Planning, vol 34 2001 705
Project Success706
Table 1. Case projects—descriptions and project classification
Name Level of tech. unc. Project Description
1 SWB Low-tech the construction of a new building for a university social sciences
department. The project was financed through a donation for this
purpose, and included lecture halls, an auditorium, faculty and
administrative offices, rest areas and service rooms
2 JHH Low-tech the construction of a major new regional office facility for a large utility
company, including offices, service areas, large storage areas and
provisions for further expansion
3 LBD Medium-tech an in-house development project of a special purpose new type Lithium
battery to be used for extensive periods under harsh conditions
4 MDL Medium-tech the design and manufacture of a protective operator’s cabin for a heavy
piece of equipment. It included the building of physical as well as
environmental protection
5 FBL Medium-tech design, build and installation of a new plant for fabrication and mass
production of advanced semiconductor microelectronics devices of
specific nature. Project involved clean rooms, energy systems, gas
purification and vacuum systems and compressed air and evaporation
systems, including construction of completely new process technology
6 BIS Medium-tech program of improvement, overhaul and reorganization of an air fleet
including aircraft, weapon systems and ground and airborne support
systems. The program consisted of several projects performed by
different contractors
7 TAD High-tech self investment project, developing software package by transforming
one language into another to yield a standard supplementary
component in contractor’s marketed products
8 MXE High-tech in-house development of a multiplexing unit for use in transatlantic
cable telephone transmission, involving development of new equipment
with digital technology, software and control
9 RBA High-tech development of new radar system, including new transmitter, receiver
and antenna unit and use of some new miniaturization microwave
technology
10 GWI High-tech improvement/upgrade of an existing weapon system for naval use.
Many subsystems replaced, others overhauled and rebuilt with the aim
of improving system performance and reliability
11 PAL High-tech development of electronic warfare system for air combat use, including
RF receivers, antennas, signal processing and control units
12 BAT High-tech development of a fire control system for use on a military platform.
The system included several sensing subsystems, a range finder, a
control unit and central computer
13 TSM High-tech development of a vision and targeting system for a special purpose
vehicle, involving Laser technology, optical system, stabilizing system
and displays
14 ABR Super High-tech development of a new electronic and computing module as part of a
larger system. Module involved use of untested new algorithms as well
as some new technologies developed for the purpose
15 COR Super High-tech development of a completely new electronic system to function in an
unknown communications environment with a “wide band unfriendly”
electromagnetic spectrum. System required to analyse hostile signals and
make “real-time”decisions as to how to handle threats. Project involved
development of new algorithms and new hardware components and
integration with several computers and operating stations
Table 2. Project demographics
Industry and project distribution
Industry Number of firms
Electronics 30
Aerospace 18
Construction 12
Mechanical 2
Chemical/ pharmaceutical/ bio-chemical 10
Project type %
New product development 62%
Product modifications 15%
Construction 23%
Markets served %
Consumer market 18%
Industrial market 21%
Government 61%
Level of project technological uncertainty Number of projects
Low-tech 28
Medium-tech 44
High-tech 45
Super high-tech 10
sions are described below, followed by a discussion on how a
fourth dimension (which was not part of our initial
hypotheses) emerged.
The first dimension: meeting time, budget, and
requirements goals
The first question we examined was the perception of our
respondents toward meeting time, budget, and other project
requirements. Not surprisingly, this dimension seemed critical to
them all. Furthermore, most project managers were convinced
that this was their major job—that their performance was
assessed by how well they met their project’s immediate goals,
and above all, adhering to time-scales and budgets. As one pro-
ject manager put it: “my job is to be there in time, and my repu-
tation in the past was that I can finish projects in time. I am not
going to diminish this reputation here.” However, as the following
discussion demonstrates, while all saw time and budget as
important, the emphasis on meeting these goals varied according
Long Range Planning, vol 34 2001 707
Overruns in super-
high-tech projects
were perceived as
“most likely to
happen”
Project Success708
to the project type. (Interestingly, meeting performance was vir-
tually a non-issue for all respondents: almost all projects we stud-
ied seemed to have met their performance requirements.)
