Learning management systems (LMSs) are the technical foundation for online learning programs that offer benefits to learners in a variety of settings. As with many enterprise software systems, LMSs are expensive and carry considerable risk. Exploring critical success factors (CSFs) and using them as a foundation for decisions concerning complex software implementations helps increase the likelihood of success. This study addresses the gap in knowledge concerning CSFs for LMS implementations. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to discover CSFs by exploring the lived experiences of 8 association executives who identified themselves through email communications as having managed a successful LMS implementation. Organizations providing online continuing education programs were identified using a publicly available list, and program managers were identified from the organization's website. Interviews using semi-structured questions yielded a set of tightly correlated CSFs from 6 of the 8 participants. General systems theory and sociotechnical systems theory underpinned the study. Moustakas' data analysis methods were used to code the interviews and develop themes, which resulted in a set of actionable CSFs. Stakeholder support, a well-planned implementation, an experienced vendor, and software that provides a predictable user interface were among emergent CSFs for LMS implementations. This research may have a positive social impact because reducing the risk of LMS implementations will enable organizational leaders to extend learning opportunities to more individuals. Those opportunities, in turn, will lead to prosperity for membership associations and the industries they serve.

Critical success factors that contribute to project success in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have received insufficient attention in research. Guided by the goal-setting conceptual framework, the purpose of this multiple case study was to explore the human resource management (HRM) strategies used by owners of SMEs to achieve project success. Five owners of SMEs in St. Lucia participated in the research by contributing their experiences in using HRM strategies to achieve project success. Data were collected from SME owners using semistructured interviews, and from observations and analysis of company records. Data were manually analyzed using Yin's 5 phases. Five themes emerged from the thematic analysis of the data obtained from the interviews, observations, and company records: (a) financial rewards, (b) team meetings and briefings, (c) training and staff enhancement, (d) retention and loyalty, and (e) work-life balance. The HRM strategies used by the participants to achieve project success have implications for social change because project success can lead to the sustainability of SMEs, thereby creating employment and improving the quality of life for citizens who benefit from the successful infrastructural and social projects that owners of SMEs undertake.

Background: Local and international non-governmental organizations play a pivotal role in a relief operation. However, as the number of disasters and their complexity is increasing, the challenges these organizations face during a relief operation are also growing exponentially. It is crucial for relief organizations to not only understand but also to prioritize the factors, which can make their supply chain work better. Therefore, this research aims at understanding the relationship between the key success factors, which can dramatically enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of the relief operation. Moreover, this study also highlights how LNGOs and INGOs differentiate between these KSFs and how they rank them. Methods: To address the objective of this study, the Likert scale style questionnaire was developed and distributed online to all such NGOs (worldwide), which take part in the relief operation. The collected data was then tested for its empirical significance on SPSS using Spearman's Rho, Pearson Chisquare, to understand the relationship and importance of these factors. Whereas, the odds ratio was calculated to rank each KSF. Results: The results of the study indicate that there exist strong correlation among all selected factors and all KSFs affect INGOs supply chain at least twice as much as they do of LNGOs. Conclusion: According to our findings and in the light of literature discussed in this research, a successful relief supply chain depends not only on greater and stronger coordination & collaboration but also on sharing information and resources among LNGOs and INGOs.

Dr. Christenson determined that the current project critical success factors identified in the literature are necessary but not sufficient to explain all project success. He explored the construct of 'project vision' as a critical success factor impacting project success. The findings of the multiple case studies strongly suggest that a project's 'vision' is a critical success factor to successful project outcomes. As such, the projects examined represented a continuum of change projects from changes to business practices to holistic cultural change (where the desired end state was not fully known). The project vision was found to be instrumental in signalling change to all stakeholders. Similarly, the project vision was found to be critical in knowledge management projects where the purpose is to share new, best or next best practices. The research also shows that the maintenance of a project vision has significant impacts on the successful completion of the project, especially on its timeliness for completion due to enhanced decision making. A project vision needs to be a shared vision of all stakeholders and the project champion, sponsor, and manager all have a role in communicating and maintaining the project vision throughout the lifecycle of the project. A multiple case study method was conducted within a public service organization. The study's findings provide a significant contribution to the practice of project management.

