This study investigated the relationship between Project Management Planning (PMP) practices and project success for preservation projects of historical significance located in an urban context. The planning for these projects was also emphasized because these historic buildings are recognized by the National Register of Historic Places. Yet, when analyzing the performance metrics of these historically significant renovation projects that included budget and time after the project has been completed denote problems in the management and delivery of these projects. The project team members' perceptions of PMP practices and how these practices affect project success were the focus of this research. To ascertain the importance of these questions, the study incorporated three major bodies of knowledge. The first body of literature focused on project management practices associated with project success. The second concentrated on historic preservation with a focus on historic significance and project planning. The third body centered on facility management as it relates to project management issues in the delivery of a construction project. Combining these bodies of knowledge into one literature review contributed to the development of a conceptual model to illustrate how the research variables and hypotheses were established. To test the research questions and its hypothesis, three statistical tools were used: analysis of variance (ANOVA), descriptive data analysis, and ordinary least square regression. The conclusions from these tests indicated that differences in perceptions of success criteria existed between the project team members. The findings also indicated a significant disconnect between the perceptions of project success and actual performance of project delivery. Furthermore, the findings indicated that only a few project management practices tested were perceived to have significant correlation with project success. The project team members felt that the success criteria of performance and the success factors associated with performance -- site analysis, site layout and staging, and a quality assurance plan -- were more important to the success of the renovation project than many of the management practices in this study.

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.

The study examines the relationship between project leadership styles and success when affected by pressures such as time, project type, complexity and cultural diversity. The research examines the two well-known leadership approaches of transformational- and transactional leadership, and argues that transactional leadership, which has less focus on the leader-follower relationship, is more suitable and successful in projects with limited time. The transformational leadership style, which has more focus on vision and relationship between the followers takes time to build, and is therefore more successful for long-term projects. In order to examine this, a questionnaire was developed and sent out to 56 project leaders around the world. Findings indicate that time in projects have a negative effect on project success, and that both transformational and transactional leadership style has a dampening effect on this negative relationship, hence increasing the success. Furthermore, the study finds strong correlation between the two leadership styles, indicating that these should not be seen as two different attitudes, as leaders can show behaviors from both the transformational and transactional leadership style, possibly explaining the similar dampening effect. No further significant moderating effects were found in the variables project type, complexity and the project’s cultural diversity.

In order to evaluate a project as successful or not, initially, the questions of &ldquo / what are the factors affecting the success&rdquo / and &ldquo / according to whom and which criteria should the success be measured&rdquo / should be answered. Both the factors and their influences vary depending on a project&rsquo / s specific characteristics, different environmental factors affecting it, and different parties involved. These factors are not independent of each other and the interrelationship between them should be investigated as a whole in order to model the project success. Moreover, parties involved in a project usually have different objectives and the performance indicators used to measure project success differ according to company priorities, preferences and attitudes. Thus, there exists a need to develop a project success model that contains the interrelationships between factors such as risks, decisions, and strategies, project success criteria, objectives and the relations of the factors with the objectives. A cognitive map (CM) is a strong visual tool to reflect the beliefs and knowledge of people about a situation or domain, identifying the causes, effects and the relations between them. This qualitative technique being enhanced by quantifiable properties makes it appropriate to be utilized to model the project success. As a result, the objective of this study is to demonstrate the application of CMs as a powerful tool for modeling project success. It is hypothesized that CMs can be effectively used to model the factors affecting success of a construction project, to reflect the interrelations between project success factors, to demonstrate the different objectives of parties involved in a project and show how the project success can be defined differently, by different parties. This technique is applied to a real construction project realized in Turkey. CMs of two consortium contractors and client organization involved in the project are constructed and the differences between the perceptions of three parties are revealed by content and structural analyses. Finally, the benefits and shortcomings of using CMs for modeling project success are discussed by referring to case study findings.