Projects involving low technology, however, were more likely
to meet schedule and budget constraints than projects involving
higher-level technologies. In low-technology projects, in fact,
overruns were seen as almost intolerable: meeting time and
budget was perceived as critical to success. (Over-runs in such
projects did occur, however, but were attributed to factors that
were beyond management’s control. The university construction
project (SWB), for example, suffered a 20% schedule overrun
due to a government-imposed restriction on the importation of
construction workers.) But overruns reached a much higher level
in high- and super-high-tech projects, with two cases of almost
100% overrun. Such overruns were always a result of technical
difficulties, and were much more likely to be tolerated than in
lower technology type projects: in super-high-tech projects, they
were even perceived as “most likely to happen”. A notable case
was the ABR project. This advanced project involved the develop-
ment of a new electronic module based on a concept never tried
before, and on several new technologies not existing prior to
project initiation. The project took almost twice the time orig-
inally planned for, going through two cycles of resource plan-
ning—but both management and customer representatives felt
that “the price was right,”and that the benefit gained from the
final result justified the time and budget overruns.
The second dimension: benefit to the customer
The benefits customers gained from different types of projects
tend to increase with technological uncertainty. Low-tech pro-
jects, for example, are simple in terms of technology, and in most
cases the customer is just interested in a reasonably useful pro-
duct to be used for traditional purposes. In such projects as JHH
(building a regional office for a large utility company), and in
SWB (a new university building), what the customer wanted was
to meet their requirements with a standard solution at minimum
cost. (In the SWB project the customer was also particularly
interested in lower long-term maintenance, cleaning, and heat-
ing expenses.)
Medium-tech projects provide more than just a standard sol-
ution for customers. Such projects involve some novel element,
often involving improvements or modifications to an existing
product, or the production of new products in a well-established
technological field. Cases studied in this category included the
development of a new type of battery (LBD), the building of a
protection cabin for a heavy piece of equipment (MDL), and the
building of a new semiconductor plant (FBL). In each case the
project was designed to solve a customer’s problem and make
life easier, safer, or more efficient. The battery was aimed at
extending the operational period of the electronic equipment it
powered, while the cabin protection was designed to enable the
equipment to operate under severe conditions of battlefield. We
found that customers in this category look for more than just a
standard product: the project needs to yield a functional solution
that both meets their needs and provides some benefit compared
to previous generation products.
High-tech projects usually involve the development of new
products based on a collection of new technologies. Such projects
address new needs, or provide completely new solutions to pre-
vious problems. Among the projects we studied in this category
were the development of a new command and control system
for a military vehicle (BAT), the development of a new software
package (TAD), the development of a new radar system (RBA),
and the development of a new multiplexing fibre-optic system
for a large communication network (MXE). We found that the
end-customers in such cases were ready to accept higher risks,
as well as higher prices, but sought substantial advantages and
unique solutions for their problems. The command and control
system, for example, enabled the customer to operate their sys-
tems during manoeuvres and under severe environmental con-
ditions—a capability that was unheard of in previous product
generations. Long distance companies purchasing the mul-
tiplexing system, meanwhile, were able to multiply their call
capacity eight-fold as well as benefiting from increased signal
quality and a gradual reduction of operating costs. Customers of
high-tech projects expect unique solutions offering substantially
increased capabilities and effectiveness.
Super-high-tech projects usually address very advanced needs,
for which no technology or previous solution readily exists. The
two projects we studied in this category were the development
of the new electronic module based on a new concept (ABR),
and the development of a receiving and processing system for
use in a hostile and complex electromagnetic environment
(COR). Such projects are obviously the most complicated and
most risky of all, but when they are successful, they provide a
quantum leap in effectiveness for their customers. The COR pro-
ject granted customers an entirely new view of the electromag-
netic spectrum, even simulating signals which may be developed
in the future. Customers of super-high-tech projects expect
quantum leap solutions and enormous advantages in effective-
ness.
The third dimension: benefit to the performing
organization
Typically the benefits of projects to the performing organization
are focused on profits, market share, and other business related
results. However the nature and expectations vary with project
type. As low-tech projects include no technological uncertainty,
they can be executed by many contractors, who normally operate
in a highly competitive environment. The typical benefitan
organization can expect from a low-tech project is reasonable
profit, with relatively low margins. (In the SWB project, in fact,
profit was nominal, but the contractor hoped to—and eventually
Long Range Planning, vol 34 2001 709
Customers of super-
high-tech projects
expect quantum leap
solutions and
enormous advantages
in effectiveness
The risks are greater
in super-high-
technology projects,
but so are the
opportunities
Project Success710
did—get more work from the university once this project had
been completed.)
Medium-tech projects are still relatively simple in terms of
new technology. An organization undertaking such projects is
usually looking to improve a previous product, or to increase its
existing product line, without revolutionizing its technology.
Such projects are the most common in industry, and their tech-
nical risk is reasonably low. The immediate benefits organizations
are looking for are appropriate profits and possibly product
diversification. Yet, as we shall see later, even in these projects,
management often looked for benefits beyond profits.