<p> </p><p>One of the major advancements in the IT industry during the 1990s was the development of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems. Beyond the high costs and significant amount of effort needed to implement such a system, the possible benefits for the organization in achieving more efficient operations and improving its competitive stance in the competitive business environment have been undoubted.</p><p>The high failure rates of ERP systems implementations (Soh et al., 2000; Willis and Willis-Brown; 2002) have paved the way for a chase from both academicians and practitioners to understand and pinpoint the critical success factors that positively impact this type of projects’ success.</p><p>Research has been done for ERP implementations in numerous environments but there is a serious gap in the literature regarding implementations in the Cypriot context. Furthermore, after the island’s accession to the European Union (EU) in 2004, the need for the governmental sector to harmonize its systems and processes according to EU directives and to provide efficient services through transparent processes to citizens of Cyprus urged public organizations to proceed with the adoption of ERP systems to serve these purposes from both technological and business aspects.</p><p>This thesis aims to investigate the critical success factors that foster the successful rollout of ERP implementation projects in Cypriot public sector organizations. From the literature review a research proposition is devised through the development of a theoretical framework consisting of 10 critical success factors. These factors are examined in the specific project environment and their applicability and impact in successful implementations is determined.</p><p>A qualitative approach has been followed, through a multiple-case study in three Cypriot public sector organizations, by conducting a set of 9 semi-structured interviews and analyzing the results to determine the theoretical framework’s fit in the particular context and furthermore to determine the criteria which are used to determine ERP implementation success in the specific projects.</p><p>The results of the study indicate that project success is evaluated solely based on three criteria; time, cost and quality. In addition, 9 out of the 10 factors of the theoretical framework appear to be critical for implementation success.</p><p> </p>

<p>Affärssystem är en växande marknad och en självklarhet för många företag idag. Ett affärssystem kan medföra många fördelar, bland annat kortare ledtider, ökad datakvalitet och effektivare processer. För att genomföra ett så lyckat affärssystemsprojekt som möjligt behöver företag ta vissa faktorer i beaktning. Dessa faktorer kallas kritiska framgångsfaktorer. Denna studie behandlar sju kritiska framgångsfaktorer i syfte att se hur dessa beaktats i praktiken. Framgångsfaktorerna är projektplanering, projektstyrning, användarinvolvering och utbildning, förändringsledning, stöd från ledningen, korrekt data och övervakning och mätning. Vi har kommit fram till dessa genom att studera vetenskapliga artiklar och böcker. Undersökningen har utförts med en kvalitativ ansats där intervjuer genomförts på två företag, med en representant från vardera projektgrupp, som nyligen implementerat ett affärssystem. Även användare av affärssystemet på respektive företag har intervjuats för att få deras synvinkel på affärssystemsprojektet. Resultatet av undersökningen visar på att inget av företagen medvetet har tagit kritiska framgångsfaktorer i beaktning vid deras affärssystemsprojekt. De har inte tänkt på kritiska framgångsfaktorer i den bemärkningen, men ändå tagit hänsyn till vissa av de punkter som vi identifierat i teorin. Den slutsats vi kan dra är att företag kan lyckas med affärssystemsprojekt även om de inte tagit alla kritiska framgångsfaktorer i beaktning.</p> / <p>ERP systems is a growing market and very important for many businesses today. An ERP system can bring many advantages, including shorter lead times, improved data quality and more efficient processes. In order to execute successful ERP projects businesses need to take certain factors into consideration. These factors are called critical success factors. This study addresses seven critical success factors in order to see if these are taken into consideration in a real project. The seven critical success factors are project planning, project management, user involvement and training, change management, top management support, accurate data and monitoring and measuring. We identified these by studying scientific papers and books. The study was conducted with a qualitative approach in which interviews were conducted in two companies, with one representative from each project team, which recently implemented an ERP system. Users of the ERP system at each company were also interviewed to obtain their view on the ERP project. The result of the study shows that none of the companies deliberately took the critical success factors into consideration in their ERP projects. The companies had not thought of critical success factors in those terms but they still took some of the points that we had identified in the theory into consideration. The conclusion is that companies can succeed in ERP projects, even if they don’t take all of the critical success factors into consideration.</p>

<p>International aids, which target socio-development in developing and/or underdeveloped countries, are generally undertaken through projects. These projects, which are named as international development projects (IDPs), are financed mainly by multilateral and bilateral development agencies. However, management of these projects, which have less tangible objectives and deliverables, differ drastically from traditional industrial-commercial project types, that have more tangible objectives and deliverables. Moreover, the intensive investments on IDPs have not yielded the expected progress yet. Therefore, ensuring a successful IDP management through the satisfaction of factors that are critical for project success becomes crucial for both sponsoring bodies and receiving countries. Nevertheless, the current literature provides only a limited number of studies, such as studies conducted by Diallo and Thuiller (2004; 2005), Do and Tun (2008), on this subject area. Then, this study following previous studies by Diallo and Thuiller (2004; 2005), Do and Tun (2008), aims to contribute to this gap in the literature through investigating critical success factors (CSFs) for implementation phase of international development projects (IDPs) in Kazakhstan. Not only the applicability of Do and Tun’s (2008) CSFs for IDP implementation phase to IDPs being implemented in Kazakhstan are tested but also a new set of CSFs is generated for the implementation phase of IDPs being implemented in Kazakhstan.</p>

Title: Implementing an IBX e-procurement solution – are there any success factors? Subject: FE02E bachelor thesis, logistics Authors: Linus Jönsson, Emma Oscarsson, David Skoglund &amp; Max Stafström Tutor: Roger Stokkedal Keywords: E-procurement, implementing, critical success factors, benefits, problems, MRO-products Background: One of the major problems that organizations face today is how to bring home savings. E-procurement solutions can be a tool to reach efficiency and reduce costs within organization. One of the biggest spend issues companies wrestle with are indirect material, also defined as MRO products (maintenance, repair, operations). Purpose: The thesis will examine why companies decide to implement an e-procurement solution and what their expectations are. The purpose of the research was to identify which the success factors are when implementing this type of solution. Eventual problems that may emerge during the implementation and benefits that the implementation might lead to, will also be presented. Methodology: The thesis has a survey design which studies variables in an e-procurement implementation. The scientific perspective is positivistic and has a deductive approach. The sample contains customers to IBX which use the entire solution, from planning to follow-up. The data has been gathered through a post-questionnaire. Result /Conclusion: When deciding to implement an e-procurement solution companies base this decision on a number of reasons. The most common reasons are to increase the internal efficiency and reduce the supplier base. There are also other encouraging reasons to the implementation which all concerns saving time and money. Once the decision has been made, expectations on the solution arise and companies expect the solution to bring benefits. Most common expectations are much alike the reasons concerning saving time and money on purchases of MRO-products. Besides the reasons and expectation companies must consider the critical success factors, both before, during and after the implementation. These factors will determine whether or not the implementation will be a success and they can be divided into factors that affect all companies and factors that just affect some. The key factors, affect all, are defining an e-procurement strategy, change management and training and education. Secondary factors will affect some companies, and depending on the situation organizations must take them into their perspective. These factors are i.e. well defined steering group and communication. If companies don´t consider the success factors problems may emerge, where change management is one of the most common problem. This is an organizationalproblem just like lack of information from external parts and lack in project management skills internally. Besides the organizational problems companies can also experience technical problems, which are directly associated to the solution that‟s implemented. Some of these problems are complex usability, complicated to communicate and integrate. By avoiding the problems companies can expect to see more benefits from the solution, the most experienced benefits are compliance savings, reduced supplier base and lowered administrative costs. These benefits mainly considers time saving and are all associated with the reasons to the implementation and expectations on the solutionResult /Conclusion: When deciding to implement an e-procurement solution companies base this decision on a number of reasons. The most common reasons are to increase the internal efficiency and reduce the supplier base. There are also other encouraging reasons to the implementation which all concerns saving time and money. Once the decision has been made, expectations on the solution arise and companies expect the solution to bring benefits. Most common expectations are much alike the reasons concerning saving time and money on purchases of MRO-products. Besides the reasons and expectation companies must consider the critical success factors, both before, during and after the implementation. These factors will determine whether or not the implementation will be a success and they can be divided into factors that affect all companies and factors that just affect some. The key factors, affect all, are defining an e-procurement strategy, change management and training and education. Secondary factors will affect some companies, and depending on the situation organizations must take them into their perspective. These factors are i.e. well defined steering group and communication. If companies don´t consider the success factors problems may emerge, where change management is one of the most common problem. This is an organizationalproblem just like lack of information from external parts and lack in project management skills internally. Besides the organizational problems companies can also experience technical problems, which are directly associated to the solution that‟s implemented. Some of these problems are complex usability, complicated to communicate and integrate. By avoiding the problems companies can expect to see more benefits from the solution, the most experienced benefits are compliance savings, reduced supplier base and lowered administrative costs. These benefits mainly considers time saving and are all associated with the reasons to the implementation and expectations on the solution.