Due to confirming characteristics, events can be considered to be specification of projects. Large events are particularly described by their complexity and the many stakeholders involved. Because of these characteristics, the achievement as well as the evaluation of project success are extremely difficult. This is aggravated by the diverse perspectives on success by the many different stakeholders involved. A key stakeholders in large events are destination management/ marketing organization (DMO) of the host community. Rationale is the tremendous impact events have on the destination. Particularly, the enhanced tourism development, the increase of tourist arrivals as well as the improvement of the destination’s image and brand awareness can be highlighted. By marketing a destination to potential tourists, establishing a destination’s image and managing an increasing international attention, DMOs play a primary role in handling these major impacts. Nevertheless, managing the major impacts as well as leveraging them into sustainable benefits for the host destination is extremely difficult. Like any other stakeholder, DMOs have certain expectations for large evens and may determine success based on whether these expectations were met. Identifying certain success criteria allows the stakeholders involved to evaluate whether a project was successful and whether it met ones expectations. This thesis shall increase the understanding on the evaluation of project success from the DMOs’ perspective as a key stakeholder in large events. In order to identify the role of DMOs in large event as well as their perception of project success and the success criteria used for evaluation, eight semi-structured interviews were conducted. By doing so, managers of particular DMOs were interviewed, while each DMO represents another large event. It was found that DMOs of a host destination are usually neither involved in the organization of large events nor in managerial tasks. In fact, the large event is used for marketing purposes and is further included in marketing activities to promote a destination to the specified target markets. In order to draw the potential benefits from a large event, it needs to be implemented in a DMOs long-term strategy. At the same time, cooperation between a DMO and a large event is crucial. This underlines the important role DMOs have in large events. DMOs perceive large events as successful if the related marketing activities fulfill the previous set expectations for amount and content of media coverage. In addition, success is perceived by the DMOs if a sustainable destination development can be recognized. Within the distinct task areas of a DMO, different perspectives on success become apparent. Multiple different success criteria used by the DMO to evaluate success are identified, which can be allocated to three different success concepts. First, event success is marked by the impact on the tourist and impact on the DMO. Moreover, destination success can be recognized, while organizational success is specified by preparing for the future and for future large events. In addition, the success concepts can be allocated to medium- and long-term dimensions. It becomes apparent that a short-term dimension and a success concept related to project management success can be neglected, as DMOs are less involved in project management tasks related to the event. From the empirical material collected and the existing theoretical matters, a framework is developed accordingly.

The aim of this thesis is to evaluate how stakeholder participation should be implemented to improve societal acceptance for mega projects. Thereby societal acceptance is seen as a major contributor to project success in this context and involving society in decision-making and two-way dialogue is recognized as the most  effective to achieve this. Based on this research area, a theoretical framework was proposed for the mega project context including prerequisite, process and outcome criteria for stakeholder participation. In this sense, a critical realist ontology stance was assumed to develop the knowledge base and the research was carried out with a qualitative, deductive approach. The case of the coal-power plant “Datteln 4” project and its stakeholder participation forum were used as a unit of analysis for evaluating the proposed framework. From the case, data was collected from interviews with participants as well as forum documents and then analyzed using the template analysis. Based on this evidence, the proposed theoretical framework was adapted to a new case-based framework. The research had three objectives at the outset which were fulfilled in the discussion of the data findings. For the first of these, it was shown that the general link of stakeholder participation and societal acceptance is applicable to the mega project context. A second major finding was that the theoretical framework proposed in literature is relevant, however only to a certain extent. Contextual challenges pertaining to mega projects such as the nature of conflict, long duration and stakeholder positions, however, require more attention to these criteria. Lastly, the necessary further developments for the new case-based framework were discussed including that for mega projects underlying issues of transparency, expectations, power and atmosphere must constantly be considered in stakeholder participation. In conclusion, a stakeholder participation framework is presented that matches the context of mega projects and their need for societal acceptance. Therefore this thesis developed the theoretical knowledge on this underexplored area of project management, and for practitioners it offers criteria to consider during stakeholder participation in mega projects.

Cross sector social partnerships have been increasingly used as vehicles to address societal issues. However the practices are poorly understood and lacking transferability. One of the challenges relates to evaluating the success of cross sector social partnership projects through a stakeholder perspective. This thesis aims to examine how the different stakeholders perceive and assess project success by examining a case in a tripartite cross sector social partnership project named Umeå Interactive Recycling Room. Seven interviews with representatives from five participating organisations and project archival documents were analysed for the purpose of this thesis. The study reveals that stakeholders assessed success in multiple dimensions using short and long-term perspectives. The success criteria tend to be related to the value creation concept of the project which can be categorised into outcome, organisational benefits, product, and learning perspectives. The study also reveals that the stakeholders did not assess success using the traditional project management measures of time, cost, and scope. Furthermore, project success was assessed multiple times, both during the project life and post the project life with the evaluation means that can differ from informal ways to more formal ways. Overall, the findings suggest that connections exist between the success criteria, the timing of the project being assessed, and the role of the stakeholders in the partnership.

Concern for project failures and successes have posed a controversial and much debated topic amongst scholars and practitioners alike. IT projects are no exceptions and they too suffer from a high rate of failure. This research aims to explore the reasons why certain IT projects succeed). Besides its academic importance, the research intends to assess the implications for successful implementation of current and future IT projects. The review of the extant literature reveals the enormity of the challenges involved in minimising or avoiding project failures. Present work is contextualizing these issues in a large national organisation with branches throughout the KSA. The Saudi Arabia constitutes the case study for this research. Qualitative methodology was adopted to generate and collect adequate and relevant data. Main instruments were; Semi-structured interviews involving senior managers in five geographical areas who were involved in the management of the IT projects and selected project documents. Thematic analysis was used and led to emergence of seven main ‘themes’, 19 major ‘issues’, and the construction of the first time generic model for success of IT projects. The core issues identified in the model are: Quality, Time and Cost at three levels; individual, organisation and environment with specific order of importance. The implications of the findings for the theory and practice have been identified. It is also recommended that there is a need for further research into individual and contextual factors that influence both managers as well as the circumstances under which IT projects are implemented.