High-tech projects are more risky than the previous two types,
and have a high probability of over-runs, sometimes causing
losses in the short run. When undertaking such projects an
organization would look for the prospect of additional profits in
the longer run, of increasing market share, but also of gaining
the means for additional product lines or technological capabili-
ties. For example, the MXE project almost forced the organiza-
tion into bankruptcy: however, once completed, the project
exceeded all expectations, creating an entire line of new prosper-
ous businesses. A top manager described this project as: “our
roller coaster to the future.”
Finally, super-high-tech projects are the most risky of all. Only
a few organizations would be willing to embark on them: stakes
are high, but so are opportunities. A successful project in this
category would create leapfrog advantages for the performing
organization, and although profits may sometimes come late,
they would be high. The project manager of the COR project
declared: “the product of this project could feed us for the next ten
years.”Such projects will produce entirely new products, estab-
lishing new product lines, or creating new markets, and will
always result in creating new technological generations and
core competencies.
The emergence of a fourth dimension: preparing the
future
Examining what organizations gained from their project endeav-
ours clearly revealed benefits of two kinds. One concerned
immediate business results, such as profitability and market
share, while the second involved longer term benefits, only to be
realized in the future, sometimes long after the project has been
completed, and often indirectly. This observation led us to the
conclusion that we need to isolate a fourth dimension when con-
sidering project success—a dimension that relates to the future.
This dimension addressed the question: how does the current
project help prepare the organization for future challenges? As
the following discussion shows, this dimension was also greatly
dependent on project type, and had enhanced importance as
technological uncertainty increased.
Low-tech projects are typically focused on short-term profits,
although even in such cases, organizations would sometimes sac-
rifice profits for longer-term benefit, as in the SWB project.
In the most common medium-tech projects the immediate
benefits organizations are looking for are appropriate profits and
product line diversification. However, in many cases organiza-
tions are also expecting to gain higher diversification, increased
capabilities, and other long-term benefits. In both the MDL and
BIS projects, for example, upper management were looking to
diversify their product portfolios. In the FBL case (the semicond-
uctor plant) the perceived benefit was gaining the required
experience to enable the organization to compete subsequently
in additional, more complex bids. In the LBD project the goal
was to establish strong ties with the customer and become his
primary source of development in this line of work. Its manager
expressed it as follows: “We need this customer. He is big and
reliable, and good relationships with him will serve us in many
ways, some are still not known at this time.”
Many high-tech projects are initiated for reasons beyond
immediate profit. High-tech project organizations, in the long
run, are planning new generations of products or adding new
product lines. They hope to enter new markets, gain command
of a new technology, and gather substantial reputation. All these
can be seen as ways of creating new opportunities for the organi-
zation—ones that are beyond short-term profit. For example the
BAT project’s 100% overruns seemed at first to be money lost,
but the product eventually generated from the project later
became one of the most profitable in the organization’s history—
as one of its managers said: “it was all worth it!”And, as in
occasional cases, the GWI project was initiated with a loss in
mind, but it enabled the organization to enter a unique pro-
duct sector.
Obviously, the risks are greater in super-high-tech projects,
but so are the opportunities, many of which will have longer-
term impacts. Exploiting revolutionary ideas and building not-
yet-existing technologies, successful projects in this category can
create leapfrog advantages for the performing organization, typi-
cally in the long run. In the two cases we studied, the products
produced were considered breakthroughs—ones that did not
exist before, and which could bring enormous benefits to the
initiating organization over many years. Such projects can enable
the organization to seize control in areas that were only theoreti-
cal so far. For example, the ABR project was seen as a break-
through of this nature, and described by senior management as,
“…really first of its kind in the world. It explores the theoretical
boundaries of mathematics, and proves things that were previously
only imaginable in theory. With this technology, we will be able to
do many additional things in the future.”The benefits characteriz-
ing such projects are leapfrogging, breakthroughs and long run
leadership.
Quantitative analysis: supporting case study
results
Using evidence from the literature, as well as our own obser-
vations during the qualitative part, we developed a list of thirteen
Long Range Planning, vol 34 2001 711
Project Success712
specific measures with which project success could be assessed.
This list is described in the right side of Table 3, and it also
includes a fourteenth measure–assessment of overall project suc-
cess. Our goal during the quantitative part was to test the behav-
iour of these measures in our second database of 127 projects.
Specifically, we asked the following questions:
1 How would these measures be assessed for each project, and
what is the relationship between the measures?
2 Can they be grouped into major success dimensions?
3 How would such dimensions vary with time and across differ-
ent levels of project uncertainty?
Appendix B includes the detailed description of our analysis,
which included correlation coefficients between the fourteen suc-
cess measures (Table 5), and the results of a principal compo-
nents factor analysis (Table 6), which we performed to see if the
thirteen initial measures could be grouped into major subgroups.
The factor analysis resulted in four groups of measures as
described on the left side of Table 3.
Table 3. Emerged four success dimensions
Success dimension Measures
1. Project efficiency Meeting schedule goal
Meeting budget goal
2. Impact on the customer Meeting functional performance
Meeting technical specifications
Fulfilling customer needs
Solving a customer’s problem
The customer is using the product
Customer satisfaction
3. Business success Commercial success
Creating a large market share
4. Preparing for the future Creating a new market
Creating a new product line
Developing a new technology
These results confirmed our observations during the qualitat-
ive part, namely, the existence of four distinct success assessment
dimensions, rather than the three hypothesized at the beginning
of the study. The first dimension includes only two measures:
meeting schedule, and budget goals, and was titled as “Project
Efficiency.”The second dimension includes meeting functional
requirements, meeting technical specifications, fulfilling cus-
tomer needs, solving a customer’s problem, customer using of
product, and customer satisfaction. This dimension can clearly
be related to the customer, and we titled it “Impact on the Cus-
tomer.”The third dimension includes the measures of commer-
cial success and creation of a large market share, and was titled
“Business Success.”And finally, the fourth dimension includes
the measures of new market creation, new product line creation,
and new technology development. Since this measure is clearly
related to the future, we titled it “Preparing for the Future.”
This analysis revealed at least two notable points.
앫The “Project Efficiency”dimension only includes two of the
traditional three measures of time, budget, and performance.
As can be seen in Table 3, meeting functional performance,
and meeting technical specifications are part of the second
dimension, which relates to the customer.
앫The impact on the performing organization can further be
divided into two distinct dimensions—one relates to the
shorter-term business results, and the other to the preparation
for the future, as was found earlier in the case study portion.
We have also assessed how each of the four dimensions may
vary with technological uncertainty. The detailed results are also
included in Table 7, including descriptive statistics of the impor-
tance project managers assigned to each of the dimensions, for
each project type, and analysis of variance results. We found that
the importance of project success dimensions clearly varies with
technological uncertainty. Specifically, the importance of meeting
time and budget constraints is reduced with increased uncer-
tainty, while the impact the project has on the customer increases
when moving from low tech projects into projects of higher
uncertainty. The most notable increase can be observed for the
fourth dimension of “preparing for the future,”which strongly
increases with technological uncertainty. This result emphasizes
the difference between lower and higher technology projects,
with projects at the higher end of the uncertainty dimension
being more likely enacted to build new capabilities and create
opportunities for the future.
Discussion and implications
The purpose of this research was to develop a conceptual frame-
work for the assessment of project success and to identify the
major dimensions with which to measure success in various pro-
jects. We were also interested in seeing how different success
dimensions would change with different project types. Since suc-
cess is such a broad and complex concept, we used a combi-
nation of two research methods and two data sets. The major
implications and contributions of our study can be summarized
as follows.
First, while many previous studies have been based on tra-
ditional thinking, focusing on meeting time, budget, and per-
formance goals, we approached this study with the premise that
projects are part of the strategic activity of the organization, and
Long Range Planning, vol 34 2001 713
Projects at the higher
end of the
uncertainty
dimension%build
new capabilities and
create opportunities
for the future
Project Success714
they must be executed with its short- and long-term objectives
in mind. Few project management studies have used this kind
of approach, most being focused on the operational view, which
suggests that projects should be judged by the way they were
executed. Furthermore, according to our approach, project man-
agers should act strategically, with their activities focused on
business needs and on creating competitive advantage with win-
ning products. Thus assessing project success would relate to
both parts—performance during execution, as well as to success
of the end result. With this mindset we do not distinguish, as
do past studies, between project success and product success—we
see both parts of the same framework. The concepts we have
developed in this study provide such a framework. This frame-
work could be helpful not only to all parties—project managers
and teams, and to top management, but also throughout the
entire life cycle of the project—selection, definition, and
execution.
The second contribution of this study is in identifying the spe-
cific major dimensions for the assessment of project success. As
we have seen, project success is a multi-dimensional concept,
and it cannot be assessed on a single- or even two-dimensional
measure. A project may provide an efficient solution to a cus-
tomer requirements, yet be considered as a failure by the per-
forming organization in terms of business success. Some projects
may seem successful in the short-term, but turn out to be less
so in the long run—and obviously vice versa. Indeed, a long time
may pass before success can be fully evaluated, or until initial
expectations are met. Our study shows that to compound for
these complexities, project success assessment should consider at
least four major dimensions. While additional dimensions may
be relevant in some cases, the generalization of our findings
would view the four major dimensions as follows:
Success dimension 1—project efficiency (meeting
constraints)
This is a short-term dimension expressing the efficiency with
which the project has been managed. It simply tells us how did
the project meet its resources constraint—was it finished on
time, and within the specified budget? This is the immediate
dimension with which a project can be assessed—even during
execution. Although success in this dimension may indicate a
well-managed, efficient project, it may not suggest that this pro-
ject will be considered a success in the long run, and benefit
the organization later. However, with increased competition and
shorter product life cycles, time to market, (time from initial
concept to market introduction) becomes a critical competitive
component. Thus success in this dimension will often help the
company’s business, and so enhancing a project’sefficiency and
leading to early product introduction may be adding to pro-
duct competitiveness.
Some organizations may find it beneficial to consider
additional measures of efficiency. For example, the number of
engineering changes before final design release, the costs of
materials and tooling, efficiency and yield of production ramp,
etc. Other measures may involve efficiency of purchasing (time
to get orders out and materials in), reliability (inverse number
of prototype failures), safety measures (number of accidents or
injuries) etc. However it is worth remembering that all these
measures relate only to the successful implementation of project
execution—they do not necessarily mean product success.
Success dimension 2—impact on the customer
The second dimension relates to the customer, addressing the
importance placed on customer requirements and on meeting
their needs. As our results indicate, meeting performance meas-
ures, functional requirements, and technical specifications are all
part of this second dimension, and not, as previously assumed,
part of meeting the project’sefficiency dimension. Meeting per-
formance has clearly a great impact on the customers who will,
above all, assess how the product is serving their needs. Within
this framework, meeting performance objectives is one of the
central elements. From the developer’s point of view, this dimen-
sion also includes the level of customer satisfaction, the extent
to which the customer is using the product, and whether the
customer is willing to come back for future generations of the
product or for another project. Obviously, the impact on the
customer is one of the most important dimensions in assessing
project success.
Success dimension 3—business and direct success
The third dimension addresses the immediate and direct impact
the project may have on the organization. In the business con-
text, did it provide sales, income, and profits as expected? Did
it help increase business results and gain market share? This
dimension may also apply to projects not aimed at building new
products. Internal reengineering projects,
29
or the development
of new manufacturing processes, are examples of this sort, and
this is the dimension in which such an assessment should be
made. It will include measures of new process performing time,
cycle time, yield, and quality, all of which assess the project’s
direct impact on the performing organization.
In a wider sense, this dimension may also apply to non-profit
organizations. A government organization, such as the taxation
department, for example, which plans to improve its services by
shortening processes and serving more customers in less time,
may initiate a project or process reengineering. Similarly, a fund
raising organization would want to measure its success in
implementing a new campaign. The effectiveness of these pro-
jects will be measured with the third dimension, which would
assess the direct impact that the project had on the organization.
Success dimension 4—preparing for the future
The fourth dimension addresses the issue of preparing the
organizational and technological infrastructure for the future. It
Long Range Planning, vol 34 2001 715
Different dimensions
are more important
at different times with
respect to the
moment of project
completion
Project Success716
is the longest-term dimension, involving questions of how organ-
isations prepare for future opportunities. Did we explore new
opportunities for further markets, ideas, innovations, and pro-
ducts? Did we build new skills that may be needed in the future?
Did we develop enough new technologies and core com-
petencies? And are we prepared to make a change, and create
the future in our industry, or are we able to adapt quickly to
external challenges, unexpected moves of competitors, or market
and technology surprises?
Figure 1. Time frame of success dimensions
The third contribution of our study is in observing the dynam-
ics of the success assessment framework and the changing nature
of success measurement with its short- and long-term impli-
cations. Our interviews have shown that:
앫The first dimension can be assessed only in the very short-
term, during a project’s execution and immediately after its
completion.
앫The second dimension can be assessed after a short time, when
the project has been delivered to the customer, and the cus-
tomer is using it. Customer satisfaction can be assessed within
a few months of the moment of purchase.
앫The third dimension, direct success, can only be assessed after
a significant level of sales has been achieved—usually one or
two years.
앫The fourth dimension can only be assessed after a longer time,
of probably two, three, or five years.
The conceptual time frames of the different success dimen-
sions are described in Figure 1.
The relative importance of each of these dimensions is time
dependent. Different dimensions are more important at different
times with respect to the moment of project completion. As
many of our interviewees have indicated, in the short-term and
particularly during project execution, the most important dimen-
sion is project efficiency: in fact, it is the only one that can be
assessed or measured at this time. Meeting resource constraints,
measuring deviations from plans, and looking at various
efficiency measures, may be the best way to monitor the project
progress and control its course. Once the project is completed,
however, the importance of this dimension starts to decline. As
time goes by, it matters less and less whether the project met its
original resources constraints—in most cases, after about one
year, it is completely irrelevant. In contrast, after project com-
pletion, the second dimension—impact on the customer and
customer satisfaction—becomes more relevant. The third dimen-
sion, business and direct success, can only be felt later. It takes
usually a year or two until a new product starts to bring in profit
or establish market share. And finally, preparing for the future
can only be recognized and assessed much later. The long-term
benefits from projects will affect the organization only after three
or even five years. The relative importance of the four dimen-
sions as a function of time is described in Figure 2.
Figure 2. Relative importance of success dimensions is time dependent
Finally this study has demonstrated that project success
dimensions depend on project type. In contrast to previous stud-
ies which distinguished projects by goals (e.g., new product
development, re-organization), we have used levels of techno-
logical uncertainty to distinguish between projects, and shown
that the level of project technological uncertainty affects the
Long Range Planning, vol 34 2001 717
Project Success718
importance of success dimensions. For the lower-uncertainty
projects, efficiency may seem relevant and important, but such
projects are not launched to create new technology or infrastruc-
ture in the long-term. Their immediate success relies on meeting
time and budget goals, and their expected profits are usually
determined in advance. The importance of these measures
changes when technological uncertainty is higher. For such pro-
jects, poor performance in the short-term and even limited busi-
ness success may be compensated by long-term benefit, such as
creating new markets or expertise in new technology, and prepar-
ing the infrastructure for additional products for the future. And
clearly, customer satisfaction and business success are important
to all types. The relative importance of the four dimensions as
they are distributed among various levels of technological uncer-
tainty is described in Figure 3.
Our study may have significant implications for managers and
organizations at large. We suggest that management should
adopt a multi-dimensional approach to the concept of project
success. It should try to specify project objectives as early as poss-
ible, and focus managers and team member attention on the
project’s expected results. If organizations are planning to achi-
eve some strategic benefits from a project, they should incorpor-
ate these benefits as predetermined measures to assess project
success. They must look both at the short-term and the long-
term benefits of the project, judging its performance on the out-
comes of all dimensions. They should also weigh different success
dimensions differently, according to different project types. For
example, a high-tech project will be mainly assessed on its busi-
ness and long-term effects, rather than the short-term concerns
of meeting time and budget performance. Conversely, it is very
Figure 3. Relative importance of success dimensions is project-type dependent
unlikely that a low-tech construction project will help the organi-
zation to develop new technology or create new opportunity—
but it must be completed on time and within budget, to ensure
the predetermined level of profits is achieved. Management must
identify success measures prior to project initiation, and commit
the organization’s resources to it. Table 4 provides a description
of the likely success dimensions for different project types and
the typical expectations from each dimension.
Table 4. Description of success dimensions for various project types
Success dimension Project type: level of technological uncertainty
Low-tech Medium-tech High-tech Super high-tech
Project efficiency Critical Important Overruns acceptable Overruns most likely
Impact on customer Standard product Functional product, Significantly Quantum leap in
added value improved capabilities effectiveness
Business success Reasonable profit Profit, return on High profits, market High, but may come
investment share later
Market leader
Preparing for the Almost none Gain additional New product line, Leadership—core and
future capabilities new markets future technologies
Project success planning should become an integrated portion
of organizations’strategic thinking and strategic management.
Project success dimensions should be determined as part of the
strategic goals of the organization, and prior to project initiation,
and should be incorporated into the top-management decision-
making upon project initiation. Managers and project teams will
have to be evaluated based on the performance of all dimensions,
rather than only the short-term ones, and during project
execution, project teams will be attuned to achieving these vari-
ous short and long run dimensions. Each project would thus be
focused on its specific dimensions: short-run efficiency for low
uncertainty projects, or longer term opportunities for high
uncertainty projects, where the organization may be ready to suf-
fer over-runs and even less immediate business success, to enjoy
far-reaching benefits and infrastructure for the future. This
framework will help create the business perspective for project
management, and will hopefully lead to projects being more stra-
tegically managed in the future.
