Examining Project Manager Insights of Agile and Traditional Success Factors for Information Technology Projects: A Q-Methodology Study
Michael J. Doherty · 2012
Two dominant research views addressing disappointing success rates for information technology (IT) projects suggest project success may depend on the presence of a large number of critical success factors or advocate for agile project management as an alternative to traditional practice. The purpose of this Q methodology study was to use views of experienced project managers to explore the contribution of success factors and management approach to project success. This study used a sample of 519 project managers with experience leading or working on IT projects and employed a two phased research approach by employing a frequency analysis of project manager preferences for the entire sample followed by a Q analysis from a random subsample of project managers to uncover dimensions of their subjective opinions and identify clusters of project manager participants who shared common viewpoints. The frequency analysis showed a clear preference for traditionally worded critical success factors over agile critical success factors and tended to support prior research investigating critical success factors for IT projects such as the importance of clearly stated and measurable goals and objectives and a strong commitment from upper management to provide resources, authority, and influence for the project. The Q analysis of the subsample identified three composite factors which explained 47 % of the variance representing different perspectives of project manager opinion about the importance of various critical success factors: a people-project focus, user/client involvement focus, and a traditional project management focus. This study successfully used Q methodology to evaluate and group a set of divergent critical success factors based upon the views of project management practitioners and may provide an explanation for the long list of critical success factors found in