Construction Project Procurement Methods (PMs) define the roles, relationships and responsibilities of project team members and the sequence of the activities required to construct or provide a facility. A number of different PMs have evolved over the years, but each is characterised by a different set of features upon which the criteria for selecting the most appropriate method to procure a given project must be based, if successful project performance (PP) is to be ensured. The use of procurement method selection criteria (PMSC) to inform clients’ decision on suitable PMs to adopt remains a recommended good practice in the construction industry. However, project clients in the Libya Construction Industry (LCI), continue to face great challenges when it comes to selecting the most appropriate PM for its projects. The general practice in this industry is largely dominated by a culture of clients’ reliance on their familiarity and experience with a particular method to inform their PM choice, with no consideration of the plethora of other PMs and use of rational approaches to aid in this decision-making. This procurement issue has long been recognised as a major contributory factor to the frequent time and cost overruns often experienced by projects in the LCI. Although the selection of an appropriate PM to procure any given project is known to result in success PP and (and vice versa), very little is known about the nature of this relationship from literature. Having persistently suffered a great deal of project failures over the years, the LCI stands to benefit from detailed knowledge and understanding of how exactly PM choice do actually influence PP. Stimulated by the dearth of this information, this thesis reports on a research investigation into this relationship with the aim of developing a model to explain the criteria functions in contributing to PP and their implications to PM selection practice in Libya. The methodological approach adopted for this research was the mixed method, i.e., using a combination of both quantitative and qualitative approaches. Following a critical review of the extant relevant literature, a number of relevant hypotheses were first formulated, together with a conceptual framework, to establish the theoretical basis underpinning this research, namely the relationship between the selection of PMs (based on PMSC) and PP. The primary data collection stage involved an initial field questionnaire survey aimed at identifying and confirming the key areas of the research inquiry that needs focusing on. This was followed by a semi-structured questionnaire and interview surveys. With the aid of SPSS and Excel, the collected data were analysed, followed by the development of a mathematical model (based on regression) that demonstrate the influence of PMSC on PP. Finally, the model was validated by expert interviews to test for its validity and reliability. The key findings of the research include the identification of DBB and DB selection criteria that contributes to PP. The distinct contribution to knowledge arising from this research includes the development of a regression model to demonstrate this relationship between PMSC and PP. The benefit of these outputs lies not only in the ability of LCI’s clients to make PM selection decisions much faster by virtue of the need for them to only focus on the criteria with significant influence on PP, they are also able to work out, in quantitative terms, the PP outcomes to be expected for each of the method being considered. This latter information would enable clients to compare the PP outcome values expected from their decisions to select DBB and DB, and then be able to conclude which of these two options represents a better procurement strategy for any given project at hand.

Professional services are one of the fastest growing industries, accounting for over US$330 billion in revenue, globally. The industry is also characterised by stiff competition among professional consulting firms. Thus, in order to survive and grow sustainably, consulting companies need to, not only deliver high quality services which surpass their clients’ expectations but, also nurture strong relationships with them.This study sought to understand the relationship between project delivery success and the strength of client-consultant relationships. It used the engineering consulting industry, focusing on public sector clients and consulting firms in South Africa. The methodology used focused on first establishing as to whether clients and consultants measure project delivery success and relationships using the same factors. It then tested the relationship between project delivery success and client-consultant relationships using the identified set of factors.Through a detailed literature review, project delivery factors were categorised into project success and project management success factors. In order to capture the different dimensions involved in project delivery and client-consultant relationships, frameworks were developed to adequately classify these factors. These frameworks were used in the design of the data collection instrument.The findings from the study indicated that clients and consultants measure project delivery success using fairly similar factors, which they also rated in a fairly similar way. However, the study established that clients and consultants neither evaluate relationships using the same factors, nor rate the factors in a similar way. It was also found that project delivery success does not necessarily result in strong client-consultant relationships.On the basis of these findings, the study established that product delivery success is results from the interaction of many factors within and beyond project boundaries. It also involves a variety of stakeholders with different expectations. Project success is more difficult to measure than project management success. Client-consultant relationships depend on the types of clients and consultants involved as well as the model of engagement used. These factors also influence the choice and priority given to different measurement factors.Thus, the study recommended the importance of active client-consultant engagement for clients and consultants to and understand these complex context-specific environments in structuring and defining problems and design relevant solutions. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted