Importance of Project Management in Organizational Success

Abstract

Nowadays, a larger number of project managers take performance as the prime objectives. That performance is evaluated by identifying as well as evaluating the factors which cause both success and failure of the results of the project. Thus, it is important for the project manager to understand the factors of success and failure and the ways to measure it. There are only a few studies which evaluate regarding the critical factors of success and thus, this study is significant among other papers. This paper has made a comprehensive review of the literature on critical success factors and project management wherein smarter human resources, effective planning, and good communication are terms as the major critical factors. The findings have reviewed that although critical factors of success give advantages to the project management yet it needs to be evaluated effectively and the alternative of each success factors needs to be made ready for the time of difficulties. The techniques and models also need to be advanced so as to make the projects achieve success.

Introduction and Background

Organizations have analyzed that translation of the corporate strategies into useable actions needs projects. In the competitive project-oriented scenario, a larger number of the organization is obligate so as to capture the market and do projects for profitability. However, the organization does not focus highly on executing the project successfully (Cook, 1997). Project management is termed as an effective tool so as to review the complex activities. In fact, this practice is known to be more efficient than management done traditionally. There is the usage and implication of different management techniques and tools so as to bring the newer projects into operation. This technique acts as a boon for that organization who has very limited ideas and responsibility regarding the management of projects (Morris, 1994). The use of appropriate decision-making techniques for the management of projects could lead an organization to achieve success and profitability. Project management is considered as important as it is the process which controls the objective of projects by the application of different tools and techniques (Johnston and Brennan, 1996).

It had been demonstrated that there are some of the influential factors which contribute to the project’s success. Adequate knowledge for the projects, selection of the right person as project manager, smart planning, open communication, and risk management are termed as the major success factors which are required for projects (Baccarini, 1999). It had been analyzed that the majority of project management’s work has given its focus on issues related to scheduling of the projects and review various techniques to abolish those issues. However, this literature will evaluate those critical factors which influence the results of the projects and will make the usage of models and frameworks so as to evaluate the projects in an effective manner (Kendra and Taplin, 2004). In this essay, a critical analysis of the several essential success factors which is needed for projects will be considered. Project manager, planning and risk management will be taken as the success factors for the projects. It will also comprise of the critical use of the literature so as to underpin evidence, data, models, and theory. Furthermore, it will reflect the strengths, weakness, and alternatives taking project success factors into considerations. Lastly, the conclusion will be stated by performing an in-depth discussion regarding the issues.

Findings

Projects generally capture the attention of the larger number of people, budget and techniques. There are numerous definitions which are being provided to projects by different scholars and researchers and states that projects have characteristics like inadequate budget, accomplishment date and difficult activities (Koskela and Howell, 2002). As per stated by the literature on project management, performance, success and effectiveness are known to be the alternative words. The organizational theory has explained the notion of project management in an effective manner. It had been stated by Cook (1997) that success evaluation doesn’t have specific criteria and totally depends upon the analysis criteria of the evaluators. However, the author has proposed that views of sponsors and project manager could be helpful in measuring projects success.

It has been stated by Morris (1994) that possessing the talented project manager is one of the initial steps to make the project successful. However, there are other various significant factors which largely contribute to the result of projects. A company could achieve success in a project with effective management and stronger closing of projects. According to Johnston and Brennan (1996), any of the strategy, as well as the plan, could not be complete potentially until a team has effective and smart manager. The suppliers, major staffs of projects, expertise resources as well as other stakeholders constitutes a dynamic team. As per stated by Cooke-Davies (2002) that each of the team members needs to have a commitment towards their groups, have a positive vision for the projects and make an attempt for success. This commitment and vision could only be possible when a project possess an effective project manager. However, it is analyzed that project managers face higher trouble when there is a lack of smart and qualified people in the team (Cooke-Davies, 2002). When there is a prevalence of the out-of-the-sync team and an ineffective leader then there is a full chance of failure of the projects. It is thus essential so as to assign the appropriate projects and the right people in each of the project aspects and make sure that they work in a better manner. The execution of the project in all the difficult situation can only be possible with the help of effective project manager. Frigenti and Comninos (2002) reveal the facts that the whole team needs to be informed completely regarding the projects by the project manager and make them involved in work collaborate to achieve the common goal of success. It had been stated by Koskela and Howell (2002) that project manager is highly responsible for the successful initiation, plan, design, execution, controlling and also end of the projects. He stated that it is the project manager who needs to have a combination of skills so as to ask reasonable questions, detect the assumptions, resolve the conflicts and possess general management skills. For an instance, if there is an organization which has all the amenities required for the project to execute like technical support, team member, financial support but the project manager is very weak then there are higher chances of failure of project (Bryde and Brown, 2004). Project manager with no leadership skills could lead to failure.