It is important to note, however, that the framework
developed in this research may not be universal, and might not
fit all kinds of projects. The final value added of our study may
be the awareness that project and top managers may develop
towards the need to identify specific success dimensions for each
individual project according to its goals, technology, business
model, strategy, and markets. In essence, projects must be part
of the strategic thinking and the assessment of their success must
be aligned with such thinking.
Long Range Planning, vol 34 2001 719
Organizations%
should weigh different
success dimensions
differently, according
to project type
Project Success720
Conclusion
Project management is a multi-faceted, multi-dimensional con-
cept. To assess a project’s success, one needs to understand the
distinct dimensions and address different timeframes—from very
short to very long. Each project has its own specific dimensions,
and their relevant importance will vary.
Additional studies are needed to further establish the validity
of the multi-dimensional concept, and to address additional
questions. For example, as we know, success of a project means
different things to different people, and so the point of view of
the assessor should also be a variable for additional studies. We
should be able to measure the importance that various parties are
assigning to different success dimensions. Similarly, additional
typologies may be considered—for example, does market uncer-
tainty or project complexity have an impact on assessing its suc-
cess—and some of these questions will most likely be the subject
of subsequent studies. However it is clear that both planning for
and measuring project success can be complex and subtle mat-
ters, as well as being of strategic importance.
Appendix A.
Note on research methodology
As described in the text, we chose to perform a two-stage study
which involved a combination of qualitative and quantitative
methods and two data sets. The first stage involved a case study
research on 15 projects and the second a statistical analysis study
on 127 projects. The fifteen case study projects were part of the
larger sample of 127 projects, although this seemed to add only
an insignificant bias to our findings.
All the projects studied were either completed within the
recent year, or were in their last quarter before completion. Data
collection was performed in Israel in the mid 1990s in firms
operating in the military or the commercial market. The projects
studied were in a wide variety of industries (e.g. electronics, aero-
space, computers, chemical), and had significant ranges in
budget (from $40,000 to $2.5B), project duration (from 3
months to 12 years), markets served, and project purpose.
Caution should be exercised in generalizing the results of this
study, since the projects studied here were not randomly selected
and may not be representative of all projects in general, or in
other parts of the world. However, Israeli industry is closely
coupled to Western culture, either in Europe or the US, and
many of the organizations involved in our study are subsidiaries
or partners of American companies: there is no reason to suspect
that the study was biased in any significant way.
Data collection for the first part (case study) was multi-faceted,
and included in-depth interviews, conducted by teams of two or
three, involving at least three people from each project. In addition
to the project managers we interviewed members of the project
management team, functional team members involved in the pro-
ject, project managers’supervisors, and customer representatives.
To strengthen our research validity, (and as is often required by
qualitative studies) we insisted that investigators interact with their
subjects on their own turf, namely at the project site
Interviews involved open questions on the project mission and
objectives, the motivation and the expectations from the project
of the different parties involved: the contractor, customer, and
user. Data were also obtained on success of the project as per-
ceived by the different parties, and as compared to their initial
expectations. Finally, we obtained data on specific goals and
achievements such as meeting time and budget goals, meeting
technical and functional requirements, fulfilling customer needs,
and achieving various business-related results.
The qualitative case data of this study was processed through
a method of cross-case comparative analysis, and, as required by
this method, was highly iterative, with continuous comparison
of data and theory. This method as described by Eisenhardt
28
(p.
533) “forces investigators to look beyond initial impressions and
see evidence through multiple lenses.”
Based on the experience gained in previous studies, we pre-
pared for the case study part of our research a list of thirteen
specific measures to account for the interests of various parties
(see the right side of Table 3). This list formed the basis for a
structured questionnaire used during the quantitative part. Dur-
ing this phase respondents were asked to rate the importance
they attached to each of these measures on a seven-point assess-
ment scale from “very low”to “very high.”They were also asked
to use a seven-point scale to rate the degree of success they per-
ceived in each of these thirteen measures, as well as in a four-
teenth measure, an assessment of the project overall success.
Data analysis in this part involved calculating the descriptive
statistics and Pearson Correlation coefficients between the four-
teen measures we studied. We also performed a factor analysis
on these measures to identify whether they could be clustered as
groups of typical measures, strongly related to each other, and
thus can be described as separate success dimensions. These stat-
istics are presented in Appendix B.
Appendix B.
Appendix B contains Tables 5–7.