The objective of this research is to construct a model of the critical success factors for the effectiveness of Information Systems (IS) outsourcing. &ldquo / Lack of in-house expertise&rdquo / and &ldquo / cost effectiveness&rdquo / are the widely accepted major factors of motivation for IS outsourcing. Although various decision models and analytical frameworks have been proposed before, the literature is not abundant on a complete qualitative model. In contrast with the decision models which are executed before an outsourcing engagement (a-priori), an effectiveness model will be an a-posteriori guide which will enable the clients to measure their outsourcing performance and re-evaluate their business and management strategies. This thesis examines the critical success factors for outsourcing effectiveness through qualitative research conducted with multiple case studies for information systems developed for public and private clients. A conceptual model consisting of various hypotheses is constructed and qualitatively evaluated.

One of the major advancements in the IT industry during the 1990s was the development of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems. Beyond the high costs and significant amount of effort needed to implement such a system, the possible benefits for the organization in achieving more efficient operations and improving its competitive stance in the competitive business environment have been undoubted. The high failure rates of ERP systems implementations (Soh et al., 2000; Willis and Willis-Brown; 2002) have paved the way for a chase from both academicians and practitioners to understand and pinpoint the critical success factors that positively impact this type of projects’ success. Research has been done for ERP implementations in numerous environments but there is a serious gap in the literature regarding implementations in the Cypriot context. Furthermore, after the island’s accession to the European Union (EU) in 2004, the need for the governmental sector to harmonize its systems and processes according to EU directives and to provide efficient services through transparent processes to citizens of Cyprus urged public organizations to proceed with the adoption of ERP systems to serve these purposes from both technological and business aspects. This thesis aims to investigate the critical success factors that foster the successful rollout of ERP implementation projects in Cypriot public sector organizations. From the literature review a research proposition is devised through the development of a theoretical framework consisting of 10 critical success factors. These factors are examined in the specific project environment and their applicability and impact in successful implementations is determined. A qualitative approach has been followed, through a multiple-case study in three Cypriot public sector organizations, by conducting a set of 9 semi-structured interviews and analyzing the results to determine the theoretical framework’s fit in the particular context and furthermore to determine the criteria which are used to determine ERP implementation success in the specific projects. The results of the study indicate that project success is evaluated solely based on three criteria; time, cost and quality. In addition, 9 out of the 10 factors of the theoretical framework appear to be critical for implementation success.