It had been further stated that if there is a lack of trained human resources in an organization then it is the role of project manager to replace with the trained employees. Moreover, providing training timely to all the employees regarding the updated techniques and tools used in the projects is also effective ways to upgrade the mind of the project’s team members (Project Management Institute, 2000). Project managers need to be friendly and must possess leadership ability too as it could be helpful in the execution of projects. The organization could also train the project manager or leaders if they provide poor results continuously as the failure of projects brings lots of losses and diminish the brand name (Project Management Institute, 2000).

It is being stated by Pinto and Slevin (2007) that apart from effective and smart human resources, smarter and comprehensive planning is also equally required for project set-ups. He stated that each of the stakeholders needs to on board at the time of the planning process and know the direction of the projects. On the other hand, Cooke-Davies (2002) states that planning could be assistive for the team so as to meet the deadline and remained well-organized. He argues that good planners and their planning not only keep the team of the projects focused but also keeps the stakeholders fully aware of the progress of the projects. There is a number of benefits of smart planning. Pinto and Slevin (2007) says that project process permits for a reliable as well as realistic time scale and assure the accurate time for the estimation of the cost to be produced a. on the other hand, Meskendahl (2010) stated that project management mainly refers to planning and supervises the task which is necessary to achieve the goal. Those goals include the implementation of newer software systems and merging of the two departments. It is the project manager who gathers the employees so as to create the team for projects. Altogether, the formation of the team creates a plan to complete the projects (Frigenti and Comninos, 2002).

As per argued by Turner (2004) that the planning process is termed as very important in project management as it provides direction to the project team members. The author states that project team members face lots of issues and the initial issues which come across are the lack of knowledge regarding the ways to proceed. However, the planning process helps the projects team to determine regarding the task which needs to be completed and gives direction. Lim and Mohamed (2009) added in this regard that planning process is required and essential as it assigns the project manager and project teams regarding their responsibilities for the completing of each of the task to their specific employees. The planning process thus provides accountability and responsibility in the hands of the employees (Lim and Mohamed, 2009).

Kendra and Taplin (2004) have also stated that there are many of the projects which run out of the resources prior to the competition of the work. Those resources could be anything from financial to labor. Thus, planning helps the teams to acknowledge the required resources which are needed so as to finish the projects and eliminate the issues related to lack of resources. Gray (2001) reveals that many of the employees work in multiple projects and divided their time as per the projects. Planning helps the leader or manager of the project to execute the schedule which could help the employees to make the maximum usage of the time being available with employees. Collins and Baccarini (2004) added that planning helps in considering and addressing the problems and reduce their impact by the means of planning projects. He states that there are many of the projects who experience the issues at a different stage before the competition of the projects. The losing of employees, running out of funds or missing the deadlines are some of the issues being addressed but planning of the projects helps the team to reduce the impact of this issues on projects.in addition to it, Bryde and Brown (2004) stated that when any of the project team spend more of its time on planning could predict the reliability of the predictions of the budgets and timelines. Furthermore, planning is termed as the tools to discover the skills of employees and also helps in the competition of the projects (Collins and Baccarini, 2004). For instance, an organization could achieve failure or loss of resources if they have not performed any sort of planning for the projects before its execution (Belassi and Tukel, 2006).

It is being stated that the organization should give a specified time to its project team to schedule the whole project work and present to the project directors (Kendra and Taplin, 2004). This system could help the project’s team in planning the projects and consequently, the head of the project could also detect the errors in the project prior to its execution. This will less chance of failure when the team of projects plans the project (Baccarini, 1999). The manager should also make a relevant decision at the time of planning the projects to enhance the chance of success.

Risk management is also termed as the crucial critical factors in the management of the projects. Clarke (1999) states that effective risk management strategy is very important for the success of a project. it helps in identifying the strengths, weakness, opportunities and threats of the projects. The author says that it is very essential for the team members to remain well-informed regarding all the contents of the projects and timetable. The planning of unexpected events can make the team ready if any issues arrives. Bryde and Brown (2004) stated that problem mainly arises when there is no planning of risk management between team members and project manager or leader. When the problems execute in one of the parts of the project then it is examined that each one part of the projects gets disturbed and have a negative impact on other parts. Thus, defining of the potential risk by identifying, mitigating and avoiding problem is required as it ensures the success of projects. Belassi and Tukel (2006) conveys the fact that risk management is the effective ways to prevent the problems which occur at the execution of the project. Risk needs to be analyzed internally in the organization. It is the role of the project manager to recognize the importance of risk management so as to achieve the goals of projects which depends on planning, executing, output and also evaluation which leads to achievement of the strategic goals. It is convenient to keep the history of the organizational projects which are important so as to improvise the business process and its policies and reduce the chances of risk (Clarke, 1999). If the older records are not kept in an effective manner, then there is a higher possibility of occurrence of the mistakes. The success of the projects could be achieved if the project manager listens to the views of the stakeholders, pay higher attention to their decisions and make strategic goals to deal with upcoming risks (Gray, 2001).

On the other hand, Atkinson (1999) states that risk management plans help in achieving success of project by analyzing the lists of internal and external risks. It is important for the project manager and project team to acknowledge the fact that they should never make any promise if they know that they cannot deliver. The author says that telling NO in the very beginning before the execution of the work saves the organization and other teammates from overburden an overabundance of the unwanted risks and issues (Atkinson, 1999). It is also important for the project manager to identify the risk, its probability of occurrence and its impact and proposed actions before the execution of projects. Lower risk has little impact on cost and performance while moderate risk has some impact on costs and degradation of performance but higher risk events have significant influence in budget and on performance.

It is being noted that effective communication is a critical factor in the management of risk and success of projects. Project manager should communicate their plans with their stakeholders, team members and project sponsors to run the project smoothly. The ambiguity between the team members could bring up disputes. Thus, it is the responsibility of the organization to enhance the communication skills of the employees by effective listening to their saying and also by teaching them to learn the ways to speak in public or a group (Turner, 2004). It is also equally important for the organization to give negative feedback to the employees in an effective way in the same ways as the positive feedbacks are given. Apart from that, managing the older workers in an effective manner is also important as they are the assets of the organization (Collins and Baccarini, 2004). It is also important for the project manager to maximize the results by meeting the deadlines and eliminating the negatives risk. Effective risk management strategies could help the company to maximize the profits and minimize the expenses prevailing in the execution of the projects. Moreover, the usage of the software tools is termed as essential by Meskendahl (2010) so as to evaluate the entire projects and reciprocate the important information related to the projects. The usage of the tools like Copper Projects has a higher benefit in the management of the project plans and To-Dos works. Moreover, it also set the availability of the resources and allocates the time for specific projects and tasks. Effective risk management helps in reducing the chances of projects failure.

There is a construction of a model which makes a link in between criteria so success and factors of success in one of the models named as Project Excellence Models. This model is aimed so as to answer the increased needs for the management models which assist the project's managers to deal with complex and larger projects (Bryde and Brown, 2004). This projects excellence model is linked with the assumption that management of projects in a successful manner could be possible when the project organization gives its higher focus on the result areas which possess the project success criteria and on organizational areas which contain the critical success factors. According to Baccarini (1999) projects excellence models could be used in different stages and situation of the projects. Set-up, management, and evaluation of the projects are the major areas for the usage of these models.

Conclusion

In this paper, the main emphasis is given on the critical analysis of the factors of project management which contributes to the successful delivery of projects. There are only a few of the project management literature which review on the critical factors that which affects the success or failure of the project. The primary findings achieved from the investigative studies have gathered information that the success of the project is dependent on the different perspectives. The project is termed successful when there is an effective and improved role of the management of project within projects. It had been analyzed that successful project management technique helps in contributing to the achievements of the projects. However, project management alone will not allow projects from achieving succeed until and unless appropriate critical factors have been analyzed. Successful project management becomes more successful because of the selection of all the factors in an appropriate manner. Selection of the right project and screening of the undesired projects are also equally important so as to achieve the success of the project wholly.

It has been analyzed from the literature that project is defined and perceived differently by different people wherein for some people, the same project might be successful and on the other hand, the same project might be seen as a failure when the specification is not fulfilled. It had been analyzed from the above section that there are no defined factors for success and failure of the projects rather it varies in a different manner in different literature. Generally, there are various factors which come up together in different stages results into either success or failure of projects. This report has analyzed that smart people, smart planning and effective communication acts as the critical factors in the success of the projects. Good human resources are known as the assets of any organization and they are crucial for the effective operation of the projects. It has been analyzed that when there are a working team and leading manager than there is a higher possibility of achieving success in the project. On the other hand, ineffective human resources could lead to failure of the result. Thus, it is the role of the organization to train its employees or recruit the other employees with adequate knowledge regarding the project work. Moreover, smart planning is also known to be the critical factors as it helps in giving direction, ways and time schedule to the employees. However, ineffective planning could lead to the failure of the projects. Thus, it is important for the project manager to review the plans prior to the execution of the projects. Lastly, effective communication is termed as one of the essential factors for project management to make project success. If there is no communication between the team members then none of the projects could execute effectively. It is important for the organization and project manager to listen to the employees very carefully so as to make their communication skills stronger. Moreover, writing skills should also be upgraded to the employees so that they can make their project successful. Thus, it can be stated that this paper has helped in the better acknowledgment of the concept and notion of project success. It is anticipated that discussed models might help in analyzing more effective ways to improvise projects and project management performance.

References

• Atkinson, R., 1999. Project management: cost, time and quality, two best guesses and a phenomenon, it’s time to accept other success criteria. International Journal of Project Management, Vol.17, No. 6, pp. 337-42.
• Baccarini, D. 1999. The logical framework method for defining project success. Project Management Journal, Vol. 30, No. 4, pp. 25-32.
• Belassi, W. and Tukel, O.I., 2006. A new framework for determining critical success/failure factors in Projects. International Journal of Project Management, Vol. 14, No. 3, pp. 141-51.
• Bryde, D.J. and Brown, D., 2004. The influence of a project performance measurement system on the success of a contract for maintaining motorways and trunk roads. Project management journal, Vol. 35, No. 4, pp. 57-65.
• Clarke, A.,1999. A practical use of key success factors to improve the effectiveness of project management. International Journal of Project Management, Vol. 17, No. 3, pp139-14.
• Collins, A. and Baccarini, D. 2004.Project Success - a survey. Journal of construction research, Vol. 5, No. 2, pp. 211-23.
• Cook, H. E., 1997. Product Management—Value, Quality, Cost, Price, Profit and Organization. London, Chapman & Hall.
• Cooke-Davies, T., 2002. The "real" success factors on projects. International Journal of Project Management, Vol. 20, pp. 185-190.
• Frigenti, E. and Comninos, D., 2002. The practice of project management: a guide to the business-focused approach. Philadelphia, Kogan Page.
• Gray, R.J., 2001. Organisational climate and project success 2001, International Journal of Project Management, Vol. 19, No. 2, pp. 103-109.
• Johnston, R.B. and Brennan, M.,1996. Planning or Organizing: The Implications of Theories of Activity for Management of Operations. Omega, Int. J. Mgmt. Sc., Vol. 24, No. 4, pp. 367-384.
• Kendra, K. and Taplin, L.J., 2004. Project Success: A Cultural Framework. Project Management Journal, Vol.35, No. 1, pp. 30-44.
• Koskela, L. and Howell, G., 2002. The underlying theory of project management is obsolete. Paper to be presented at the PMI Research Conference, August 2002, Seattle.
• Lim, C.S. and Mohamed, M.Z., 2009. Criteria of project success: an exploratory re-examination. International Journal of Project Management, Vol. 17, No. 4, pp. 243-248
• Meskendahl, S., 2010. Influence of business strategy on project portfolio management and its success — A conceptual framework. International Journal of Project Management, Vol. 28, No. 807–817
• Morris, P.,1994. The Management of Projects. London, Thomas Telford.
• Pinto, J.K., Slevin, D.P.,2007. Critical factors in successful project implementation. IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management, Vol.34, No. 1, pp. 22–28
• Project Management Institute, 2000. A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge. Newton Square, Vol. 23, No. 2, pp. 216.
• Turner, J.R., 2004. Editorial: Project management future developments for the short and medium term. International Journal of Project Management, Vol.12, No. 1, pp. 3-4.