From "Key Success Drivers for Large High-Technology Projects: Prediction and Practice," Phil Crosby (CSIRO, Australia) in Management Science, Logistics, and Operations Research, John Wang.
Their rankings and percentage impact on project success
- Project management (PM) control & execution systems in place, with robust policies, planning, procedures, document control, audit, etc - 23.87%
- Clear project definition, requirements, goals, objectives, scope, and project mission; sound business case - 19.53%
- Mature project communication, information systems; effective public relations management - 11.18%
- (Top) management (or sponsor) support with sustained commitment, appropriately engaged - 8.96%
- Project baseline, budget estimates accuracy, schedule and project phasing, effective project performance (reviews) and measurement - 8.96%
- Leadership skills, PM experience & stability; motivating & socially capable PM - 5.79%
- Agreed realistic customer / user expectations; frequent customer contact - 3.37%
- PM/Organisational understanding & competence in project management - 3.37%
- Adequate resourcing of the project - 2.37%
- Aligned perceptions of project goals & success - management, and team; sense of urgency instilled 2.37%
- Effective stakeholder engagement / partnership (e.g. client, contractors, etc) 2.37%
- Organisational responsibilities assigned to right-sized capable team 1.64%
- Mature, effective project management change control process; effective deviations handling & configuration control 1.64%
- Understanding & continuous management of risk; visibility of risk register 1.13%
- Project Manager & PM systems matched to project complexity, and culturally aligned 1.13%
- Effective means of learning from experience and continuous improvement environment 0.78%
- Full understanding, and early engagement, of host government environment and institutional requirements 0.78%
- Right-sized systems engineering; managing and procuring in right-sized project ‘chunks’ 0.78%
Note the 63% of the drivers of success are PM Controls, Clear Project Definition, and Mature Project Communications