Long Range Planning, vol 34 2001 721
Project Success722
Table 5. Correlation coefficients of success measures
a
12 3 45 678910111213
1 Meeting functional
performance
2 Meeting technical 0.439∗∗∗
specifications
3 Meeting schedule goal 0.277∗∗ 0.287∗∗
4 Meeting budget goal 0.310∗∗∗ 0.312∗∗∗ 0.604∗∗∗
5 Fulfilling customer needs 0.470∗∗∗ 0.340∗∗∗ 0.128 a 0.107
6 Solving a customer’s 0.256∗∗ 0.522 0.071 0.097 0.262∗∗
problem
7 The customer is using the 0.249∗∗ 0.240∗∗ 0.255∗∗ 0.208∗0.217∗0.379∗∗∗
product
8 Customer satisfaction 0.527∗∗∗ 0.482∗∗∗ 0.423∗∗∗ 0.408∗∗∗ 0.595∗∗∗ 0.288∗∗ 0.345∗∗∗
9 Commercial success 0.075 0.096 0.260∗∗ 0.225∗0.010 0.154 a 0.203∗0.246∗
10 Creating a large market ⫺0.164 a ⫺0.116 ⫺0.023 ⫺0.111 ⫺0.102 0.082 0.010 ⫺0.053 0.412∗∗∗
share
11 Creating a new market ⫺0.101 ⫺0.066 0.108 0.017 0.043 0.201∗⫺0.065 0.119 0.349∗∗∗ 0.644∗∗∗
12 Creating a new product line ⫺0.023 ⫺0.040 ⫺0.036 ⫺0.042 0.054 0.242∗∗ ⫺0.069 0.070 0.156 a 0.401∗∗∗ 0.576∗∗∗
13 Developing a new ⫺0.064 ⫺0.237∗∗ ⫺0.047 0.001 ⫺0.166 0.053 ⫺0.261∗∗⫺0.066 0.040 0.210∗0.294∗∗ 0.495∗∗∗
technology
14 Total success 0.339∗∗∗ 0.357∗∗∗ 0.422∗∗∗ 0.373∗∗∗ 0.390∗∗∗ 0.370∗∗∗ 0.432∗∗∗0.634∗∗∗ 0.341∗∗∗ ⫺0.063 0.794 ⫺0.018 ⫺0.061
a
p⬍0.1, ∗p⬍0.05, ∗∗p⬍0.01, ∗∗∗p⬍0.001.
Table 6. Factor analysis results
a
Success Measure Factor 1 Factor 2 Factor 3 Factor 4
Meeting functional performance 0.694 0.401 ⫺0.279 0.123
Meeting technical specifications 0.572 0.401 ⫺0.161 ⫺0.105
Meeting schedule goal 0.115 0.872 0.169 ⫺0.030
Meeting budget goal 0.227 0.834 0.017 0.060
Fulfilling customer needs 0.727 0.058 0.019 ⫺0.042
Solving a customer’s problem 0.555 ⫺0.161 0.174 0.406
The customer is using the product 0.499 ⫺0.024 0.492 ⫺0.345
Customer satisfaction 0.678 0.431 0.195 ⫺0.011
Commercial success 0.002 0.386 0.730 ⫺0.038
Creating a large market share ⫺0.055 ⫺0.158 0.701 0.422
Creating a new market ⫺0.008 0.125 0.550 0.650
Creating a new product line 0.096 ⫺0.017 0.146 0.825
Developing a new technology ⫺0.085 0.019 ⫺0.118 0.822
Eigenvalue 3.435 1.456 1.239 2.575
Variance percentage explained 24.6 11.2 9.5 19.8
a
Note: Factors with Eigenvalues greater than 1.0 were rotated using a varimax solution.
Table 7. Importance of success dimensions for various project types
a
Success Level of technological uncertainity (# of cases) ANOVA
dimension
Low-tech Medium-tech High-tech Super high-tech
(28) (44) (45) (10)
Mean Mean Mean Mean
S.D. S.D. S.D. S.D. df F
Project 5.44 5.32 5.35 4.80 3, 112 0.60
Efficiency
1.47 1.20 1.30 1.34
Impact on the 5.60 6.28 6.23 6.21 3, 78 2.97∗
Customer
1.11 0.67 0.77 0.68
Business 5.57 5.13 5.61 5.56 3, 85 1.23
Success
1.33 1.62 1.48 1.37
Preparing for 2.73 4.34 5.36 5.33 3, 87 10.19∗∗
the Future
1.87 1.53 1.09 1.36
a
∗p⬍0.05, ∗∗p⬍0.01.
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Long Range Planning, vol 34 2001 723
Project Success724
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